Case Study - Brunel University

Background

Located in Uxbridge, Middlesex, Brunel University offers around 650 courses to 13,000 students across four campuses.

Challenge/Requirements

• Smarter solution for reporting

• Tighter integration to improve cash-flow

• Need for better budgetary control

The finance department needed to review labour intensive activities such as reporting, improve the management of student debt and control and manage the expenditure of different cost centres.

Gary Brown, Systems Development Accountant, commented, "The time spent on reporting was too high and there was virtually no integration between different systems. A lot of paperwork was being generated and information had to be re-keyed into the core finance package causing large amounts of unnecessary work and the danger of costly errors."

The work involved in reporting was significant, taking a total of 15 man-days each month to prepare and distribute information to over 100 recipients.

"There were several arguments for introducing greater integration" says Gary Brown. "But one of the principal drivers was to improve our cash-flow, by improving the management of our student debt."

Solution:

Brunel University moved to bluQube and looked to its improved functionality to help address its key challenges.

Faster, clearer and customised reporting

The report scheduling functionality, Reports Express, automatically distributes reports by e-mail or to the intranet in a format that is suitable for non finance professionals. Gary Brown says, "When reports were handled manually they were incredibly time-consuming and were often out of date by the time they were delivered. With Reports Express, customised reports are delivered to each recipient in less than a day."

Devolved budgeting

Budget holders have direct access to bluQube via their own personal web page where they can monitor spending in real-time to see what commitments they have made and avoid overspending. Gary Brown commented, "Many finance systems are too complex for non-finance staff to understand, but bluQube has been designed so that screens can be personalised according to who is viewing. This approach supports the University's philosophy to devolve responsibility for expenditure to individual budget holders."

Simplifying complex transactions

"The second step" says Gary Brown, "was to look at how bluQube's integration tool, Integrator, could help us minimise the effort involved in updating bluQube with data from external sources. The first area where this would bring tremendous benefits was managing student fees and debt." Gary Brown explains the main dilemma, "Without integration between these external systems and bluQube, data had to be manually re-keyed, this was not only arduous but also carried the risk of errors and omissions.

Debt Collection

Capitalising on the integration provided by bluQube, debt recovery is now an automated process. Gary Brown commented, "Before using bluQube, there was no structured way of chasing debt. It tended to be done sporadically sometimes by phone, sending out reminders using mailmerges - or sometimes not done at all."

Self-service payment

By linking all these systems together using Integrator, information is always up to date and the University can give students the facility to view their latest financial situation on-line. The introduction of an on-line payment provision for students has proved popular because it can be done in their own time and they do not have to queue up, reducing workload and waiting times during peak periods.

Results:

• Faster clearer customised reporting

• Automated debt collection

• Devolved budgeting to non-finance personnel

• Full integration with external systems

Tony Holloway, Director of Finance commented, "The ability to distribute financial data at regular intervals is a great boon for all departments, because they are more aware and in control of issues such as cash flow and budget, therefore minimising the risk of over or underspending.

Also, our management accounting team can now invest more time in advising and meeting with different departments rather than collecting and presenting financial data. This encourages a proactive rather than reactive approach to financial matters, making the University more accountable, and overall spending more cost-effective.

Gary Brown commented, "The real-time integration has made a huge difference. The amounts that individuals have to pay are changing on a daily basis as the Student Loan Company assesses individuals' ability to pay. We used to have to manage this with loads of spreadsheets with lots of scope for error. Now we can get all the invoices out the following day, knowing that it includes the latest information. Having the confidence that what you see in the student system is what exists in bluQube, makes everyone's life so much easier and that includes the little things like if you change the address in one system you know that bluQube will always be in step."