PRESS RELEASE
Council targets £500,000 savings with the help of Advanced Business Solutions’ budgeting and forecasting system integrated into Oracle
04 October 2011 – Cheshire West and Chester Council is implementing a budget monitoring and forecasting system from Advanced Business Solutions (ABS) to enable £500,000 cost savings within the next three years. This budget monitoring and forecasting system is being interfaced into the Council’s existing Oracle financial system to enable the quick and easy download of data. This will go live early 2012.
Debbie Hall, Senior Manager, Financial Management says “As forecast information is not currently held in Oracle, monthly and quarterly budget monitoring is undertaken largely on spreadsheets, with actual and commitment data being downloaded from Oracle. This is very time-consuming, is open to data entry errors and makes financial reporting cumbersome.”
After evaluating the market, the Council selected ABS’ system for its budget monitoring and forecasting needs as it can interface to Oracle, has the flexibility the council requires and is a user-friendly system. ABS also has a proven track record working with local authorities.
ABS’ system will enable budget holders to more easily monitor budgets and update forecasts, allowing the service accountants to concentrate on more value-adding activities, for example supporting the holders of the more risky and volatile budgets. Budget monitoring and forecast information for the whole Council will be quickly and easily accessible and standardised reports will be generated, enabling a holistic and instant view of the Council’s finances. In addition, the ABS system will automatically flag-up any budgets that create a medium or high risk for the Council, improving budget monitoring.
Debbie Hall says, “Budget holders will be empowered to take ownership of their own budgets and forecasts. We will also have instant access to actual, budgeted, committed and forecast financial information in the same system, creating a single version of the truth.”
Debbie Hall adds “ABS’ budget monitoring and forecasting system creates the foundation for delivering our planned £500,000 cost savings. With accurate and real-time financial information to hand, we will be able to make better informed financial decisions and ensure greater control over spend.”