The Diocese of Salisbury’s finance management system was almost two decades old and 17 versions behind the latest release.

About the client

The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England, within the ecclesiastical Province of Canterbury, covering most of Dorset and Wiltshire.

The Diocese prepares accounts and budgets for the Diocesan Board of Finance, provides funding and grants, pays clergy stipends and pension contributions, and manages relationships with statutory bodies. Their property department is involved in estate management, clergy housing and commercial building services within local communities.

The Challenge

The Diocese of Salisbury’s existing finance management system was almost two decades old and 17 versions behind the software’s latest release. This resulted in the use of outdated and inefficient work processes, including trying to manage data across multiple spreadsheets.

Digital communication between the accounts and property offices proved difficult and both departments were overrun with paper files. It made keeping on top of important information and deadlines a frustrating challenge. Much of the Diocese’s work was being done manually, including accounts production and VAT returns, reporting and submission. They were also approaching the end of a contract agreement with the provider of an existing accounting system, at risk of renewing their license at a prohibitive rate. The requirement for a replacement system quickly became a matter of urgency.

It became very clear to ForGood.Tech after consultation with the Diocese that an opportunity for improvements in operational efficiency and cost savings were achievable.

The Solution

The Diocese needed a modern approach to accounting that involved automating the manual processes that proved arduous and frustrating. A method of joining property spend with the finance system was also necessary. This would allow for a truer picture of costs.

The technology and computer systems used by the Diocese were limiting; aside from the finance system, Microsoft Word and Excel were the only two digital platforms implemented. It was important that any new solution integrated seamlessly with the Microsoft software Diocese staff were already familiar with.

After speaking to several providers, the Diocese of Salisbury partnered with ForGood.Tech to realise their journey of digital transformation. ForGood.Tech’s answer to the pains of working with systems they had long outgrown was to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Project features

This project needed to focus on the finance team’s requirements before looking towards wider business use. Having used Dynamics GP for a considerable time, the streamlining of processes was the main aim of the project.

Moving to Microsoft Dynamics NAV was also a key part of the Foundation aligning their systems with their automation and digital transformation strategy.

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“With ForGood.Tech’s help and excellent systematic training, we were able to achieve go live within 3 months.”

Spokesperson from the Diocese of Salisbury

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Looking to the future

ForGood.Tech achieved implementation within 3 months and the benefits realised by the Diocese of Salisbury as a result of their Dynamics 365 Business Central deployment has prompted them to undertake further exciting projects with ForGood.Tech.

This includes the expansion of their solution’s reporting functionality, integration of Power BI dashboards for different user levels and the improved procurement and evaluation of suppliers in both accounts and property.

The ability to deliver systems and solutions tailored to specific needs is how ForGood.Tech helps an organisation like the Diocese define their operational rhythm and improve processes across all functions.