SYSTEMS TROUBLESHOOTING

Are your financial systems under-performing? Worth enhancing them? Or replace them?

If you’re the CEO or FD of a business, you’ll want your financial and commercial systems to provide the best possible support to your business ambitions.

Whether this is accounting, order-processing or forecasting systems, are you finding:

You’re not getting the management information you need?

Business processes aren’t effective or efficient?

Spreadsheets are being used when you need a proper multi-user system?

You’ve outgrown your existing systems?

An implementation has stalled?

Or some aspect of a system just isn’t working?

Camwells acts as the bridge between users and technologists to troubleshoot and manage resolution of these sorts of problems. We look for strong commercial solutions to let your business thrive.

For example by writing a key report, supplier rebates were claimed that doubled overall company profits year after year.

Having worked across many industries with a wide range of packaged software from Sage to SAP, and bespoke software such as written in MS Access and SQLServer, we can:

Investigate the root cause of a problem. Is it the system, the way it is configured, or the way people are using it?
Document user and technical requirements to discuss with existing or potential suppliers, informally or as a concise formal Requirements Specification
Identify and evaluate enhancement and/or replacement options and make clear recommendations
Implement the solution

NEXT STEP

Whether you run a business large or small, would you also like to benefit from Camwells helping you improve your systems?

We would be delighted to spend a day with you free of charge to discuss and initially investigate your situation, without commitment.

Take a look at the case studies below (which preserve confidentiality). Just give Chris Challis, Managing Partner, a ring on 07836 774439, or send us an email

CASE STUDIES

Management Information Missing

Client:	Group FD of young AIM-quoted nanotechnology group
Issue:	CEO was not getting basic trading reports he needed from the system.
Solution:	Established that trading modules of system were not as strong as the financial modules, and it was appropriate to consider alternatives. Documented business requirements. Discussed potential solutions with existing supplier and alternative suppliers, and identified a better alternative system
Benefits:	Most cost-effective solution identified

Business Processes Ineffective

Client:	MD of £100m corporate subsidiary in IT industry
Issue:	MD realised business processes were ineffective across an expanded business
Solution:	Attended cross-departmental workshops to provide advice to make best use of their commercial systems across the business. Part of this was to identify which ideas would work and which wouldn’t. Then implemented agreed processes.
Benefits:	Helped ensure processes made overall sense, reducing duplication of effort and avoiding holes in processes. “Couldn’t had done it without you” said the MD.

Replacing Spreadsheets

Client:	Group FD and IT Director of £250m quoted IT group
Issue:	The business was changing from just selling products to sell services and to increasingly do so as multi-million pound projects. The budgeting and monthly reporting systems in Excel had become unwieldy, unreliable and were not providing the drill-down analysis required.
Solution:	Compiled a "User Requirements Specification" to capture current and future needs. Advised on how to change accounting and reporting to better address services and projects, and identified potential systems.
Benefits:	New forecasting and reporting tool selected to provide what the business now required.

System Outgrown

Client:	CEO and CFO of start-up upstream oil company
Issue:	A simple single-currency accounting system was being used. But the business was expanding rapidly with a £100m project and needed a multi-site, multi-currency system with far broader business functionality such as procurement and twin accruals/cash accounting. The CEO had a strong preference for a cloud-based system.
Solution:	Took an overview of company’s entire application needs to determine scope for the new system. Compiled a "User Requirements Specification" to clearly identify priorities, and assessed cloud and traditional solutions. Identified a cloud solution that would meet needs.
Benefits:	Cloud system implemented that provided a strong foundation for the future.

Implementation Stalled

Client:	FD of £10m corporate subsidiary
Issue:	Order processing system had been commissioned as a bolt-on bespoke module, but implementation had stalled
Solution:	Project-managed the implementation of the system to go live on the required date, despite considerable unexpected issues.
Benefits:	System was able to support growth to over £100m over the 5-year period Camwells was involved, including: Business merger Setting up a new division Business process review A report that produced £600k p.a. of ongoing supplier rebates, doubling annual profits

System Not Working

Client:	Financial Controller of £1 billion private project-based group
Issue:	The payroll had been changed but the MSAccess “bridge” that generated intra-group postings for their project costing system had not been properly updated. Postings were seriously inaccurate.
Solution:	Initially re-configured and improved the MSAccess system to produce more appropriate postings. Then documented requirements to assess the payroll’s interface module, which was shown to be inadequate. Then made significant improvements to MSAccess system to improve reliability and accuracy of postings.
Benefits:	Client could be confident that payroll postings were complete and accurate.