Rushcliffe Borough Council: Rushcliffe Borough Council selects ABS finance system to streamline financial processes

Rushcliffe Borough Council is implementing a financial management system (FMS) with integrated budgeting, forecasting and business intelligence functionality from Advanced Business Solutions (ABS). This integrated system, which also comprises electronic document imaging and data capture software, will improve processing efficiency within the finance department. The council is also anticipating greater procurement transparency. The go live is April 2011. 

ABS’ integrated FMS will replace standalone software systems The FMS will automate a number of processes while making key financial information instantly accessible to authorised staff, increasing financial visibility across the organisation. Furthermore, using the integrated business intelligence solution, key financial information will be easily extracted from the FMS, interrogated and automatically made available to budget holders. 

Neil Morton, Head of Financial Services at Rushcliffe Borough Council, says, “ABS’ finance system will deliver efficiency savings and help us to better understand our spend . Manual and error-prone financial processes, such as the time-consuming consolidation of spreadsheets, will also be eliminated.”

Morton adds, “ABS’ finance system will speed-up reporting and provide budget holders with tighter control and visibility over their department’s expenditure. With real-time access to accurate data, we will be able to identify any potential financial issues at an early stage so that we can take the necessary corrective action.”

The integrated data capture and document imaging functionality (which uses Version One’s technology), will enable supplier invoices to be scanned centrally and then automatically linked to the corresponding ledgers in the ABS system. The data will be automatically captured from the scanned invoices and verified before being uploaded to the FMS. Invoices requiring authorisation will be automatically routed to the appropriate staff for approval, eliminating the time-consuming and costly manual authorisation of 7,000 paper invoices every year. With the electronic storage of all purchase invoices, Rushcliffe Borough Council will be able to free-up document storage space and eliminate considerable document archiving costs. 

Morton says, “Automating our purchase-to-pay processes will eliminate time-consuming paper-based processes and deliver efficiency savings for the authority. The automated data capture technology will also reduce manual data entry by approximately 70%, further enhancing purchase-to-pay efficiency.”

Notes to Editors:

About Rushcliffe Borough Council www.rushcliffe.gov.uk

Rushcliffe lies immediately south of the City of Nottingham and the River Trent and extends across towards Newark in the North East and Loughborough in the South West. Although parts of the Borough lie close to Nottingham, Rushcliffe has a strong identity of its own. The main centre of population is West Bridgford, where around 36,000 of the Borough’s 100,000 plus population live. The remainder of the district is largely rural, with the centres of population split between small towns and villages.

About Advanced Business Solutions www.advancedcomputersoftware.com/abs

Advanced Business Solutions (ABS), formerly COA Solutions, provides leading integrated business applications and services that enable public, private and third sector organisations to retain control, improve visibility and gain efficiencies whilst continually improving corporate performance. ABS prides itself on getting close to its customers by understanding their businesses and responding to their evolving needs.

ABS's software systems comprise core accounting/financial management, procurement, human resource and payroll systems, integrated with a range of collaborative, document management and business intelligence solutions to extend the value and effectiveness of the finance, human resource and payroll departments, which can also be delivered as a managed or bureau service option. 

Customers come from both public and private sectors and include Companies House, Newcastle City Council, WH Smith, Royal Bank of Scotland, Aer Lingus, National Express Group, DFS, RSPB and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust. 

Advanced Business Solutions is a division of Advanced Computer Software Group plc, a leading supplier of software and IT services to the health, care and commercial sectors. 

About Advanced Computer Software Group plc www.advancedcomputersoftware.com

Advanced Computer Software Group plc (Advanced) is the leading supplier of software and IT services to the health, care and commercial sectors with a primary focus on delivering high quality products and services to enable first class delivery of care in the community. Advanced's portfolio for the health and care sector includes IT management and analytics systems for out-of-hospital applications covering urgent and unplanned care, district nursing, hospices, residential care homes, telehealth, end-of-life and long-term-condition management; as well as mobile information systems for community carers. 

Advanced additionally delivers back-office systems for NHS trusts, local authorities and care providers and is further strengthening its position in the health checks and pharmacy services markets. Working with partners in the NHS, local government and the private sector, Advanced delivers IT in support of safe and efficient care delivery and greater information for both the commissioner and care provider. The company's unique proposition is the breadth of integrated health and care solutions from patient-facing IT systems through to back-end operational systems and services. 

Advanced is also a leading supplier of software and IT services to the commercial sector. This part of the business underpins growth whilst providing opportunities for cross-marketing of products and IT services. 

Contacts:

Ben Carey 
Advanced Computer Software Group plc
Ben.carey@advancedcomputersoftware.com
+44(0)1625 856505