Dynamic accounting for housing NGO

The National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC), one of the fastest growing non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in South Africa, has deployed Great Plains Software`s Dynamics accounting package to control its burgeoning affairs.

The NHBRC helps protect buyers of new homes against shoddy workmanship. Registered home builders are obliged to issue five year standard home builders warranties on all new houses.

It has been so successful that many banks are stipulating that builders have to be registered with the NHBRC before they will finance a house; and the Government has recommended that all builders register with NHBRC.

This would greatly amplify the scope of the NHBRC`s business. Financial manager Mark Arendse says the NHBRC chose Dynamics, supplied by Eikon Software`s value added reseller, FINFO International (Pty) Ltd, because it alone fulfilled the NHBRC`s requirements. "We first ran another system, but soon outgrew it as we needed a LAN-based accounting package. Our other requirements were that it had to be Windows-based, for ease of use and training; it had to be 32-bit, for performance. ODBC (open database connectivity) was a prime requirement as we wanted freedom of choice in our selection of database; and it had to be scalable as we anticipated rapid growth. Finally, it had to be cost-effective, and Dynamics has certainly proven to be just that."

Arendse reports that the cost of a four-user Dynamics, running on a single-Pentium Digital server against a SQL Server database, plus configuration and training, amounted to just R80 000. Subsequently the NHBRC has taken four more licences and, as it spreads to other regions and is deployed on a wide-area network, it anticipates taking four more. This easy scaling in licensing was another attractive feature for the NHBRC, adds Arendse. The database contains details of all the registered builders and enrolled houses on record. It is also connected to PLANET (Property & Loan Application Network) which banks can access to determine whether a specific builder is registered. Arendse says Dynamics is crucial to fulfilling the NHBRC`s promise of transparency and solid bookkeeping. "We are the first developing country where such a council has been set up," he says, "although there are similar councils in developed countries such as Canada and the UK. They are watching us with keen interest."

The growth of the NHBRC has been dramatic. From a staff complement of 10 people a year ago, it now has more than 40. It registers some 400 houses a day and 30 contractors a week.

In many senses, adds Arendse, the NHBRC has been a pioneer with Dynamics. "Much of what we wanted to do with Dynamics had not been done before, anywhere in the world. We had no model to follow and the goalposts kept changing as our needs became clearer. But Dynamics was flexible enough to move with us, and FINFO International (Pty) Ltd. simply adapted the program to fit our needs."

Among the factors that made NHBRC`s needs analysis so difficult, says Arendse, was the unique demographics of South Africa`s builders. "We are dealing with builders as diverse as, on the one hand, Stocks & Stocks and Murray and Roberts, who fully are computerised; and on the other, with a one-man building operation in a township."

FINFO International (Pty) Ltd. has applied Dynamics at some 14 sites around South Africa. "Our success at NHBRC emphasises the unique strengths of Great Plains Dynamics," says Kevin Laing, sales consultant at FINFO. "Our rapidly growing reference list shows that customers are ready for Dynamics` blend of scalability, flexibility and ease of use."