We help not-for profits to keep up with demand

Difficult reporting issues

Ronald McDonald House Australia has an annual income stream of around $21 million.

Each House Chapter administers the accommodation independently, runs its own fundraising programmes, and keeps its own set of accounts. To consolidate this at a national level was a laborious manual task, and concern was growing about effectiveness, efficiency and accountability.

The House Chapters and national office had been using MYOB Premier (donated by MYOB in around 2000). Each Chapter had its own way of accounting for income and expenses, which was becoming an increasing headache for the national office.

“Consolidating all the information into one report could take us up to eight weeks,” says Adam Blatch, General Manager, Governance & Business.  “It was a very messy, complicated process, involving lots of spreadsheets and other paperwork. We wanted a standard chart of accounts and consistent accounting practices, so we started to look for a new business system.”

Integrated business management

One of the House Chapters had already implemented MYOB Exo, and recommended it to the National office. The whole new system went live at the beginning of 2017.

Exo was set up to provide a central information systems and technology environment that had individual databases for all 13 House Chapters, but with controls that allow that much-needed consistency in reporting across all the separate entities. The national office now runs a consolidated Exo database with a single GL structure.

Exo was also integrated with Phocas, a web-based Business Intelligence software providing live financial information to all House Chapters. The Exo solution was deployed in the Cloud, not only as a cost-saver but to provide web-based communication with all the chapters across the country.

Centralised system, major time savings

Ronald McDonald House Charities now has a standard chart of accounts and consistent accounting practices across all its House Chapters.

Automation and EDI have replaced much of the manual labour and paperwork. This has especially benefited the payroll structure, which is now handled centrally, in-house. The centralised database ensures that any changes to pay rates or workplace legislation are consistently correct.

The integration of Exceed CRM has automated invoicing and eliminated double-entry issues. Exo has also allowed the introduction of analysis codes, for consistency and clarity in reporting fundraising.

• Disparate accounting practices
• Data never up to date
• Consolidation slow and difficult
• Concerns about transparency

• Central database and GL
• Live view of data
• All chapter houses have better information
• Major time savings
• Transparent information trail
• Cloud deployment enables nationwide communication