SOCITM selects Exchequer to deliver real-time access to remote users

Professional society will implement accounting and business management systems to improve financial management - Saving one day a month

 

The Society of Information Technology Management has awarded software reseller, Computerised Accounting The Solution (CATS), a £47,000 contract to implement and support mid-range accounting and business management system, Exchequer.

 

Founded in 1986, the Society of Information Technology Management (SOCITM) is the professional association for ICT managers working in and for the public sector. The society, which provides advice and guidance on ICT and e-government to local authorities, now has over 1800 members and an annual turnover of £5 million.

 

SOCITM will run Exchequer on a hosted web server in order to provide employees throughout the UK with remote access to the system enabling them to retrieve and update information in real-time.

 

Mike Roach, Financial Director of SOCITM, says, "As we have outgrown our Sage Line 50 system, it was the ideal opportunity to consider our options to move to a more powerful system that is better suited to our remote workforce set-up. The implementation of Exchequer will enable us to extend the responsibility for financial management beyond the finance department, embracing external data input by non-finance staff in order to improve the overall efficiency of the finance function."

 

SOCITM is using Exchequer's Paperless and Authoris-e™ modules. The Paperless module will enable documents and reports, such as time sheets, orders and invoices, to be sent or received in a secure format, by fax or email, saving a considerable amount of time and money on stationery, postage and administration. In addition, Authoris-e™ works in tandem with the paperless functionality to allow managers to approve and authorise transactions via email.

In addition to the flexibility of the core financials and the job costing module with time sheet functionality, SOCITM was impressed with the versatility of the OLE Report Writer module. This provides a seamless link between Microsoft Excel and the financial management data held within Exchequer, enabling business managers to import and export data effortlessly in order to review and analyse management reports within a familiar environment.

 

Roach comments, "Rules can be set-up to generate reports automatically and even update information in existing spreadsheets when details change in the general ledger. Managers can also access up-to-date reports on a daily basis rather than having to rely on monthly reports, enabling them to make business decisions based on accurate, real-time information. The functionality of the Report Writer module alone will save us about one day a month."

 

Working with 95% of all UK local authorities, SOCITM provides a widely respected forum for the promotion, use and development of ICT best practice, offering a range of services including publications, conferences, events, training, research and consultancy.