Since the late 1980s, Auckland based Mazda Motors Of New Zealand had used an industry specific accounting system, BPCS. Recently, Mazda carried out a comprehensive appraisal of their system requirements and investigated many financial software products including Greentree (who were recently recognised as one of 25 global rising stars by MIS magazine).

 "When compared with other software solutions," says finance manager David Hodge, "Greentree offered a cost effective solution that addressed our business needs. One area that really stood Greentree apart was the links into Excel and the financial reporting facilities."

Implementing a new business system often means lengthy staff training and demands on valuable staff time (the system went live in September 2000 - using the Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Cash Management and Foreign Currency modules). But as Greentree is a Windows based system, the team at Mazda found it extremely easy to use and it has allowed users to quickly become familiar with the system.

The ability to customise data entry screens has also allowed temporary staff to more easily understand and access key functions. Lynn Carr, a user in the finance department, was extremely pleased with the Greentree software as it makes her job easier and less time is wasted.  "I was hesitant at first as it was something new to learn," she says. "So I allocated myself a month to learn it, but within a week I was familiar with it and never looked back. It's so simple to use."

Mazda are extremely impressed with the speed and general time savings of the new system and are able to do more with Greentree than they could with their former system. One area of enhanced functionality was the month and year-end processing for each module, which is now a simple task taking just seconds.

All transactions entered into Greentree are date stamped with the relevant period and year, so there's no formal period-end aging or processing that needs to be performed. "Greentree has really sped up and streamlined our month end process and reporting," says Hodge. "With the old system we could finish the process by work day 10 and now we can complete it by work day two."

Mazda have also benefited from a forecasting facility within Greentree, which allows them to explore 'what-if' scenarios and plan asset movements more effectively. "This is one feature that we didn't realise we'd benefit so much from," says Hodge. "It allows us to monitor and incorporate changing conditions that impact our business."

The flexible reporting into Microsoft Word and Excel was also an area that has enhanced their accounting system. "Greentree provides us with seamless integration with Microsoft Word and Excel - so we're able to produce a number of budget and forecasting reports. It's worked really well for us."

For information about this case study contact

www.greentree.com/customers/profiles/mazda.cfm

Graham Hill
Ph: 0800 313 313
Fax: 09 366 3889
graham.hill@greentree.com
www.greentree.com

November 2003

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