Back

Integrating processes slashes expenditure for facilities management company

Our client faced challenges integrating their Sage based finance workflows with job management, HR, and payroll systems, resulting in costly inefficiencies and delays.

Overview

Holding workshops with stakeholders from different departments identified key opportunities for improvements in interdepartmental processes. This informed a solution built around automated invoice processing and integration of finance workflows. Following development and validation through pilot projects, the full solution was deployed at scale in just 8 weeks including staff training. In year one the project yielded savings of £250k representing a year one ROI of 165%.

Challenge

Internal processes were beset by inefficiencies as finance workflows were disconnected from job management, HR, and payroll systems:

  • Financial data was entered manually across systems, leading to errors and delays.

  • Manual invoice processing required significant effort and negatively impacted cashflow.

  • A lack of centralised reporting made it difficult to track financial performance across departments.

Bottle necks and duplication of effort not only impacted operational efficiency but also increased costs and reduced productivity.

Solution

We implemented our proprietary four step process:

Phase 1. Assessment

We conducted onsite workshops with finance, HR and operations teams to establish the current end-to-end state of key processes and their interactions.

This highlighted inefficiencies and enabled us to identify these valuable opportunities for improvement:

  • Automated invoice processing.

  • Integration of finance workflows with job management systems for seamless data sharing.

  • Centralised reporting dashboards for real-time visibility into financial performance.

Phase 2. Prototype

We created prototype concepts and achieved proof of value through targeted pilots.

  • Automated invoice processing concept using the Microsoft Azure toolset (Copilot and MS Power Automate) which extracted key data and made it usable for multiple purposes. 

  • Workflow integration between Sage and job management systems to streamline data sharing for job costing and project management.

Pilot projects allowed fine tuning and staff learning to take place at a small scale, allowing big improvements with low risk.

Phase 3. Scale

Following successful validation, solutions were rolled out across all departments.

  • We integrated the automated invoice processing tools further within Sage to eliminate manual data entry errors.

  • We developed additional Microsoft Power Automate workflows to connect Sage with other business critical systems in Operations, HR, and finance.

  • This enabled data synchronisation between departments for accurate real-time reporting and automated notifications for overdue invoices or payroll discrepancies.

Full implementation including staff training was completed within 8 weeks across all departments involved in financial operations.

Phase 4. Measure

We monitored key metrics for twelve months post-implementation:

  • Invoice processing time reduced by 78%, freeing up staff for integrated thinking.

  • Data errors reduced by 65% due to automated validation processes.

  • Centralised reporting dashboards provided real-time insights into financial performance across departments.

The project lowered operational costs by £250,000 annually due to reduced manual effort and improved workflow efficiency, representing a year one ROI of 165%.

Conclusion

This success story demonstrates the versatility of our structured approach as we worked within the client’s existing Microsoft Azure environment and tailored the solution to their business model and structure. Staff training was key as it helped the business become self-sufficient from the outset, ensuring ongoing savings.