020 7831 2777 / 0121 439 2570 / 01923 850085

Founded over a century ago, the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) is an independent professional examining body for scientists, engineers and environment professionals working in the field of sustainable environmental management and development. The organisation has a membership of approximately 12,500 worldwide – the majority of which are based in the UK.

It publishes journals and magazines in addition to running seminars and interest groups for its members. CIWEM is also active in producing policy statements and responding to government consultations on environmental issues such as global warming and sustainable development.

Upgrade or Update
Previously the Institution had been using Sage Line 100, but felt that it was time to update or upgrade their software in order to meet the increasing demands placed upon it. The decision they faced was either to upgrade to the latest version of Sage, or to consider if there was a better way of achieving what they needed.

Saving Time
CIWEM had experienced some limitations in the flexibility of their existing software and were eager to select a package that could update their accounting procedures more easily. Of particular concern to the accounting department were the difficulties that they were experiencing in conducting audit trails and the use of search facilities. Two other priorities were to reduce the amount of time it took to produce year end and month end accounts, and that any new accounting solution needed to prove it could integrate with the organisation's membership database system.

The team at CIWEM identified a need for open period accounting with the facility to have live links to Excel for management reporting and ease of integration with other software products. Another obvious feature was that the system should also be user friendly and simple to operate.

Business and Accounting System Fact Find
Having heard of Whitegate via a recommendation, the Institution decided to commission a Business and Accounting System Fact Find. This proved to be an important part of the decision making process as it not only enabled CIWEM to clarify for themselves exactly what they wanted from their new software, but it also meant that they had a clear set of criteria against which they could measure the accounting solutions available on the market.

The fact find is a detailed and established process whereby the current operational status is defined and analysed. It began with an initial meeting with Whitegate's Managing Director, Tony Reissner, and then a number of one to one sessions with team members to establish how CIWEM operated.

The Fact Find report detailed current systems and procedures which helped to identify the real nature of the procedural transactions taking place. This was accompanied by recommendations about how these procedures could be improved and simplified to save time and money. Whitegate also produced a supplier demonstration check-list highlighting essential and desirable features that CIWEM had identified as necessary for any new accounting software purchase.

After considering the details of the Fact Find CIWEM felt that the current system would not provide the organisation with all the facilities they required. They reviewed available options after which it was decided that the organisation would benefit from implementing the Exchequer solution as it fulfilled both the essential and desirable criteria that had been identified.

Outcome
Julia Burgoyne, Director of Finance at CIWEM, highlights the importance of the Fact Find within the whole selection procedure. "It helped us to identify exactly what we wanted and simplified the process of finding the right product for our needs."

To ensure that CIWEM were completely happy with their final choice of Exchequer software, two further demonstrations were arranged before making a final decision.

As a result of using the new software, CIWEM's month end and year end processes are simpler to manage and far less stressful. In particular, the facilities of open period accounting and direct live links to Excel for management reporting help to save valuable time when entering information; whilst the direct integration with the membership database system removes the need to make duplicate entries into both systems.

In just a few months
The whole process, from the initial contact to the final installation, including training, was completed within just a few months. Staff at CIWEM said they were delighted by the service that they received from Whitegate and felt that the time spent on the Fact Find in particular was a worthwhile investment. Julia Burgoyne comments, "We were very impressed with the service we received from Whitegate. I would heartily recommend them to any organisation in the process of reviewing or changing their accounting software. Whitegate took time to find out in detail our requirements which saved us time and money by doing the detailed analysis work for us. They were also able to suggest simple processes and procedures that we had not thought of to increase our efficiency."