Case Study: Ireland’s Homes Interiors magazine begins a new page with Access Finance software
Established in November 1994, Ireland’s Homes Interiors is a small local publishing company that produces three best-selling titles: ‘Ireland’s Homes Interiors and Living’, the ‘All Ireland Kitchen Guide’, and ‘Ireland’s Kitchen Trade Guide’. Behind these huge sellers is a small but talented team.
Challenge
- missing out on some valuable new features, such as being able to email invoices, remittances and statements directly to customers and suppliers.
Approach
- Implementing an accounting solution that is flexible, works on all devices, and can be accessed anytime, anywhere.
Results
- Choosing Access Finance software enabled them to set analysis codes and VAT rates for individual customers, easily emailing invoices, all while using different devices in different locations.
The issues behind needing a new finance system
Ireland’s Homes Interiors are Mac users and have been using Access software for over 20 years. But, the two machines they’d been using were coming to the end of their working lives and needed to be replaced.
Before upgrading, they’d been working on Horizons Version 4, which had stood the test of time, but had gotten to the point where it could only run on the Classic 9 Operating System on their old Macs.
The team at Ireland Home Interiors had looked into what the latest Access Group finance software could offer and recognised that they were missing out on some valuable new features, such as being able to email invoices, remittances, and statements directly to customers and suppliers.
Suzanne Livingstone, the Finance Director at Ireland Home Interiors, also said that she’d value being able to set analysis codes and VAT rates for individual customers.
But, understandably, there were concerns over potential disruption when changing to a new system.
The solution
Ireland Home Interiors urgently needed to find an accounts package that would be compatible with their Macs.
After a lot of deliberation, they decided to change to Access Financials as this was the most cost-effective way for them to be able to upgrade their Macs and their software. It also had all the features that they knew they were missing out on as the Access Group software evolved.
Discussing the solution provided by the Access Group, Suzanne commented, “There are a lot of new features on Access Financials which we didn't have on the old Horizons, so I feel it has brought me up to date.”
She’s particularly pleased with the new layouts of invoices as she feels that they look much more professional than the old ones.
A smooth implementation
Suzanne worked very closely with the Access Group during the implementation phase. She said, “The Access Group were very patient with us in the change-over, explaining everything in great detail as we went along.”
She summed up the implementation: “Nothing was too much trouble and the move over to Access Financials went very smoothly.”
The results
Moving to Access Financials has given the staff at Ireland’s Homes Interiors much more freedom, as they can work on PC or Mac now. The Finance Director can even work from home if necessary, which just wasn’t possible before.
Now that Suzanne and her staff have gotten used to the new system, which didn't take long, they’re very happy with how it works and it meets all their needs. She added, “It is an easy system to operate and the fact I can access it from home is a help too if I am out of the office.”
“Access worked with us to sort out the best solution for us and we are very happy with the results. I would not hesitate in recommending Access for your accounts needs, they are very professional and knowledgeable about their product. The product we chose was tailored to our company’s needs and we are extremely happy with it.”
