Partner Article

New NFP selects Exchequer software to control purchasing

Newport Live to manage sports and leisure facilities on behalf of Newport City Council

Newport Live, a new not-for-profit organisation has implemented integrated finance and eProcurement software from Advanced Exchequer (Advanced). The hosted solutions will increase visibility and control over purchasing processes across seven local facilities.

Newport City Council transferred the management of cultural, sport and leisure facilities to a not-for-profit organisation in order to achieve anticipated efficiency savings of more than £500,000 in business rates and tax benefits. The formation of Newport Live is part of the Council’s strategy to more cost-effectively deliver leisure services to Newport residents.

From 1 April 2015 Newport Live assumed responsibility for the Wales National Velodrome, South East Wales Regional Swimming Pool and Tennis Centre, Newport Stadium, Newport Centre, Active Living Centre and the Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre. Overall, the leisure facilities are frequented by approximately two million visitors each year.

As a new company, Newport Live needed to implement separate back-office solutions as they moved away from Newport City Council’s corporate systems.

Ian Colbourne, Director of Finance and Resources at Newport Live explains, “We evaluated several suppliers and selected Exchequer for its superior out-of-the-box functionality and affordable licensing. The software’s flexibility, ease of use and hosting capabilities were also ideally suited to us as we can scale up as we require.

“The implementation project progressed smoothly and was successfully completed within very short timescales which was vital.”

The web-based eProcurement software is used to add new suppliers, track the approval status of purchase order requisitions and confirm receipt of goods ordered. Incoming invoices are automatically matched to purchase orders and electronically routed to relevant staff for authorisation via email, creating a fully streamlined process.

The system is able to build hierarchies for approvals and check costs against budgets, providing complete visibility of purchasing commitments. In addition, the integrated finance solution will automate manual accounts receivable processes to improve cash collection efficiency. Data from cash receipts and invoices can be quickly extracted from spreadsheets and be fully audited before being uploaded into Exchequer.

Ian Colbourne comments, “The solutions will allow us to retain central visibility of local purchasing decisions without needing to rely on inefficient paper-based procedures. This will help us to maintain tight financial control and ensure that money allocated for improving Newport’s leisure services is spent wisely.

“Exchequer’s systems will also significantly increase the finance team’s productivity. We can now raise a new supplier, enter a purchase order and authorise it within half an hour when with other systems this process could take up to a week.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Advanced .