Member Article

Warrington council to streamline financial reporting

Warrington Borough Council is to streamline its budgeting and forecasting financial systems, which will see reporting time reduced from three months to two weeks.

From October 2013 the Council plans to implement a single-based web system that uses real-time information to let budget managers from any division access and compare budgets with forecasts.

The decision to streamline the system using “Collaborative Planning” software aims to save time and costs for the Council, and introduce a more collaborative approach to financial reporting.

Shaer Halewood, chief accountant from Warrington Borough Council, commented: “The latest government cuts mean we are under constant pressure to find ways to save costs and time, while maximising efficiencies.

“We talked to two other councils which are already seeing significant benefits by using Collaborative Planning, so this gave me confidence in the solution and reassured me that my cost and time saving goals are achievable.

“We also liked the fact that the solution can easily integrate with our SAP finance system and that it’s quick to implement and easy to use.”

“The processes that we currently use are time-consuming and cumbersome and aren’t empowering budget managers.

“Our aim, with this software, is to allow budget managers to take ownership of their own budgets and improve access to information.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .