An executive briefing for education business leaders
Hear how Australian schools and education organisations are improving finance, reporting, and governance with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
Education leaders face increasing pressure to deliver strong governance, financial transparency, and operational efficiency while supporting the needs of students, staff, boards, and school communities.
Yet many schools and education organisations continue to rely on disconnected systems, spreadsheets, and manual processes that make reporting difficult, limit visibility, and consume valuable staff time.
Join Professional Advantage for a practical executive briefing exploring how K–12 education organisations are rethinking their approach to finance and building stronger foundations for reporting, governance, and decision-making.
Drawing on live education projects, we’ll share practical examples, lessons learned, and a large-scale implementation story involving more than 50 Australian schools. You’ll see how Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and the wider Microsoft platform can support individual schools, independent school groups, diocesan offices, and other education organisations.
What you’ll gain from the briefing
This session is designed for education business leaders considering how modern technology could support better finance, reporting, and operational outcomes.
Hear how an Australian education organisation approached a finance project spanning more than 50 schools.
Explore ways to improve financial visibility across schools, campuses, departments, and entities.
Learn how schools and education groups are strengthening governance, reporting, and internal controls.
Understand the considerations involved in balancing central oversight with the needs of individual schools.
See how finance can connect with school administration and the broader education technology environment.
Hear lessons from Business Central projects delivered for both individual schools and multi-school organisations.
Gain practical insight from Professional Advantage specialists actively working with the education sector.
Featured Project
See a practical example of a large-scale education finance project supporting more than 50 schools through a connected finance platform
A large Australian education organisation set out to improve reporting, strengthen governance, and establish a common finance platform supporting more than 50 schools.
During the briefing, we’ll explore:
- The business drivers behind the project.
- The challenges of supporting multiple schools through a central finance function.
- The reporting and governance requirements that shaped the approach.
- How the organisation balanced consistency with individual school needs.
- Integration considerations across the broader education technology environment.
- Decisions and lessons from the implementation.
- The operational and reporting outcomes achieved.
You’ll gain insight into the decisions involved in a large-scale education finance project and the practical lessons that may apply to your own organisation.
Relevant to different education operating models
Alongside the featured project, we’ll share examples from other education implementations, including work with individual schools. These examples will demonstrate how Business Central can support different structures, priorities, and levels of operational complexity.
Whether you’re responsible for an independent school, a multi-campus college, an independent school group, a diocesan office, or a broader education network, the session will provide practical considerations relevant to your environment.
A practical 60-minute executive briefing
Designed as an executive briefing rather than a technical workshop, the session will focus on education outcomes, implementation considerations, and lessons from live projects.
Topics will include:
- Current finance, reporting, and governance challenges in K–12 education.
- Improving visibility across schools, campuses, departments, and entities.
- Supporting individual schools and multi-school organisations.
- Strengthening executive, board, and school-level reporting.
- Connecting finance with school administration and other education systems.
- The role of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central within a broader technology strategy.
- Practical lessons from education implementations.
- Questions and discussion with our education specialists.
Who should attend?
This briefing is intended for leaders responsible for the financial, operational, strategic, and technology direction of K–12 education organisations, including:
- Principals and heads of school.
- Education directors and executive directors.
- Chief financial officers and finance directors.
- School Business Managers and finance managers.
- Directors of Business Services and Heads of Corporate Services.
- Chief operating officers and operations leaders.
- Chief information officers, technology directors, and IT managers.
- Digital transformation and organisational change leaders.
- Board members and executives involved in finance system decisions.
The session is relevant to individual independent schools, independent school groups, Catholic education offices, faith-based education organisations, multi-campus colleges, school networks, and other K–12 education providers.
Learn from education and Business Central specialists
The briefing will be delivered by Professional Advantage specialists actively involved in Business Central and education projects.
Attendees will hear practical experiences, implementation lessons, and examples drawn from work with individual schools and multi-school education organisations across Australia.
Dennis Dalla Costa
Business Development Manager
Dennis joined Professional Advantage as a Business Development Manager in 1999 and has seen major changes in both technology and vendors within the sector over the past 20 years. He has consulted with a large number of mid-market enterprises, helping them enhance their business processes via technology and advising on how best to deploy various technologies to enable enterprises to become 'high performing'.
George Sousou
Senior Business Central Consultant
George is a senior consultant for Business Central and has worked with NAV and Business Central for almost two decades. His knowledge of these systems includes finance, job costing, intercompany, consolidations, inventory management, warehouse management, and fixed assets. He has previously worked as an accountant and financial controller. development.
Sammy Pinkus
Senior Business Central Consultant
Sammy has been solving business problems for over 35 years through innovative thinking, consultation, and software development. He was one of the first Australians to be trained in Dynamics NAV more than two decades ago, working with NAV/Business Central ever since, and has been appointed by Microsoft to be Australia's 'Lead Microsoft Certifies Trainer' in Dynamics. He has implemented and supported NAV/Business Central sites internationally, and across industries including travel, warehousing/distribution, importing, and not-for-profits.
About Professional Advantage
Professional Advanatage helps Australian education organisations improve finance, operations, and reporting through Microsoft business applications, cloud ERP, analytics, and managed services.
Our experience working with individual schools and multi-school organisations gives us a practical understanding of school-level requirements, central finance, governance, reporting, and the wider technology environments supporting K–12 education.
We bring together education experience, Business Central capability, and more than 35 years of helping Australian organisations achieve more with technology.
Rethink what’s possible for education finance
If your school or education organisation is reviewing its finance systems, seeking better reporting, or considering how cloud ERP could support its operations, this executive briefing will provide practical insight to help inform your next steps.
Register your place