A picturesque erp outcome

Overview

In picturesque Ontario, the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA), inter-municipal environmental protection and advisory agency, strive to protect and preserve the Rideau Valley watershed. They provide several conservation programs such as reforestation, water quality testing, flood forecasting and warning, landowner incentive programs, landowner information services, septic system approval and inspections, plan review and watershed planning. Underlying all these programs is the goal of having clean water, natural shorelines, and sustainable land use for generations to come. With 34 conservation areas across Ontario, RVCA serves the general public through education centers, camps, source centers, and centers to apply for building permits. 

Key Outcomes

• Upgrade of Sage 300 ERP
• Installation of Financial Link Pro
• Increase in efficiency across the entire staff & streamline business processes

Challenge
Although RVCA has always used Sage 300 ERP, they needed an upgrade from an older DOS version they were using. They realized that its computer system was antiquated and couldn't do what they wanted it to do. As the Conservation Authority grew, its accounting became more complex. The accounting department needed to organize grants, cash from parks, user fees, and permit fees. The current system couldn't handle that volume nor keep up with their demands.

RVCA placed an ad in the newspaper to look for a new supplier for their software needs. A company contacted them and won the bid to upgrade the system. However, during the new system's installation, the company they were working with experienced its own business failure and could not complete the installation promised. Understandably, this created undue stress for RVCA's Finance Officer, Angela Maisonneuve. At the time of the other company's collapse, BAASS was contacted by RVCA to finish the job.

Solution

RVCA upgraded to Sage 300 ERP, and it went extremely smoothly. BAASS introduced a new reporting program to fit the needs of RVCA specifically. With over 3,000 different accounts, 16 separate managers in seven various departments, and many different projects within those departments, the financial reporting requirements for RVCA were quite extensive. Several people needed to look at budget reports for each department and see exactly where money was needed. 

Previously, Maisonneuve created her own reports by manually inputting information from the general ledger into Excel spreadsheets. Unfortunately, this took much time, and when managers had a question about an amount or transaction, they had to go back to her to find all the details. To solve this, BAASS installed Financial Link Pro.

Outcome

With Financial Link Pro, Maisonneuve can create individualized reports for each department. Since it is directly linked to the general ledger, managers can drill down and look at the details on their own, rather than constantly having to go back to the accounting and finance team for information.

"I couldn't be happier with the results. Reports that were taking me a week to complete can now be generated within hours. Also, the managers for whom the reports are created are empowered to make more timely and informed decisions concerning the budget because they have real-time information." - Angela Maisonneuve, Financial Officer

RVCA has seen an increase in efficiency across the entire staff. With everything streamlined, bookkeepers can put out invoices and pay bills more efficiently. Since the modules interact with the general ledger, bookkeepers can directly send the accounts receivable to the general ledger. The staff who works at the front desk can immediately print out receipts, so customers don't have to wait. 

Users can also look at the financial database directly instead of having to wait for a staff member in accounting to obtain information: "I was really impressed with the way all the modules tie together with the general ledger so smoothly, as well as the adaptability of Sage 300 ERP". 

"My technical support is the team at BAASS. I'm talking to people locally who are just a phone call away. Even if I have a problem, I can e-mail or phone them and they get back to me right away and solve our problem." - Angela Maisonneuve, Financial Officer

Undertaking a system upgrade can be daunting for any business, even more so when they feel abandoned by the software company in which they put their trust. BAASS was able to continue where the other company had left off, restoring faith in the implementation. Maisonneuve recalled that when BAASS came, they could calm the RVCA team down when they were in a crisis. BAASS took the implementation step-by-step and got things up and running within three weeks. As any customer knows, customer service is imperative to your business. The service that BAASS provided for RVCA was the kind of service that keeps customers coming back.