Company:

McConnell Dowell has built thousands of iconic, landmark assets, facilities and infrastructure around the world. When Group Finance Systems Manager, Inez Clement needed an ERP that served the entire business function end to end, she turned to Forpoint Solutions in 2010 for her Infor SunSystems solution.

Industry:

Construction

Company Size:

3,000+ Employees

Region:

Australia, New Zealand & Asia

Existing ERP:

BlackLine / Infor Sunsystems

Software Implemented:

BLACKLINE

INFOR SUNSYSTEMS

The Challenge:

David Shahinian, Director of Forpoint Solutions, fondly recalls McConnell Dowell as one of their earliest clients who embraced their consulting services. As McConnell Dowell expanded globally, they underwent several upgrades to their systems.

Over the span of 8 years and across 2 projects, David and his team at Forpoint were entrusted with the task of upgrading McConnell Dowell’s systems from Infor SunSystems 5.2 to 5.4, and later from 5.4 to 6.2, across their offices in 9 different countries.

Upon the successful completion of the consolidation project, Inez approached David seeking assistance with streamlining the financial close process. After careful consideration, BlackLine emerged as the ideal solution, seamlessly integrating with McConnell Dowell’s existing Infor SunSystems setup. Leveraging Forpoint’s expertise in system integration, the next hurdle was automating the transfer of account balances from Infor SunSystems to BlackLine.

The project goals were aimed at:

• Updating and servicing multiple solutions in offices across 9 countries.
• Developing custom solutions for integration needs
• Solving complex problems that required customised development &  implementation

The Solution:

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Company:

Fitzroys is an innovative, multifaceted commercial property agency with a history of service and performance. Through our capacity to provide astute advice and consistently achieve high-quality outcomes, we have secured a respected position within the Australian property industry.

Industry:

Property Development

Company Size:

100+ Employees

Region:

Australia

Existing ERP:

Spreadsheets / Infor Sunsystems

Software Implemented:

SAGE INTACCT

ELMO EXPENSES

The Challenge:

Fitzroy’s former Financial Controller, Peter Gough, identified a critical need to modernise the company’s financial management processes. Their existing legacy system was not only outdated but also failed to provide the agility and insights required in a competitive business environment. To address these challenges, Peter set out to implement a Financial Management System (FMS) that would streamline operations, enhance real-time reporting, and improve overall business processes.

At the time, Fitzroy’s accounting operations relied on an on-premise solution that lacked the capability for real-time reporting. This limitation made it difficult to provide the board with up-to-date insights into the company’s performance. Whether tracking daily, weekly, or monthly metrics, the absence of real-time financial reporting created delays in decision-making and hindered the company’s ability to respond proactively to market conditions.

The transition to a new system posed challenges, including resistance from team members concerned about moving away from a familiar legacy system. However, the inefficiencies of the old solution were evident. Significant time and resources were spent managing and maintaining the on-premise system. Additionally, the reliance on multiple Excel files and manual processes further underscored the urgent need for a solution that offered real-time reporting and automation.

Implementing a modern Financial Management System enabled Fitzroy to overcome these obstacles. By prioritizing real-time reporting, the new solution provided immediate access to financial data, streamlined reporting processes, and empowered the team to focus on strategic tasks rather than time-consuming manual updates. This transformation not only improved operational efficiency but also delivered the actionable insights the board needed to make informed decisions swiftly.

Fitzroy’s journey highlights the power of embracing real-time reporting to drive financial agility and business growth.

The project goals were aimed at:

• Having a Real-time information cloud system with the ability to drill down and make immediate changes
• A Fully accessible portal for the board of directors
• A finance team fully invested in the product
• A system that meets all our requirements
• Developing high-end board reporting and in general high-end reporting

Seamless Implementation: Unlocking Real-Time Reporting with Forpoint

Fitzroy’s implementation with Forpoint was a blend of in-office collaboration and remote support, designed to ensure a smooth and efficient process. Despite the inherent complexities of migrating to a new system, the experience was seamless for Fitzroy. The team was able to log issues as they arose, and Forpoint responded swiftly to address and resolve them, maintaining momentum and minimizing disruptions.

To ensure a flawless transition, the solution was developed and rigorously tested in controlled environments. This approach allowed Fitzroy to continue using their existing system without interference during the implementation phase. Once the new system was thoroughly tested, the team was trained and fully prepared for launch.

The transition to the new Financial Management System, complete with real-time reporting capabilities, was executed with precision. Going live was as simple as flipping a switch, resulting in minimal impact on business operations. Fitzroy quickly began reaping the benefits of the modern system, including streamlined workflows, enhanced insights, and the power of real-time reporting to drive smarter decision-making.

The Results

Quick Wins Achieved with Sage Intacct and Real-Time Reporting

Within the first three months of launching the Sage Intacct platform, Fitzroy’s reported multiple quick wins that significantly enhanced their financial operations and decision-making processes. One of the most impactful improvements was the introduction of real-time reporting, which allowed Peter Gough to deliver accurate and up-to-the-minute insights directly to board members during meetings.

With the new system, Peter could present real-time Profit and Loss (P&L) statements and detailed sales reports on demand. This capability extended to reporting on leasing fees and granular details about property management fees, enabling a level of financial transparency and precision previously unattainable.

Before the implementation of Sage Intacct, this information was scattered across multiple spreadsheets, requiring significant manual effort to consolidate and present. Board meetings often involved pulling up various reports on-screen to address specific queries, leading to delays and inefficiencies. With real-time reporting, these challenges were eliminated, enabling a more dynamic and productive discussion with the board.

Fitzroy’s adoption of Sage Intacct transformed their financial processes, making data-driven decision-making faster and more effective while enhancing confidence and clarity in reporting.

“I can run a report with a click of a button I can feel confident as a CFO, I have everything at my fingertips and can deliver on a platform that I wanted at board level.”

Peter Gough – Financial Controller

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Company:

Yarra Trams in Melbourne is the world’s largest tram network consisting of seven locations: four depots, 206 trams, carrying over 60 million passengers more than 8.9 million kilometres per year.

Industry:

Transport

Company Size:

1000+ Employees

Region:

Melbourne, Australia

Existing ERP:

Spreadsheets

The Challenge:

Yarra Trams CFO Jon Fang came to Forpoint with issues related to still having quite manual processes in the finance team. Excel was being used heavily across the department, a very manual process that was limiting their ability to growth to the new business needs. The manual process was also dependant on a single resource to maintain the process and would result in discrepancies in the budget and forecast. The process also didn’t allow insight or analysis into the data. We knew there was a better way.

Yarra Trams CFO Jon Fang came to Forpoint with number of issues with the existing budgeting and financial planning tool which has led to the request for a replacement application; these include connectivity issues, unsatisfactory vendor support and, as a result, over-reliance on OCMS for ongoing support and over-reliance on Excel spreadsheets as inputs. Furthermore, once these issues are overcome, the existing application only allows for processing of aggregate data, and does not provide the capability to drill down into underlying detail. 

The Results

Yarra Trams has reported savings of thousands from deploying this solution, which has reduced manual labour and increased accuracy, not to mention being able to clearly see financial data in real-time and not having to wait until after end-of-the-month reports. Compliance for audit has become seamless and the intuitive system can be accessed from anywhere due to being cloud-based. Moving from spreadsheets means now, the need to manually enter from disparate spreadsheets is eliminated entirely, freeing up the team’s time to focus on forecasting and strategy.

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Company:

Weston Energy is a Sydney-based gas retailer, backed by Weston Aluminium, one of Australia’s leading recycling and industrial services businesses. Weston Energy helps its customers buy gas in new ways to keep the cost of energy down.

Industry:

Energy

Company Size:

<100

Region:

Australia

Existing ERP:

Spreadsheets

Key Software Used:

SAGE INTACCT

ASSET ACCOUNTANT

The Challenge:

Held back by limited, outdated financial management software Weston Energy was facing several challenges with its legacy software, says its Financial Controller, Chris Mouradjallian. “Our previous financial management software was very outdated.”

“The solution was hosted on a server and it had very limited functionality. For instance, you couldn’t reverse or edit certain actions. It was very difficult to monitor and control our accounts receivables.” “We had a change in management within the business, so we were being asked to provide different financial reporting and data. Our previous system couldn’t help us meet these requirements.”

“Ours is a multi-entity business, and our previous solution was set up on a single entity structure. We needed a modern financial management solution that would allow us to manage multiple entities.”

The Results

Gaining financial visibility and simplifying accounting across the business “Sage Intacct has helped us dramatically simplify our accounting processes. We can now process accounts receivables 30% quicker than with our previous solution,” says Mr Mouradjallian. “Sage Intacct makes it much easier to report on, monitor, and control our key accounting metrics, especially our accounts receivables and accounts payables.

The solution’s intuitive dashboards provide an easy-to-use hub where you can see all the critical information you need, in real time.” “It’s a lot simpler and quicker to plan our cash flow with Sage Intacct. It has also helped us speed up the process of getting paid by debtors. It’s easy to see who owes us what, and chase accordingly.”

“With Sage Intacct’s multi-entity capabilities, we will be able to gain much more financial visibility across our business. It will allow us to do reporting at the entity level, or gain a top level, business-wide picture of our finances. It will also help us with group reporting.” “Sage Intacct’s multi-entity capabilities will help us gain a lot of efficiencies across our business’ entities and groups. We will be able to set up structures in one entity and transfer it over to other entities, helping us save significant time.”

“Sage Intacct is a very easy to use solution. The layout and functionality are intuitive, and it was easy to learn how to use the solution, with little training.” “The support we have received from Sage has been great. They are very on the ball and respond quickly when we need support.”

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Company:

Specsavers is the largest optical retailer in Australia and New Zealand. It launched in Australia in 2007 and now has more than 350 stores providing affordable optical healthcare across the region.

Industry:

Retail

Company Size:

21,000 + Employees

Region:

UK, Europe, Australia/NZ

Existing ERP:

Spreadsheets

The Challenge:

Specsavers, a British multinational optical retail chain, offers optician services and eyewear in stores throughout the British Isles, Australasia, and the Nordic countries. As the business became more complex, the team’s spreadsheet-based processes began to show their cracks. Specsavers urgently needed a new budgeting solution.

The challenges they were facing were:

• Limited visibility into critical cost drivers, including headcount and travel
• Lengthy budgeting process, requiring consolidation of 60 cost centres
• Error-prone spreadsheets which detracted from finance’s more strategic responsibilities

The Results

Deploying the Business Planning Cloud has dramatically reduced the time and effort Specsavers spends creating and consolidating budgets across 60 cost centres. More importantly, Specsavers now has visibility into and understanding of different cost drivers in order to control spending and manage growth. And soon they’ll be able to forecast more frequently as well as improve self-service reporting.

What they were able to achieve:

• Streamlined budgeting and consolidation, which enables budget changes to be made and reflected on the P&L statement within seconds rather than days
• Better understanding of cost drivers and what-if-scenario modeling
• Finance focused on strategy and growth rather than manipulating spreadsheets

Forpoint continues to help Specsavers be at the forefront of their financial processes.

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