Wealden District Council to Improve Spend Visibility and Automate Procurement with COA Solutions

Wealden District Council (WDC), an East Sussex local authority, is implementing a financial management system (FMS) with integrated budgeting, forecasting and electronic procurement functionality from COA Solutions (www.coasolutions.com). This FMS system, which also comprises electronic document imaging and data capture software (using Version One’s technology), will provide WDC with greater control over spend and automate procurement, including reducing manual data entry of invoice information by 80%. The planned go-live is April 2010.

Simon Little, Chief Accountant at Wealden District Council, says, “Our budgeting and forecasting processes rely on collating information from unwieldy spreadsheets and consequently take a disproportionate time to complete . This is restrictive, time-consuming and doesn’t provide us with real-time information about current and future spend. Our procurement processes are also manually-intensive and so we identified the need for a software system to provide greater visibility of expenditure whilst streamlining procurement.”

COA Solutions’ system was selected due to the broad range of functionality it can provide in a single, integrated solution. WDC was also impressed by the company’s extensive experience of delivering business applications to the public sector.

Using the COA Solutions system, WDC will be able to budget and forecast more accurately and in real-time, providing greater visibility of spend. The council will also replace manually-intensive procurement processes with automated purchase-to-pay (P2P), reducing time-consuming administration whilst providing procurement accountability.

Mr Little comments, “The COA Solutions system will increase spend transparency whilst bringing uniformity to our procurement processes. By having access to accurate and up-to-date information about out current and predicted spend, this will aid decision making. As we no longer have to waste several days consolidating budget spreadsheets, this will also free-up time, allowing staff to concentrate on more value-adding activities.”

With the automated P2P functionality, all purchase invoices arriving into the council will be scanned, tagged to the relevant transaction in the finance system and electronically stored in the archive. Any invoices requiring authorisation will be automatically routed to the appropriate members of staff for electronic approval. In addition, data on the invoices will be automatically captured and verified before being uploaded to the finance system, significantly cutting manual data entry.

Mr Little adds, “By automating our purchase-to-pay processes, we will have greater control over supplier payments and streamline procurement, including reducing manual data entry of invoice information by 80%. By eliminating the printing, photocopying and filing of financial documents, this will further improve efficiency whilst helping us to meet the environmental targets set-out by the Government’s Sustainability Agenda.”

About Wealden District Council  www.wealden.gov.uk
Covering 323 square miles, Wealden is the largest district in East Sussex and is home to approximately 140,000 people. Wealden District Council’s many responsibilities include housing, planning, building control, waste collection, recycling, emergency planning and economic regeneration.
With two-thirds of the district covered by the High Weald and Sussex Downs Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, as well as 34 conservation areas and over 2,500 listed buildings, Wealden District Council places a high value on protecting the countryside.
Wealden District Council currently has three main initiatives. Putting People First focuses on providing quality services and promoting health, prosperity and community safety across the authority. Pride of Place ensures Wealden is a place where services are delivered well, satisfying the needs and aspirations of local communities whilst Purpose Through Partnership aims to improve performance and efficiency whilst providing strong community leadership.

About COA Solutions www.coasolutions.com
COA Solutions is the UK's leading supplier of integrated business management and information systems to public, private and not-for-profit organisations in the service sector. COA Solutions prides itself on getting close to its customers by understanding their businesses and responding to their business needs.
COA Solutions' award-winning Smart Business Suite combines core financial management, procurement, human resource and payroll systems, integrated with a range of collaborative, document management and business intelligence solutions. COA Solutions also provides managed service and bureau service options. Its systems and services extend the value and effectiveness of the finance, HR and payroll departments across the organisation and enable managers in the business to monitor, analyse and continually improve corporate performance.
COA Solutions has more than 500 experienced and professional staff supporting and servicing over 4,000 clients across the UK service sector including Companies House, Newcastle City Council, WHSmith, Royal Bank of Scotland, Aer Lingus, National Express Group, DFS, RSPB and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust.

Contacts:
Liz Ebbrell, COA Solutions
Liz.ebbrell@coasolutions.com
+44(0)1625 856505 and 07917 634 705
 
Ben Carey, COA Solutions
Ben.carey@coasolutions.com 
+44 (0)1625 856505