Accounting Solution Helps Lib Dems Improve Reporting and ...



Overview

Country: United Kingdom

Industry: Non-Profit

Customer Profile

Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) is the third biggest political party in the United Kingdom and a major player in local and regional government.

Business Situation

The party needed to modernise its accounting system to accommodate future business growth and to ensure that donations and collections were recorded accurately.

Solution

After considering several other solutions, Lib Dems chose Microsoft® Business Solutions–Navision®, now part of Microsoft Dynamics™, and Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000.

Benefits

■ Low total cost of ownership

■ Quicker compilation of VAT reports

■ Integrates easily with other applications

■ Easier reporting of critical data

■ Expert support from experienced partner

| | |“We now have much greater efficiencies, because of the flexibility of Microsoft Navision. Reporting is now integrated with Office 2003 and previous largely manual processes have been made redundant.”

Nigel Bliss, Director of Finance, The Liberal Democrats

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| | | |Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems), the third largest political party in the United Kingdom, wanted to |

| | | |upgrade its head-office accounting system to improve reporting and reduce operating costs. Its legacy|

| | | |system was inadequate for current and future growth and was not integrated with the not-for-profit |

| | | |organisation’s spreadsheet software. For example, Lib Dems needed to allocate six working days every|

| | | |quarter for compiling its Value Added Tax (VAT) return. Working with Peracto Solutions Ltd., an |

| | | |experienced Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, the party implemented Microsoft Business |

| | | |Solutions–Navision®, now part of Microsoft Dynamics™, with a Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 database. The|

| | | |time taken to produce the VAT returns is now dramatically reduced, and greater accuracy ensures peace|

| | | |of mind. The modular nature of the solution ensures the organisation can introduce upgrades over a |

| | | |period of time without re-engineering its business. |

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Situation

The Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) are the third-biggest political party in the United Kingdom with an estimated 70,000 members. It is also a major force in local and regional government, having majority control of 27 local authorities. Additionally, Lib Dems runs the Scottish Executive in coalition with another party.

With growth has come a need to upgrade the business systems that manage donations and collections for what is effectively a not-for-profit organisation. In 2003, Nigel Bliss, the Director of Finance at Lib Dems, began searching for a new accounting system. Bliss decided to replace the existing proprietary software so as to better manage finances and reduce administrative costs. He recalls: “Our legacy system was hampering our ability to grow the organisation. In particular, many finance, reporting, and administrative tasks were very long-winded and time-consuming.”

The finance department was standardised on Microsoft® Office 2003; however, the legacy accounting system reporting was not integrated with Office 2003, resulting in staff needing to transport and reformat the information. Bliss adds: “Another headache was that when doing reconciliations, you could only have one account open at a time instead of being able to easily flip between them.”

Of particular concern was the time it took to compile quarterly Value Added Tax (VAT) returns. These business processes were complex because as a not-for-profit or charity organisation, the Lib Dems are VAT-exempt on some transactions, but not on others. Bliss explains: “Because of the complicated rules, which are different for campaigning and conferences for example, it was taking six person days a quarter to complete the VAT return. In addition were our worries about the accuracy of the data using the old system and whether or not we could demonstrate that we were compliant with the rules.”

For all these reasons, as well as the need to improve reporting and have peace of mind about compliance given the sensitivity of political donations, Bliss turned to Peracto Solutions, an experienced Microsoft Gold Certified Partner to help resolve these issues. He was particularly interested in a Microsoft accounting solution he had seen exhibited during a trade show.

Solution

The Lib Dems chose Microsoft Business Solutions–Navision®, now part of Microsoft Dynamics™, with a Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 database. It went live in three months to correspond with the start of the party’s financial year. Bliss had also considered Sage Line 100, as well as a number of other solutions. The decision coincided with a migration from Microsoft Windows NT® Server version 4.0 to the Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003 operating system, part of Microsoft Windows Server System™ integrated server software.

As an experienced provider of complete business and finance solutions, Peracto Solutions offers unbiased advice on the best solution for non-profit or charitable organisations. Jaap Schram de Jong, Director, Peracto Solutions, says: “We made a great effort to understand their business and how the collections and donations work. Microsoft Navision provided them with a core accountancy system, but it also solved the problems with reporting quarterly VAT returns. The flexibility of Microsoft Navision easily lent itself to simplifying this issue.”

Instead of having multiple VAT sub ledgers, Microsoft Navision helped to make VAT accounts simpler to manage in actual usability, look, and feel. Bliss says: “Political parties are very different to other organisations in the not-for-profit and charitable sector, but we were impressed with how much care Peracto Solutions took to get to know our business.”

Peracto Solutions created an interface between Microsoft Navision and the software used by the Lib Dems Conferences Department, which has helped to simplify invoicing and administration. Bliss says: “We are continually looking at ways we can extend the use of Microsoft Navision and that’s why its flexibility is so valuable to us. Among the future options is to use Microsoft Navision for payroll administration.”

Benefits

Rapid Time to Market and Easy Integration with Other Applications

The Lib Dems migrated to Microsoft Navision in just three months, without any major disruption to their business. De Jong says: “In the past, having invested in a new accounting solution, you might have had to re-engineer your business in order to suit the solution.

“However, with Microsoft Navision a system can be built that will encapsulate and support unique processes, preserving and enhancing the business advantage that has been painstakingly developed. Microsoft Navision has the best mix of ease and power of customisation available in the market. It is ideal for a not-for-profit organisation.”

Low Total Cost of Ownership and Easier VAT Reporting

The Lib Dems have cut the time needed to complete their VAT returns from six person days each quarter to one and a half. Nigel Bliss says: “This represents a major saving for a small finance department, which is often the case with charities or not-for-profit organisations. But, it goes further than that. We now have much greater efficiencies, because of the flexibility of Microsoft Navision. Reporting is now integrated with Office 2003 and previous largely manual processes have been made redundant.”

In addition, the enhanced flexibility Navision contains in terms of providing different narratives within journals has offered Lib Dems greater ease and speed of posting these journals, thus improving accuracy

Integrates with Familiar Microsoft Business Management Tools

As part of the Microsoft family of offerings, Microsoft Navision works with widely used productivity applications, like Microsoft Office, and top technologies such as Windows Server 2003.

The Lib Dems decided to upgrade its operating system at the same time as switching to Microsoft Navision and chose Windows Server 2003. Nigel Bliss says: “Data entered in one place can be shared across the organisation—speeding operations, reducing errors, and putting accurate information at the fingertips of those who need it.”

Greater Certainty over Accounts Gives Peace of Mind

Microsoft Navision has brought greater certainty into the process for book keeping and the recording of donations, which is critical for any not-for-profit organisation.

Nigel Bliss says: “We cannot take the risk of getting anything wrong in recording donations, however I have far more confidence with our data now. With Microsoft Navision we also have a technology environment that will support our future growth plans. Unlike our legacy system, Microsoft Navision is a modular solution, which can be upgraded over time.”

Experienced Partner Demonstrates Understanding of the Business

The Lib Dems wanted a solution that would free up its finance department so that it could concentrate on other work instead of spending up to 24 person days a year compiling VAT returns.

Nigel Bliss says: “Peracto Solutions was the ideal partner because of their understanding of our needs. The level of detail demonstrated to us by Peracto Solutions convinced us that they understood our business and that they could implement the solution for us.”

Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systems your company already has implemented. By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success. 

For more information about Microsoft Dynamics, go to:

dynamics

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| |Software and Services

■ Microsoft Dynamics

− Microsoft Business Solutions–Navision |Microsoft Office Excel® 2003

■ Microsoft SQL Server 2000

■ Microsoft Windows Server 2003 | |

© 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. Microsoft, Excel, Microsoft Dynamics, the Microsoft Dynamics logo, Navision, Windows NT, Windows Server, and Windows Server System, are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation or Microsoft Business Solutions ApS in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft Business Solutions ApS is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:

For more information about Peracto Solutions products and services, visit the Web site at:

peractosolutions.co.uk

For more information about The Liberal Democrats, visit the Web site at:

.uk

“We are continually looking at ways we can extend the use of Microsoft Navision and that’s why its flexibility is so valuable to us. Among the future options is to use Microsoft Navision for payroll administration.”

Nigel Bliss, Director of Finance, Liberal Democrats

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