York College has chosen LAKE to help streamline procurement with a solution based on Proactis Purchase-to-Pay. The implementation of Proactis was part of a larger project that included the upgrade of their financial management solution - Infor SunSystems.
Chris Courtine, Finance Manager, explains the background to investing in Purchase-to-Pay:
"I've been at the college 20 years and the actual process for approving and raising orders has not really changed in all that time. It involved filling in forms to be sent around the college for various people to sign. There was no visibility in the system and with all those bits of paper and emails it was just getting too difficult to keep control of things.
"The auditor would ask, 'When was this order or invoice approved?'', I'd have to chase around the college asking for copies of emails and signed documents. The process was long overdue a change."
The implementation of Proactis has delivered clear benefits to the college, as Chris Courtine explains:
"We looked at four different systems and Proactis stood out for its ease of use. It seemed more straightforward, easy to follow, and easy to understand. Now that we are live on the system, our initial impressions have proved to be correct. Everyone has adopted the new system happily. No one has said they'd rather go back to the old way of working.
"Proactis has delivered a level of visibility we just couldn't get before. It has put an end to 'Where is this piece of paper in the college? Is it sat with the budget holders? Is it in procurement?' It's all there, immediately visible and accessible.
"As for the finance team, Proactis is brilliant for us. We're not having to scan and store things separately anymore. Everything we need is in one place. So, now if the auditor wants to see when an order or invoice was approved, we can answer the question immediately.
"In the next part of our journey, we plan to continue our development of Proactis Dashboards. That really excites me as an accountant - by empowering budget holders with real-time information we will drive significant improvements in control and accountability."
The choice of system implementation partner is an important factor in system selection and LAKE are proud to have supported York College in their journey for over 20 years. Chris continues:
"The implementation went smoothly. The LAKE consultants were exceptional, and we are very pleased with the outcome. LAKE completed their work remotely and that worked brilliantly; it was a much more flexible way of working.
"The project has been a great success. Feedback from users around college has been really positive. Everyone has benefitted from the implementation. So, it wasn't forced upon them, it was very much a transformation journey for the entire organisation, not just for Finance."
About York College
York College is the largest provider of A Level and vocational programmes for 16 - 19 year olds in the region, offering over 40 A Level subjects, 35 Apprenticeships, and 80 vocational programmes. The college also offers a range of Higher Education courses for full and part-time study as well as many Adult Learning classes.
York College has consistently maintained a high standard of achievement due to the highest quality of teaching and learning by tutors who are experts in their specialist subjects. This is underpinned by a strong pastoral and support system focused on the individual needs of students.
