The Organisation:

Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office (TCSO) serves the 32 Catholic schools and colleges that form the Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools spreading across Darling Downs and South-Western Queensland, providing education from primary through to Year 12. TCSO, based in Toowoomba, is the central office to the schools with approximately 120 employees. They house divisions such as human resources, payroll, compliance, as well as maintaining an oversight of the schools from education to core support. They also provide leadership development, mentoring, coaching, and support to the schools and their staff.

TCSO has been a client of Professional Advantage (PA) since 2005 with their partnership beginning when TCSO were using Microsoft Dynamics GP as their financial system.

The Need and the Solution:

TCSO were planning on customising and utilising reports within the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central solution, a solution implemented and supported by PA. However, they felt that ultimately it would not meet the reporting needs of the wider group of Business Central users in the form of the 32 schools and colleges that they supported.

The organisation had already been using Microsoft Power BI within the business, but had not utilised the solution alongside PA, nor were they using it with Business Central.

“We were invited to a free PA webinar on Power BI and saw first-hand from the expert presenter how Power BI could transform how our data could be viewed, interpreted, and acted upon.”
Julie Payne, previous Director of Finance, Infrastructure, and Information, Toowoomba Catholic Schools Office.

Despite having in-house experience in Power BI, TCSO recognised that utilising their partnership with PA and their Power BI expertise would be a cost-effective and efficient way to develop the Power BI dashboards they needed.

The Results:

One of the key objectives of the implementation of Power BI was to provide key staff in both the office and schools with live access to financial information, giving users the ability to easily monitor their financial positions and track actuals versus budgets.

“This goal has been fully achieved: Power BI is updated twice daily and delivers the real-time insights we needed.”

Previously they felt that their financial reporting was lacking in both clarity and visual appeal and subsequently sought to produce more informative and attractive reports.

“Power BI integrates easily with Business Central and delivers visually engaging reports. Its appealing presentation makes running and analysing reports more inviting and user-friendly.”

The accessibility of Power Bi is another key benefit: users do not need access or an understanding of Business Central to effectively use Power BI and translate the information.

The impact of these improvements has been felt throughout the schools with staff noticing the enhanced efficiency and thanking the office for the upgrades.

“During our regular leadership forums with the principals from all the schools, it is regularly shared that not only are the schools reviewing the reports, but they are actively engaging with them, bringing informed questions and discussions to the group sessions.”

This increased interaction highlights the effectiveness of Power BI, integrated with Business Central, in empowering staff at all levels.