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By implementing Microsoft Dynamics GP and Encore's Interfund Processing, Township High School District has gained a stable, intuitive and functional business management system capable of integrated control of all accounts with minimal effort and guaranteed accuracy.
With nearly 3,000 students in two high schools, Township High School District 113 (THS) prides itself on being on the cutting edge of technology, purposely giving its students a look into the future. THS also stays on cutting edge of technology for district operations, upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics GP and a powerful MS SQL Server.
Growing Pains
On a home-grown Windows-based system, THS was having more and more system issues, including database crashes, lost data and difficulty in recovering data after crashes. "We were down for long periods of time trying to recover data and get back to where we'd been prior to the crash," says Mary Schmidt, Accounting and Purchasing Manager.
Slow processing of data was an issue that was decreasing staff efficiency and morale. Also an issue was the system's limited versatility. Deciding a move to a Windows-based system with a more stable platform would be beneficial to its operations, the growing district began the search for a new solution.
As THS conducted its search, Microsoft Dynamics GP quickly showed itself to be the business solution with both the needed capabilities and the flexibility for growth. Schmidt liked the fact that Dynamics GP offers room for growth and allows THS to do everything online. "We had a vision of what we wanted; we knew what the staff needed. Versatility was the deciding factor," says Mary Schmidt, accounting and purchasing manager. "We've been able to take the system and move it along to do what we need to do."
A Solution to Fund Accounting
As a public school, THS must keep separate accounts for different budgetary expenditures. This practice is called fund accounting and is common in the public sector and not-for-profit industries. Fund accounting involves the control of funds that must be treated as separate entities based on governmental regulations.
Satisfied with the financial capabilities of Dynamics GP but still needing a method to control its fund accounting, THS also implemented third-party solution Interfund Management by Encore, which integrates seamlessly with Dynamics GP.
Developed specifically for multi-divisional/multi-company businesses and not-for-profit organizations, Interfund Management enables THS to manage its fund accounting without user intervention, seamlessly managing 10 different accounts in one general ledger account. Interfund Management provides an automatic analysis of transactions to ensure that fund accounts remain balanced and eliminates the need to manually reconcile account information.
Fund accounting involves the control of funds that must be treated as separate entities based on governmental regulations. "You don't even have to have a full understanding of fund accounting, because it's all done behind the scenes. It's a very clean process; you don't have to worry about being out of balance," Schmidt says.
Return on Investment
Microsoft Dynamics GP has significantly benefited THS in many ways, including:
- Improved Requisition Process: The previous process required each requisition be manually entered into a purchase order. Now the eRequisition module allows THS employees to enter requisitions via the employee intranet, significantly reducing processing time.
- Strong Operating Platform: MS SQL Server is an operating platform that requires far less maintenance than the previous server while offering greater stability and fewer system crashes. When problems do occur, recovery is much less difficult than it had been in the past.
- Ease of Information Retrieval: Having all information online allows for staff to easily find needed information using drill-down capabilities. "We can do everything online and all in one place. I don't have to go searching for information," Schmidt says.
- Improved Reporting: Utilizing the Crystal Reports and FRx module allows staff at THS to produce reports with exact level of needed detail. "Reporting is now so versatile and I feel very secure about my numbers. We can create reports that have exactly the information we need." Schmidt says.
- Keeping Pace with Technology: A company committed to product research and development, Microsoft Dynamics continues to add functionality base on customer needs. "I like the fact that every time we complete an upgrade, the system fulfills more and more of our needs," Schmidt says. "It never gets stagnant."
- Speed: Dynamics GP has eliminated manual processes and significantly increased the efficiency within the accounting department. Staff easily adapted to the user-friendly windows environment of Dynamics GP even after a lengthy relationship with a DOS-based system.
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