Charity begins with adaptable software to
meet its financial reporting needs
Microsoft Dynamics NAV shows the way to
faster reports for the Irish Cancer Society
Published: October 2010
Few organizations remain the same over time, and it follows that their
important IT systems should be flexible enough to cope with that
change. Some also have unusual financial structures and that too can
present challenges, which is why it’s important to use technology that
can be adapted to suit the customer and not the other way around. A
user-friendly system means low learning curves and faster time to
produce reports, leading to efficiency all round.
Situation
The Irish Cancer Society is a non-profit agency that aims to achieve world-class cancer
services in Ireland, to ensure fewer people contract the disease and to help those who do to
have better outcomes. Since its establishment in 1963 the charity‟s goals have been focused
around prevention, survival and quality of life using advocacy, cancer services and research
to achieve those aims. Robust financial software is a must since the ICS manages an annual
budget of just under €18 million. It had been using Sybiz for several years, but had outgrown
the old DOS-based package while the ICS itself was undergoing changes. “The organisation
was growing and it‟s also quite a dynamic one. We would run various strategic plan periods
and our focus and strategy would change,” relates Niamh Ni Chonghaile, financial controller at
the ICS. “What we needed was the kind of structure in a financial package where you can
have breakdowns of activities or events that we run as well as the flexibility in how you report
and analyse data.”
Complicating matters was the ICS‟ unusual structure: for historical reasons, it comprises three
registered companies. “The bulk of our work goes through one company and if we need to do
something else with the others – which is minimal and season-specific – we have to operate
through an inter-company account,” explains Ni Chonghaile. “From the point of view of
reporting and analysis and management accounts, it comes out as if it was one company,
which is what we want. Then at the end of the year we have to produce individual company
accounts for audit, company law and tax purposes.”
What‟s more, charities are treated as VAT exempt under EU law, which means they can‟t
reclaim or charge value added tax. The ICS therefore has to pay the full price for goods and
services and cannot claim any VAT back. However with a properly functioning accounts
system, the ICS wanted to collect its VAT burden in an auditable manner. Having accurate
figures is vital in charities‟ attempts to lobby for a change in its VAT-exempt status, so that
they no longer have to pay more than businesses for their phone bills, advertising or office
equipment. “It‟s about being able to do something about this in the lobby, to be able to say this
is a provable, traceable VAT burden that we do not get back. The more charities do that, the
better figures we will have in terms of having a supportable case going to Government,” says
Ni Chonghaile.
Solution Overview
Organisation
The Irish Cancer Society
Customer Profile
The Irish Cancer Society works to
improve the lives of cancer victims
through advocacy, research and
services.
Industry
Non-profit sector
Business Situation
The ICS has an annual budget of €18
million and wanted to be able to run
breakdowns of activities and more flexible
financial reporting and analysis.
Solution Description
Microsoft Dynamics NAV modules
implemented are nominal ledger, accounts
payable, accounts receivable, cash
management, fixed assets and
management reporting.
Benefits
 Enhanced Reporting
 Reduced reporting timelines
 Flexibility to adapt to the business
needs of the ICS
Microsoft Software
Microsoft Dynamics NAV
Country/Region
Ireland
Solution
Having evaluated products from several providers, the ICS chose Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
Even then, it had concerns about becoming overly dependent on a single software supplier
but in the end, Dynamics‟ NAV‟s flexibility won out. The case was strengthened by the
Microsoft partner Ciall, and their willingness to provide the customisation work needed to suit
the ICS‟ structure. Ciall implemented Dynamics NAV modules as follows: nominal ledger,
accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash management, fixed assets and management
reporting. According to Ni Chonghaile, an important factor in the decision was ICS‟ desire to
run various types of analysis reports from its new financial package. “We manage our
expenditure across project areas and we also wanted to be able to see how much we were
spending on particular areas, such as publications or advertising. If you look at our accounts,
they are organised around our areas of work rather than expense lines, for example night
nursing, grants, research and so on – not salaries, advertising or heat and light. We wanted to
be able to look at it from the top down and across, and our old package didn‟t allow us to do
that,” she says.
Michael Horgan, the director responsible for the Dynamics NAV practice in Ciall, says much
time was spent analysing the ICS‟ business processes before the project got underway. Then
came a period of adapting the package to suit the charity‟s particular needs. “It wasn‟t a
particularly challenging project from a requirements point of view and this is a reflection on the
functions available in Dynamics NAV,” he says. “I have experience of other ERP systems and
flexibility is one of Dynamics NAV‟s strengths. We‟ve yet to meet a development that it can‟t
handle, and it can be delivered quickly – in hours or days. Dynamics NAV will work the way
you work rather than forcing you to change your processes.” ICS had tried to produce reports
from its previous system but there was too much manual effort involved. “Reporting is much
better than it was,” Horgan reports. “What the ICS has now is much more scalable. If they
have a new initiative, they just need to create one code and start booking revenue or costs
against that.”
With the functions available in Dynamics NAV, the ICS can track revenue and costs
associated with each one of the various fundraising initiatives it runs throughout the year,
such as Pink Ribbon Day or Daffodil Day. The system can also track activity at the ICS‟ 18
shops around the country, since it is a requirement in the charity sector that all income and
expenditure be classified as restricted (money raised for a particular initiative can only be
spent for that purpose), unrestricted or designated. Ciall also developed software that allows
Dynamics NAV to communicate with the ICS‟ database that manages the charity‟s income.
When this goes live, it will replace the manual monthly upload that is currently required.
Benefits
Wide-ranging analysis
Ni Chonghaile identifies the flexibility of reporting in Dynamics NAV as “the best part” for the
ICS since the implementation. “We can analyse the information so much more quickly and in
a variety of different ways – that‟s very helpful. Generally, the reporting and the degree of
flexibility around it is very good, so we like that.”
Staff time saved
Since implementing Dynamics NAV, the ICS has seen its time to produce reports reduced by
50 per cent. “It has enabled us to close management accounts within a working week and
produce reports for the managers within a week after that. We would have been taking two
weeks just to do our management accounts before that. so it has improved our efficiency
considerably,” says Ni Chonghaile.
Information at a glance
Another feature that Ni Chonghaile likes is the ability to export updatable reports from
Dynamics NAV to Microsoft Excel. “You can download them to Excel and you can update
them which means we can run budget variance reports at any time – that‟s very useful,” she
comments.
For More Information
About Ciall
www.ciall.com
Since 1997 Ciall has delivered a wide range of
consulting services and business solutions to its
clients across varied industry sectors, including
construction, engineering, hotel, financial
services, pharmaceutical and Non-Profit. Ciall‟s
founders and directors have professional
backgrounds in Accounting, Finance, Information
Systems and Project Management.
The Irish word ciall translates to English as
„meaning‟, „sense‟, „intelligence‟ or
„understanding‟. Understanding our clients‟
business issues and opportunities is at the core
of our approach enabling Ciall to deliver worldclass consulting services and business solutions.
For more information on Ciall‟s products and
solutions, please visit www.ciall.com.
About Microsoft in Ireland:
The Irish Sales, Services and Marketing
Operation of Microsoft was established in 1991.
The full-time team market all Microsoft products
and services in the island of Ireland, targeting
customers both North and South. The team
services customers across all segments including
enterprise, small and medium sized businesses
and home computer users. In addition to
developing desktop products, Microsoft provides
tailored consultancy services and solutions to
suit enterprise businesses. Microsoft is
continuing to concentrate on its relationship with
the Irish enterprise market - the top 100
companies in the island of Ireland. Enterprise
customers of Microsoft include the Department of
Education in Northern Ireland and the Civil
Service Commission, Dublin.
For more information on Microsoft‟s products and
solutions, please visit www.microsoft.com/ireland
About Microsoft:
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is
the worldwide leader in software, services and
solutions that help people and businesses realize
their full potential.
© 2010 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
reserved.
This case study is for informational purposes
only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES,
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Microsoft and Windows are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation in the United States and/or other
countries. The names of actual companies and
products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners.
User friendly
The Irish Cancer Society doesn‟t have a dedicated IT support operative person for its
accounts package – it relies on the Microsoft partner Ciall for any support relating to
Dynamics NAV. “Support calls have been very few,” confirms Horgan. Moreover, the ICS staff
required minimal training to use Dynamics NAV. “It‟s intuitive to use and it has a similar look
and feel to other Microsoft products,” he adds.
Compatibility with other systems
The ICS has a customer relationship management system called CARE, which manages all of
its fundraising projects and income, and it was important to ensure this would work with
Dynamics NAV. “CARE keeps the income in a really high level of detail – down to the ribbon
or down to the pin that we sell, because there‟s a stock control system in it as well,” says Ni
Chonghaile. “Dynamics NAV doesn‟t need it at that level; we would have 20 products for
Daffodil Day but from a financial accounts perspective we just need Daffodil Day income so
Ciall has developed an interface between both systems that takes the income from CARE and
brings it into Dynamics NAV. We did a whole mapping process between Care and Dynamics
NAV so that, for example, 20 linked products become one income line in Dynamics NAV.”
This feature is currently being tested , and is due to go live in an upcoming phase of the
project.
Niamh Ni Chonghaile,
Financial Controller, The Irish
Cancer Society
“It has enabled us to close
management accounts within a
working week and produce
reports for the managers within a
week after that. We would have
been taking the two weeks [just]
to do our management accounts
before that. NAV has improved
our efficiency considerably.
The cost of implementing NAV
was not prohibitive for us and the
degree of efficiency and reporting
flexibility that it has given us has
made it a worthwhile investment.”
Summary
Michael Horgan,
Niamh Ni Chonghaile confirms she would recommend Dynamics NAV – and has done – to other
agencies in the non-profit sector. “From our perspective it was an investment that had to be
justified because it‟s for the back office; it‟s not programme spend or coalface spend on services.
Our organisation wouldn‟t make that kind of expenditure lightly,” she says. “The cost of
implementing NAV was not prohibitive for us and the degree of efficiency and reporting flexibility
that it has given us has made us more efficient and made it a worthwhile investment.”
Director for the Dynamics NAV
practice, Ciall
“I have experience of other ERP
systems and flexibility is one of
Dynamics NAV‟s strengths.
We‟ve yet to meet a development
that it can‟t handle, and it can be
delivered quickly – in hours or
days. Dynamics NAV will work
the way you work rather than
forcing you to change your
processes.”