The Family Planning Association (FPA) provides sexual and reproductive health information, clinical services, education, training and research across New Zealand. The Association operates 12 education centres and has 30 outreach/school clinics and 30 clinical centres throughout the country.

The organisation was using MYOB at each of its offices running on four independent accounting systems. Consolidation was carried out using spreadsheets, which was an error prone and time consuming activity. On July 1 Family Planning consolidated its financial reporting in to a single location which resulted in a MYOB system failure. It was decided that the FPA needed an accounting system that was more suited to a multi-location business model. With the specific goal of having a fully operational and centralised accounting process the FPA began a search for a new system.

“We were looking for a robust, single accounting package that could be put in place by a trusted partner” says Financial Controller Donald Crawford. A search was conducted for a modern accounting system that could handle the size and complexity of the organisation – which included 80 different cost centres and special inventory problems related to assigning costs for miscellaneous items.

Solution
After extensive research the project went out to tender, which resulted in the selection of Enabling as the software provider to implement a Sage Accpac ERP accounting package. Sage Accpac ERP was selected because of its user friendliness, strong control features and ability to provide a level of functionality that could not be remotely matched by any other off the self product. Enabling’s reputation as a full service implementer was of significant importance to the FPA because they needed a software supplier that would understand their specific needs and be able to create a customised solution.

The main modules installed were General Ledger, Financial Reports, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Inventory, Internal Issues and Electronic Transfer to link up with the bank. Historical information was also added from MYOB to provide comparative information for succeeding years. Implementation of the project ran from November to the end of December, 2005 and went live on January 1, 2006.

Results
With Sage Accpac ERP installed, FPA’s consolidation problems were solved by the GL consolidation application that provided the ability to consolidate, edit and report information from multiple companies and various periods. In addition to solving the consolidation problem, the Sage Accpac installation put proper controls in place, providing assurances that data was entered accurately and not altered. Centralised data sets were implemented which enabled greater security and accessibility of data, and a greater reporting capability.

Reporting was greatly improved, with results now having a professional appearance that adhere to the standards of the National Council. More importantly it is estimated that as much as 20 days of work per year are saved through using the new system.

Future
The FPA have continued to make full use of their current system and regularly enquire about additional modules made available by Sage. Enabling’s consultancy services continue to be drawn on to optimise the effectiveness of their system and to keep ahead of new software developments.

For more information
Enabling Solutions
www.enabling.net
Ph 0800 ENABLING

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