News

Greater Taree City Council have furthered their investment with Infor FMS SunSystems with a recent upgrade.

The council is located on the mid north coast of NSW, and firmly focuses on providing the professional, quality services which benefit the people, economy and environment.

CFMEU, a Victorian based trade union, have review their support options and chosen Professional Advantage to provide future support and services for Infor FMS SunSystems.

Plan B Wealth Management have chosen Professional Advantage to provide support and service for their Infor FMS SunSystems financial solution.

Plan B Wealth Management is one of Australia’s largest integrative wealth management advisory firms.

iPOS v5.6.8 has been released. For further information about the product release and its features, please contact your Account Manager.

The SunSystems Helpdesk support hours & contact details will change for the period Thursday 24/12/2009 - Friday 1/1/2010 (inclusive).

During this period the Helpdesk will be open to support our clients with urgent calls from 9am to 4pm only. Outside these hours (including public holidays), you may still divert urgent calls to the support mobile.

 

Support resources will be limited so please use the Customer Portal www.suncompanion.com to log your call. This will enable our Support Consultants to better manage and respond to your calls.

 

If you do not have access to the Customer Portal, you can still email sun_support@pa.com.au or leave a message on the Sun Helpdesk Hotline number (02 9919 8989 or 1300 658 608, option3). These will be checked on a regular basis.

 

We wish you a safe and happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year.

DefCredit have completed an upgrade of Infor FMS SunSystems & Query & Analysis, an online reporting and analytics software suite that enables you to query and explore all your business data in real-time.

“Q&A's powerful reporting features are combined with the familiarity and ease of use of the Microsoft Office Suite delivering significant business benefits,” said Diana Singer, Professional Advantage Account Manager.

DefCredit was established to provide Defence personnel with a range of financial products and services at a cost that was fair and equitable, and to assist them with matters of money management.

Collect  for Infor FMS SunSystems version 5.3.0 has been released. For further information about the product release and its features, please contact your Account Manager

Cover-More Insurance Services have completed an implementation of Infor FMS SunSystems with Professional Advantage.

“With the implementation of Infor FMS SunSystems, Cover-More will have improved reporting, improved visibility over their allocation
process and they will notice a significant reduction in manual process,” said Sean Greig, Professional Advantage Account Manager.

Flat Glass Industries, a manufacturer of glass and related hardware products, has chosen Professional Advantage for their Infor FMS SunSystems support.

Munich Holdings of Australasia, an international insurance company, has completed an upgrade of Infor FMS SunSystems with Professional Advantage.

Sydney, Australia

 

Infor PM supports eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), a fast growing worldwide financial reporting standard. It provides integrated XBRL capabilities, enabling companies to quickly comply with financial reporting requirements aimed at improving the transparency and accessibility of financial data.

 

Asked about the XBRL capability, Jonathan Marcer, of Professional Advantage, the 2009 Infor Gold Partner and Overall Best Infor Reseller in the Pacific Region, stated “Report submission and compliance is a big burden for business. Agencies like APRA are providing XBRL gateways to lodge electronically. Infor PM Drag and Drop XBRL is about simplicity and efficiency. It enables users to tag financial data through a drag and drop interface, preview and error check the report, and export securely the finished interactive XBRL report. XBRL is also a reality that I think all businesses will be faced with sooner or later. It’s not just about compliance however. It can deliver significant benefits around the cost and time it takes to make reporting submissions.”
 
Jurisdictions around the world are contributing to XBRL and mandating it as a standard for electronic communication of business and financial data. Over 100 countries require or allow the use of XBRL in financial reporting and companies are adopting the standard to reduce costs and streamline their processes for collecting and reporting financial information. Australia is no exception.  APRA, for example, allow for XBRL submissions using its D2A product.
 
Learn more
XBRL International - http://www.xbrl.org/Home/
APRA - http://www.apra.gov.au/statistics/D2A/

Sydney, Australia

 

“Enterprises can experience as much as a 20% cost savings within first year of using BPM to improve business processes.” (Gartner)

FlowCentric, a Business Process Management (BPM) suite, has helped many organisations achieve cost savings in areas such as compliance, consistency, increased productivity and transparency through the orchestration and automation of their business processes.
In recent months some of our BPM clients have:

 

• Better managed their assets to avoid additional capital investment.

• Improved their employee on-boarding to achieve a quicker time to revenue.

• Addressed their systems’ master data management for audit and control purposes.

• Extended their Microsoft SharePoint footprint across complex business processes.

 

Click here to read more on the Gartner report.

 

Professional Advantage has been helping organisations improve how they manage their business since 1987. We apply rigorous thinking and quality systems to business challenges. For more information on FlowCentric and Professional Advantage please visit www.pa.com.au/flowcentric or contact us right now at bpm_sales@pa.com.au

Melbourne, Australia

 

Golden City Support Services provides services to people with a range of support needs, including: people with disabilities; people with mental illness; frail aged people and people with dementia; carers.

 

Professional Advantage has been chosen by Golden City Support Services to complete an implementation of Infor FMS SunSystems, and other enhancement products, including Receipting and Advanced Inquiry.

Melbourne, Australia

 

City Facilities UK has chosen Professional Advantage to provide services and support for Infor FMS SunSystems for their newly founded Australian division. City Facilities have over 260 staff and turn over $140M annually.

Melbourne, Australia

 

Defcredit, one of Australia's larger Credit Unions, with over 80,000 members and more than $730 million in assets under management, have recently upgraded their Infor FMS SunSystems solution.

Sydney, Australia

 

Amalgamated Holdings (AHL), one of Australia’s premier entertainment, hospitality, tourism & leisure companies, has purchased additional user licenses for Infor Performance Management, a budgeting, forecasting & reporting solution.

Perth, Australia

 

Nido Petroleum is an operator in oil and gas exploration and is becoming the operating Partner of Joint Ventures both now and more in the future. Nido need to provide sound, reliable and timely information to the operating partners, management and shareholders, and have implemented the Infor FMS SunSystems Budgeting & Forecasting module to provide this.

 

“Nido are delighted with the analysis and forecasting flexibility”, said Phil Taphouse, Professional Advantage Account Manager. “The Infor FMS SunSystems Budgeting & Forecasting will eliminate, where possible, spreadsheet processing and manipulations, thus improving data integrity.”

Sydney, Australia

 

NSW Food Authority, established to provide the best food regulation system in Australia, have implemented FlowCentric Business Process Management solution. “The implementation of the Customer and Supplier Request processes will now ensure that records are created uniformly and in a timely manner,” said their Professional Advantage Account Manager, Diana Singer.

http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au

Brisbane, Australia

 

Queensland Racing Limited, the peak control body for the thoroughbred racing industry in the State of Queensland, re continued with its commitment to continual improvement by expanding the reach of its BPM solution FlowCentric to more users within the organisation.  www.queenslandracing.com.au

Sydney, Australia

 

Professional Advantage has released new versions of companion products for Infor FMS SunSystems v5.4.1.

 

New versions released include:

 

• JET v5.3.14

• Advanced Inquiry v5.1.9 (MS SQL only)

• Bank Reconciliation v5.3.6

• ePay v5.6.17

• eRemit v5.2.13

 

For full details of these releases, including Platform Support, operating systems tested, and prerequisites, please visit www.suncompanion.com

Sydney, Australia

 

FlowCentric Processware won the Microsoft ISV/Software Solutions Competency Award for 2009 at the Microsoft Partner Programme Awards event held in Durban on 7th August. Jacques Wessels (COO) accepted the award on behalf of the FlowCentric group.

 

"With FlowCentric Processware we truly believe that our customers get a best-of-breed solution." says Wessels "The product is developed on the latest Microsoft technologies thereby ensuring process efficiency and reduced process cost while leveraging off existing investments in Microsoft products such as SQL, Exchange and SharePoint."

 

The ISV/Software Solutions Competency Award recognises the partner that excels at developing and delivering People-Ready software solutions to customers. A qualified People-Ready software solution will help customers make informed business decisions through consolidation of software and facilitate effective collaboration with colleagues and customers. Winning this prestigious award in recognition of the fact that the products and solutions delivered by FlowCentric can solve business challenges and consistently add value to the businesses using their systems.

 

FlowCentric is a Gold Certified Microsoft Partner with competencies in ISV Software Solutions, Information Worker Solutions and Business Process Management and Integration. FlowCentric has been providing customers of all sizes, in many sectors, with effective business solutions for over 9 years. "We are focused on providing our clients with highly effective solutions; leveraging off of Microsoft technology provides our customers with even greater power and ease of use" says Jacques Wessels COO.

 

Mark Reynolds, head of the small business and partner division at Microsoft South Africa, said the high standards of entries received for the awards showed that Microsoft's partners were delivering "unmatched innovation and value" to customers.

 

Wessels believes that this is not only an award of some consequence; it is also another sign of the company's accelerating momentum. "We are very proud of our achievement and believe that FlowCentric not only has a winning product, but an amazing team of professionals who have the same goal in mind - to be the very best that they can be."

Sydney, Australia

 

WSN Environmental Solutions has completed an implementation of FlowCentric. FlowCentric will automatically call and update Customer and Supplier details in their Financial Management Systems, SunSystems, eliminating double handling of data, which greatly reduces the risks of error.

Sydney, Australia

 

FlowCentric has made public what is possibly the most exciting release of its popular BPM software suite to date. Impressive enhancements on existing features, and the inclusion of several much-anticipated new features, definitely set V4R2 apart from other solutions in this industry.

This feature-rich software eliminates technical intricacies and allows business users and non-developers to quickly and efficiently configure workflow solutions and process-driven applications.

 

FlowCentric Processware offers drag-and-drop tools, a Microsoft Office-style designer (FlowCentric Process Suite), and a Web 2.0 style end-user interface (FlowCentric Navigator). The entire system is Internet-enabled, which means that users can connect to FlowCentric from any platform that supports a JavaScript-enabled Web browser. This enables FlowCentric clients to do business from virtually anywhere in the world at any time.

The built-in Multi Language capability of FlowCentric V4R2 enables organisations to deploy in environments where computers are shared by a variety of people who speak different languages; or to service customers in different countries.

 

“Our Multi Language feature improves the entire end-user experience and enables employees to perform their tasks more effectively when information is provided to them in the language of their choice,” explains Gavin Green – FlowCentric Technologies GM. With over 35 language packs to choose from and a Language Editor, within the Process Suite with which you can configure a variety of different languages, FlowCentric's latest offering certainly does hold a universal appeal.

 

The new Configuration Manager (MMC) is a central console that provides system administrators and advanced users with a flexible interface through which they may configure and monitor FlowCentric services; including the Notification and Escalation Service, the Directory Watcher, and the FlowCentric Event Manager.

 

The Event Manager allows business processes to be initiated automatically at predefined times. The enhanced “action list” allows users to do advanced searching and filtering on outstanding tasks. Deployment of the FlowCentric Outlook Add-In (client) is now supported across Citrix and Terminal Services. The Web client boasts eight new interface styles, and the FlowCentric SharePoint Web Parts have been enhanced. The improved process-centric file handling capabilities go hand-in-hand with that, allowing files to be “attached to” a process; and uploaded to a file share and/or a SharePoint portal. The FlowCentric Vista Gadget docked on the sidebar provides access to the FlowCentric Navigator and the FlowCentric Web Client.

 

FlowCentric is certainly a leader in the BPM software field, and releases like V4R2 makes the future of BPM, and FlowCentric, look very inviting and exciting.

Sydney, Australia

 

Used by companies spanning all industries, Infor FMS SunSystems v5.4, which provides a strong basis for financial reporting, delivering added business benefits and providing a lower total cost of ownership.

 

Infor FMS SunSystems 5.4 utilises Infor Open SOA, a unique, event-driven service-oriented architecture (SOA) framework, to provide a standards-based approach for integration of both Infor and non-Infor systems and data sources.

 

Through Infor Open SOA, customers can rapidly and economically add software applications and future component-based enhancements without the need to 'rip-and-replace' software or interrupt other systems during operations, a key benefit to Infor’s SOA technology.

 

“The reality for companies today is that they are operating many diverse software applications and aggregating all that data to make real-time business decisions, which is a significant challenge and nearly impossible to do effectively,” says Andy Birch, senior director, financial solution management, Infor.

 

“To address this issue and deliver results while reducing IT costs, Infor has SOA enabled solutions, like Infor FMS SunSystems, to integrate and share data throughout the enterprise.

"This ability means that Infor customers can facilitate interoperability between applications without incurring large consulting fees—it’s built in connectivity.”

 

FMS SunSystems version 5.4 is available in nine languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese and Chinese - Simplified and Traditional.

 

It supports Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and 2008 as well as Oracle 10g and 11g platforms.

London, UK

 

Newlon Housing Trust is a charitable housing association founded in Hackney in 1968 to provide decent and affordable homes for local people.

Due to rapid growth, Newlon were struggling to maintain budgetary control. Key to this decision was Professional Advantage’s flexibility and ability to customise the Workflow solution to Newlon’s exact needs.

 

Adrian McKenna, Group Financial Controller, stated “The ability of Workflow for Infor FMS SunSystems, linked with iPOS, to be fully customised to our requirements really excited us. We now have a full approval process for invoices that not only enables invoice images to be scanned and stored but also allows us to reroute at a departmental level.”

Professional Advantage received the ”Overall Best Performance in Pacific” partner award at the 2009 Infor annual Pacific Partner conference held in Queenstown New Zealand this week.

 

This award acknowledges the outstanding performance of one partner in the region during the year.

 

“This award is a testimonial from our customers for allowing Professional Advantage to engage with them, work with them and be part of their businesses. It is a privileged position we have and I thank our customers for that honour and trust.” said Steve Howcroft MD when receiving the award.

 

Infor is one of the world’s leading providers of business software including Infor FMS SunSystems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Infor, one of the world’s leading providers of business software and the author of Infor FMS SunSystems, has presented Professional Advantage with the “Infor Gold Partner” award for 2009.

 

Professional Advantage was presented this award during the Infor Asia Pacific Conference 2009, held in Queenstown, New Zealand. The award acknowledges Professional Advantage for it’s winning performance and outstanding contribution to the Infor  Group.

 

Infor celebrates and acknowledges those partners who deliver service and solution excellence across the Group’s portfolio.

Perth, Australia

 

Community CPS Australia, one of Australia’s largest and most influential credit unions, have implemented Infor FMS SunSystems. Community CPS have recently completed a merger with United Credit Union and are seeking to derive operational benefits in terms of processes, compliance, control and reporting through the use of common enterprise wide applications. “The key success factor for CPS is the ability of Infor FMS SunSystems to integrate easily with its retail banking application, Phoenix,” said their PA Account Manager, Mark Williamson. “Infor FMS SunSystems is a reliable, flexible solution which will provide a solution foundation for the future at CPS.”

Sydney, Australia

 

Professional Advantage is pleased to announce the launch of its new and improved iPOS web site. The site, at www.pa.com.au/sun_ipos has an updated look and feel, while still containing all the relevant information on iPOS products, news, support and much more.

Brisbane, Australia

 

Flight Centre Australia will extend their use of their finance system, Infor FMS SunSystems, with the addition of a Sales module and Collect
to manage their debt collection requirements.

 

Flight Centre will also bring one of their US businesses onto Infor FMS SunSystems, supported by Professional Advantage.

Brisbane, Australia

 

FlowCentric BPM solution has been implemented at Universal Cranes, one of Australia’s largest privately owned crane hire companies, to automate many processes, including employee start & exit, asset management and new plant and projects.

 

The implementation included integration to other business systems, including Microsoft SharePoint. FlowCentric has the ability to integrate with Document Libraries within SharePoint. “FlowCentric has eliminated manual procedures. Our standards and outcomes are now guaranteed”, stated Phil Dunbar, Group Financial Controller at Universal Cranes.

Sydney, Australia

 

FlowCentric has made public what is possibly the most exciting release of its popular BPM software suite to date. Impressive enhancements on existing features, and the inclusion of several much-anticipated new features, definitely set V4R2 apart from other solutions in this industry.

 

This feature-rich software eliminates technical intricacies and allows business users and non-developers to quickly and efficiently configure workflow solutions and process-driven applications. It can rapidly deploy processes integrated to line of business applications or simply replace paper based systems.

 

"This release is a major milestone in the products life cycle. This version includes many enhancements requested from our customer base from around the world," says Pieter Van Schalkwyk, FlowCentric CEO in Sydney today. "Our objective is to deliver unbelievebale value to our customers by ensuring our software is relevant for customers from a technology and functional viewpoint."

 

FlowCentric Processware offers drag-and-drop tools, a Microsoft Office-style designer (FlowCentric Process Suite), and a Web 2.0 style end-user interface (FlowCentric Navigator). The entire system is Internet-enabled, which means that users can connect to FlowCentric from any platform that supports a JavaScript-enabled Web browser. This enables FlowCentric clients to do business from virtually anywhere in the world at any time.

 

The built-in Multi Language capability of FlowCentric V4R2 enables organisations to deploy in environments where computers are shared by a variety of people who speak different languages; or to service customers in different countries.

 

"Our Multi Language feature improves the entire end-user experience and enables employees to perform their tasks more effectively when information is provided to them in the language of their choice," explains Gavin Green - FlowCentric Technologies GM. With over 35 language packs to choose from and a Language Editor, within the Process Suite with which you can configure a variety of different languages, FlowCentric's latest offering certainly does hold a universal appeal.

 

The new Configuration Manager (MMC) is a central console that provides system administrators and advanced users with a flexible interface through which they may configure and monitor FlowCentric services; including the Notification and Escalation Service, the Directory Watcher, and the FlowCentric Event Manager.

 

The Event Manager allows business processes to be initiated automatically at predefined times. The enhanced "action list" allows users to do advanced searching and filtering on outstanding tasks. Deployment of the FlowCentric Outlook Add-In (client) is now supported across Citrix and Terminal Services. The Web client boasts eight new interface styles, and the FlowCentric SharePoint Web Parts have been enhanced. The improved process-centric file handling capabilities go hand-in-hand with that, allowing files to be "attached to" a process; and uploaded to a file share and/or a SharePoint portal. The FlowCentric Vista Gadget docked on the sidebar provides access to the FlowCentric Navigator and the FlowCentric Web Client.

 

V4R2 also comes with refreshed analysis and reporting. It features question based logic, benchmarking, and extensive dash boarding to monitor process, activity, people and cost. Reports can be easily blended into process design and user interfaces and used to drive processes not just report over activity.

 

"The enhanced analysis is just one aspect we are all very excited about. V4R2 builds on our ability to deliver processes quickly in whatever form the business user needs to consume them, says Jonathan Marcer of Professional Advantage, one of the leading FlowCentric resellers.  "FlowCentric is reaping big rewards for our clients".

 

" Its ability not just to deliver digitised processes but support sustainable continuous improvements within a business is a massive factor in its attractiveness within these economic times. FlowCentric leverages existing people and systems to raise service levels and support the organisation." FlowCentric is certainly a leader in the BPM software field, and releases like V4R2 makes the future of BPM, and FlowCentric, exciting.

Tasmania, Australia

 

The TT Line Service provides a daily shipping service, owned by Spirit of Tasmania/TT Line, from Melbourne to Devonport for passengers
and motor vehicles.

 

“I love the analysis capability of SunSystems. So easy to setup, understand and build reports with”, said Gavin Stebbings,
Management Accountant at TT-Line.

 

TT-Line have upgraded their Infor FMS SunSystems system to version 5.3.1, and their Vision Reporting tool to the latest version – Query & Analysis v10. This project also included an upgrade of the Professional Advantage Infor FMS SunSystems enhancement modules- ePay, eRemit & Bank Reconciliation.

Melbourne, Australia

 

Wallara Australia, a disability services provider in Melbourne, Australia, have purchased the Infor FMS SunSystems enhancement products Collect and Receipting from Professional Advantage. Mark Williamson, PA Account Manager, has stated, “the Collect & Receipting modules for Infor FMS SunSystems will streamline processes over cash management, which is a popular improvement in today’s tough economic times.”

Perth, Australia – 19th June 2009

 

After a review of providers in Western Australia, Patersons Securities have chosen Professional Advantage to provide the support and services for SunSystems. Patersons Securities is one of Australia’s leading full service stockbroking and financial service firms, with more than 300 employees in ten offices throughout Australia.

Sydney, Australia

 

Count Financial Limited, an ASX listed financial planning franchise group, based in Sydney, has selected Professional Advantage to implement and support their new financial management system, Infor FMS SunSystems.

 

“The Infor FMS General Ledger chart of accounts & analysis structure will manage their multi-company group structure, with in-built flexibility for future additions and structural change,” said their PA Account Manager, Sean Greig.

Perth, Australia

 

Giacci Bros, a transport company operating out of Perth, has chosen Professional Advantage for their SunSystems support. “We believe that their professional attitude and expertise will align them well with our finance goals and we look forward to a long relationship with Professional Advantage,” said Giacci Bros.

Brisbane, Australia

 

As the peak control body for the thoroughbred racing industry in Queensland, Queensland Racing Limited required a procurement solution to formalise and standardise its procurement process, while also providing improved controls. “Queensland Racing selected Professional Advantage’s iPOS procurement solution as it integrates with their SunSystems financial management system and will provide necessary functionality and greater flexibility to deliver significant process efficiencies, and improve business performance,” stated Rebecca Gatehouse, their Account Manager at Professional Advantage. “iPOS will allow managers to have the appropriate tools to focus on their individual budgets, and will improve reporting to the whole business. iPOS will provide a solid foundation for the future.”

Sydney, Australia

 

Professional Advantage released “myAnalytics”, a new report capability for the FlowCentric Business Process Management Suite earlier this year. The launch has been an unparrelled success. Jonathan Marcer, Business Process Practice Manager at PA stated “myAnalytics has the ability to provide, not only the analytics and reporting in FlowCentric, but the user interface as well. This will in effect drive actions and processes from reporting and has changed everything in terms of process design and delivery. This also allows the ability to monitor activity and to set standards and benchmarks for process performance.

 

Please speak to your account manager for more information.

Sydney, Australia

 

Bank Reconciliation for Infor FMS SunSystems version 5.3.6 has been released. For further information about the product release and its features, please contact your Account Manager.

Sydney, Australia

 

“Immediate payback with Expense and Credit Card Automation for Infor FMS SunSystems” Webinar creates a buzz.  This well attended event was very well received with great feedback. “Expense and Credit Card Management are great additions to Workflow for Infor FMS SunSystems.” said Jonathan Marcer, Business Process Practice Manager at Professional Advantage. “They address what is a significant but often hidden burden to most businesses. What we have here is a the chance to eliminate that overhead, deliver amazing productivity and ensure total compliance. Everybody wins from claimants & card holders, to Management & Finance - and anyone in between.”  Due to the high demand we may rerun the event later in the year. Meanwhile please speak to your account manager for more information.

Sydney, Australia

 

Contract & Service Billing v5.3.8 for Infor FMS SunSystems has been released. For further information about the product release and its features, please contact your Account Manager.

Sydney, Australia

 

“It is more important than ever in the current economic circumstances that Professional Advantage deliver software that customers can use to manage their businesses better. This release was built with this goal in mind and again is definitely achieving that goal,” says Steve Howcroft, Joint MD of Professional Advantage. “We are seeing a large take up of new sites for iPOS plus many upgrades as customers improve their systems and processes in tough economic circumstances.”

 

iPOS is live in 28 countries with over 13,000 users. In this quarter alone we have 16 sites going live with iPOS. “We believe that iPOS for Infor FMS SunSystems delivers the highest ROI of all the possible procure to pay solutions available for Infor FMS SunSystems users,” says Howcroft. “We know that one of the major reasons for achieving a high ROI is tight integration with the ERP system. As iPOS for Infor FMS SunSystems is only built for SunSystems it makes no compromises on integration.”

New York, USA

 

Accounting Technology is a magazine published monthly by SourceMedia and their VAR 100 lists the top 100 resellers by revenue for 2008.

 

These are chosen from organisations that specialise in the sale and implementation of mid-market accounting software. The 100 firms are selected from those businesses that chose to participate in this annual survey.

 

World Vision Australia uses Infor FMS SunSystems and Professional Advantage enhancement products, including the Cash Desk Suite, Advanced Inquiry and iPOS eProcurement.

 

These organisations own the lion’s share of this business out of the thousands of competing companies and firms that compete in this market. The organisations were listed in the magazine’s April 2009 issue.

 

“This has been a difficult year for much of the economy. But many of these businesses have not only weathered the storm, but improved upon their financial results for 2007,” says Robert W. Scott, editor of Accounting Technology and author of the popular twice-monthly electronic newsletter, Consulting Insights.

Sydney, Australia

 

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) together with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (the Institute) and the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) today announced World Vision Australia as runner up of the second annual Australian PwC Transparency Awards.

 

The Awards recognise and encourage the improvement of quality and transparency of reporting within the not-for-profit (NFP) sector. Organisations eligible for the Awards generated in excess of $10 million during the last financial year.

 

Rick Millen, PwC Corporate Responsibility Partner says, "Transparency is important for organisations at any time, particularly those reliant upon government funding and community philanthropy."

 

"We are delighted to see a significant improvement in reporting standards among this year’s Awards entrants. Entrants demonstrated improved and more comprehensive content disclosures, as well as more engaging and clear presentation," he said.

 

Peter Hunt, Executive Chairman of Caliburn Partnership said, "With more than 750,000 NFPs in Australia, competition for donors is fierce. In this difficult economic environment, organisations must focus on how they present themselves if they are to continue to attract funds and community support. Transparent reporting is critical to achieving this."

 

Forty four NFP organisations entered this year’s awards, drawing from a broad cross-section of institutions. Organisations’ disclosure was assessed according to a framework of criteria including strategy, financial and operational performance, governance, risk policies and sources of funding.

 

Kevin Clarke for the Centre for Social Impact says, "Donors want to be well-informed about how their money is being used before committing to
a NFP."

 

"As a result, NFPs are prioritising reputation and branding along side transparency and accountability. The depth and calibre of this year’s entrants demonstrates the value NFPs place on transparent reporting, to communicate and enhance trust with their stakeholders," he said.

 

Commenting on the runner-up Mr Hunt said, "World Vision is a very large Australian NFP organisation with a broad and complex footprint.
They overcame the challenges of this complexity to demonstrate many of the qualities that exemplify a well-governed and more transparent organisation in an accessible and user-friendly way."

London, UK

 

PriceWaterHouseCoopers NL choose Professional Advantage’s B4B and Contract & Servicing Billing products to maintain control of their payments. PWC also use SunSystems Collect.

London, UK

 

Penneys (Primark) expand theiruse of B4B for Infor FMS SunSystems with Professional Advantage. Taking advantage of the newly released Bank Approvals Module as well as new bank formats will allow Primark to keep up to date with European changes of legislation (SEPA) once Ireland switch over.

Sydney, Australia

 

Cover-More Insurance, a travel insurance & medical assistance company, have chosen to implement Infor FMS SunSystems, including Budgeting & Forecasting, as their new financial management system. “Flexibility of the new system was essential, as was integration to existing systems.

 

Cover-More required greater ease of reporting, including access for managers, and the elimination of manual data manipulation. Infor FMS SunSystems provided this and much more,” said their Professional Advantage Account Manager, Sean Greig.

Sydney, Australia

 

Canberra Southern Cross Club (CSCC), based in the ACT, is a not for profit club which provides social and entertainment programs for members, based on Christian standards.

 

CSCC has recently selected Professional Advantage to implement Infor FMS SunSystems eXFM – a financial management solution, including Budgeting, Forecasting and Reporting.

Sydney, Australia

 

“Sydney Cricket Ground Trust have for the first time imported their budgets into live in January, normally it is March or later. The budgets are much more detailed than before, much easier and quicker and users have entered their own numbers – giving them accountability and visibility. We are extremely happy with the solution – both finance and end users!”

Sydney, Australia

 

An investment organisation has implemented an Invoice Approval & Shared Services Accounts Payable solution from Professional Advantage. Sean Greig, account manager at PA said, “The central shared services team will now register all invoices in their Sydney head office and electronically dispatch and track them for approval to a widely dispersed team of managers across the web via FlowCentric. They have rapidly gained benefits in turnaround time, process visibility and settlement within terms."

Sydney, Australia

 

WSN Environmental Services is a State-owned organisation, providing environmental services to greater Sydney and beyond. Their services include curbside collection of waste and recyclables, processing, recycling and recovery of resources from waste streams, waste disposal, education and general contact and transport services related to waste.

 

WSN upgraded their iPOS web based purchase and requisitioning system, to the latest version – iPOS .NET. “This iPOS upgrade extends the efficient and cost effective purchasing culture at WSN by consistently enforcing the procurement policy and delegated approval structure. It also provides  greater spend control through the use of the iPOS budget checking functionality seamlessly integrated into the SunSystems budget ledger,” stated their PA account manager, Diana Singer.

Sydney, Australia

 

To enhance their Infor FMS SunSystems financial management solution, Shoalhaven City Council have upgraded to the latest version of Collect – a powerful debt collection management system, and implemented a new billing system - Contract & Service Billing (CSB) from Professional Advantage.

 

Diana Singer, account manager for Shoalhaven City Council said, “Collect enables Shoalhaven to closely monitor outstanding debtors, easily generate Debtors Reports, issue monthly statements, and automate reminder letters to customers. They have also changed their billing system to CSB to get the added efficiencies of the recurring billing functionality that will certainly improve their productivity.”

Sydney, Australia

 

Central Land Council (CLC), based in the Northern Territory, is a representative body for promoting Aboriginal rights. Professional Advantage (PA) has recently implemented FlowCentric, a business process management solution, at CLC. “One of the first key processes to be automated was their Vehicle Booking Request process. This process now ensures accurate data is captured from the start and its integrity is maintained. CLC has rapidly achieved a higher utilisation rate for their vehicles, saved a lot of time for their people and addressed a compliance requirement with a full audit trail,” said their account manager at PA, Sean Greig.

Sydney, Australia

 

“Duncan, Phillip, Matt, Varian, Kate & Karen are precious jewels of the helpdesk. They are very knowledgeable, helpful, pleasant to speak with and professional. They don’t hesitate to assist outside of the square to get the problem resolved!”