Johannesburg, 17 Nov 2010
Merchants, a Dimension Data company and leading provider of bespoke outsource contact centre solutions, has implemented a financial budgeting and reporting solution idu-Concept, for its Sage ERP Accpac system.
Merchants previous systems were simplistic, which resulted in its budgeting process being both time-consuming and having an increased margin for error.
Kevin Phillips, Managing Director, idu Software says there were also ongoing aggregation challenges. “Merchants received budget input in the form of spreadsheets from a variety of managers. It was a challenge to obtain a collective view without spending significant time consolidating all feedback into one spreadsheet. Ownership of numbers also became an issue as the budget cycle progressed.”
Phillips said idu-Concept provided Merchants with a customised solution designed to streamline and reduce the time-consuming and repetitive process of budgeting, forecasting and management reporting. “We established a platform of ownership and empowerment that inevitably led to radical improvement and effective management control of every aspect of the business.”
According to Shane Budd, Financial Director, Merchants: “Merchants has been able to achieve a paradigm shift in relation to our approach to budgeting. We have been able to leverage our base Accpac solution and provide internal customers with the information they require thanks to a dedicated and dependable on-demand reporting solution.”
Budd says the system is flexible enough for Merchants to configure its revenue and cost budget rules internally, while recording its budget related intellectual property in one secure location. “The system has provided Merchants with a powerful, flexible and agile budget platform that allows us to make adjustments as our business changes.”
Keith Fenner, Vice-President of Sales, Softline Accpac, says solutions are often developed with the intention of providing customers with a level of self-service. “By empowering the business unit managers within Merchants to take ownership of the budget and their actual spend, you delegate responsibility. This has proven to be extremely valuable to the finance department. Instead of having a single finance team monitoring and managing spend, Merchants now has every business unit manager involved in the process and running their business areas as if it were their own business.” Fenner says this increased sense of ownership will enable Merchants to leverage the embedded skills and abilities of the entire business and assist in positioning it for future growth.
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