Case Study: Engineering and Construction
MYOB Acumatica Case Studies
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Marsden Maritime Holdings LTD
Background
Marsden Maritime Holdings’ diverse operations include managing tenants, developing property, operating a marina precinct at Marsden Cove and running a share-milking operation on their farmland. Their custom-built, legacy financial management system was holding them back. MYOB Acumatica offered an unprecedented level of integration for improved reporting and time savings.
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The Problem
Old system holding back growth
A publicly listed company and majority-owned by the Northland Regional Council, Marsden Maritime needed more from their reporting than your average organisation. They were also on a fast-growth trajectory, with a focus on diversification. Their existing software was old, antiquated and simply didn’t offer the functionality the company needed. It offered no integration, and report writing was particularly limited.
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“It meant long hours creating reports in Excel, and there was also a risk of human error with that too,” explains Gavin.
It was also unsupported – only one person in New Zealand knew how it worked.
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“If something happened to her, we’d have been in trouble.”
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The Solution
Faster and easier with perfect-fit functionality
Acumatica had functionality that seemed to fit Marsden Maritime perfectly. With a cloud-based solution, Gavin’s small team avoided large capital expenditure, while future-proofing themselves.
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“Now we’re always at the forefront of technology,” says Gavin. “MYOB Acumatica also fits the team now, but it’s easy to scale.”
Acumatica can easily handle real-time tracking of multiple development project costs. This used to be done manually – now it goes straight into the system.
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“As soon as the invoices come in, they’re tracked so you know where you are. If you have timely information, you have better decision making,” Gavin explains.
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The Outcome
Reporting alone saves two working days a month
Gavin was impressed with MYOB Acumatica’s flexibility in reporting, and how well the report writer integrates with other tools.
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“It saves two working days in a monthly cycle, and requires far less manual formatting,” he says.
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This has also given him and his team more timely access to information.
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“It means you have a lot more oversight, so we can make better decisions,” says Gavin.
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The integration has simplified the management of all the varied areas of the business.
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“Being fully integrated, you’re not spread across different systems trying to pull everything together. It really suits us,” says Gavin.
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Summary
Before
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Server-based with no remote access
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Potential loss of data especially in emergency
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Difficult to maintain and make changes
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Difficult and expensive to keep up to date
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Difficult to protect from automated security threats
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After
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Cloud-based solution with remote access
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Data and information backed-up in cloud
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Ability to code transactions to different departments
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Overall view of organisation finance for management
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GDK
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"Acumatica has been a god-send for our accounts team, we’ve saved days of effort by automating repetitive manual tasks.”
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The sound of success Established 20 years ago, the GDK Group has evolved into the leading multi-disciplined architectural construction and joinery manufacturer in the SE Asian and Oceania regions, specialising in the manufacture of acoustic panelling, timber wall and ceiling panels and customized design finishes. It’s reputation and legacy of excellence has led to GDK being commissioned to deliver some of the regions’ most prestigious construction projects, including Perth Arena, QANTAS campus re-development and ANZ Pitt Street fit-out.
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The Problem
Cost and complication
GDK had been using NetSuite for 4 years and while they liked the project management functionality and a number of features, the big issue was cost. It became very expensive when trying to cater for multiple companies, and to get around this they had to set up separate companies as branches which added to administrative overheads.
Thomas Burden, Accounts Manager of GDK adds, “This in turn led to end-of-month processing and reconciliations becoming very complicated. And then there was the issue of inflexible licensing structures.”
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The Solution
The star system
The change ahead was considerable and GDK looked at a number of options. Thomas recalls, “We looked at MYOB AccountRight and a particular online version of Quickbooks however they couldn’t handle multi-branch accounting and would’ve required add-ons to achieve the functionality we were after.”
GDK were especially keen on a system that could take care of project accounting and after a bit more investigation on the MYOB website they decided that MYOB Acumatica was the perfect fit. MYOB Acumatica Business could do multiple branches, projects, job costing, and just as importantly to GDK, the price was good. “We also liked how it could do consolidated reporting,” says Thomas.
Thomas is a cloud advocate so naturally top of GDK’s list of mandatories was a cloud solution, which also eliminates the problems or responsibility for onsite backups, coupled with the fact that employees need to be able to access a variety of company information from anywhere.
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The Outcome
Everything in tune
GDK chose an MYOB Business Partner to implement MYOB Acumatica. They liked the fact that they were local and had experience implementing other solutions with set-ups similar to theirs. After finishing with NetSuite at the end of January they had a really strict timeline to ensure they were able to go live at start of February.
With the deadline looming, the Partner handled the basic training and set-up of the GL as well as teaching staff how to do an import of information. While there was a steep learning curve for everybody, along with the usual resistance to implementing a new system, the changeover was seamless.
“MYOB Acumatica gave us the functionality we were after a much better price.”
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Summary
Harmonious performance
After a whirlwind changeover GDK are still catching up with some aspects of the new system’s functionality however in terms of overall performance MYOB Acumatica has made a world of difference. Exporting to Excel makes life easier, end-of-month intercompany consolidation has become a whole lot easier, and with visibility across all aspects of the business in real-time GDK can account more easily for multiple-branches.
“Acumatica has been a god-send for our accounts team, we’ve saved days of effort by automating repetitive manual tasks.”
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Before
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Complicated end-of-month processing and reconciliations
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Netsuite was too costly
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Inflexible licensing structures.
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After
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A number of manual tasks have become automated, saving hours of time
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More affordable, helping to improve the company’s bottom line
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Multi-branch accounting and intercompany invoicing is now easy
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Woolcock Group
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"MYOB Acumatica was the only product that met almost 100% of requirements."
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MYOB Acumatica helps Woolcock Group manage a highly diversified portfolio.
Operating multiple, diverse businesses is no mean feat. The Woolcock Group needed a powerful ERP to handle budgeting, reporting, and forecasting, as well as the flexibility to work from anywhere – and with big plans for growth, scalability was a must.
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Background
The Woolcock Group was founded in 1978 and is affiliated with a diverse number of business units including WineWorks Australia Pty Ltd, Sustainability House, Woolcock Construction Pty Ltd, and several other entities within commercial property management; employing over 70 staff.
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WineWorks Australia Pty Ltd serves as a premium logistics and warehousing provider to the world-famous South Australian wine industry; Sustainability House is a nationally recognised provider of energy efficiency assessments and ecologically sustainable design services; and Woolcock Construction Pty Ltd specialises in design, construction, property development, property management and also operates several serviced offices.
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The Problem
What do you give the business that does everything?
According to Lauren Wildash, Corporate Services Manager at the Woolcock Group, the time had come to upgrade to an ERP to manage the growing business – and due to operating across several sites, it was essential that any solution they chose would allow them to work remotely.
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After undertaking an extensive needs analysis, the Woolcock Group decided on MYOB Acumatica as it could perform all their required tasks and was considerably less expensive than some competitors.
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The Solution
Moving forward with MYOB Acumatica
When it came to implementing MYOB Acumatica, the implementation process was completed collaboratively and strategically.
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The Woolcock team talk through high-level configuration – such as the number of companies and branches needed, naming protocols and how to best use sub-accounts to dissect various business divisions – before moving all the necessary data to the new system.
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The Outcome
A better way to do business
Since implementing MYOB Acumatica, the team at the Woolcock Group have been able to streamline several processes and save an enormous amount of time. “Because we are able to build our own profit and loss reports which compare information across sub-accounts, we’ve eliminated the need to export data to Excel,” enthuses Lauren.
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In addition to this, the ability to access their accounting files through a web browser has meant the flexibility to work from anywhere, making managing all the separate businesses much easier.
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Summary
Before
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The lack of web accessibility
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Unable to search or report across branches
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Disparate financial systems
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Limited report customisation options
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After
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Ability to work from anywhere
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Huge time savings
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Powerful budgeting, reporting and forecasting features
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User-friendly, scalable system for future growth
MYOB Exo Case Studies
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Eastern Plant Hire
"Their demonstration showed us the product was right for our business."
The software to build a stronger future for Eastern Plant Hire
The building & trade business is a busy and complex industry. At MYOB we’ve helped all kinds of companies manage their business better and create a strong foundation to expand. Eastern Plant Hire is great example. With well over 1000 contractors and a fleet numbering some 2000-plus trucks and equipment, Eastern Plant Hire installed MYOB Exo to give Head Office greater insight and control which enabled workflow management and processing to be streamlined the across the board.
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Background
Founded in 1998, Nunawading-based Eastern Plant Hire (EPH) is one of Victoria’s largest plant hire businesses. A recognised brand across the state, the company provides a wide range of earth moving equipment to building and civil construction jobs large and small. EPH is committed to continuous improvement and with over 1200 contractors and a fleet numbering 2000-plus trucks and equipment, maintaining a high quality of service across such a vast operation requires the highest visibility on business processes. And that depends on having the right software.
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The Problem
A unique set of problems, one solution
Eastern Plant Hire (EPH) had concerns with its reporting capabilities – specifically for invoice financing – and the ability of the existing software to be flexible enough to change as the business grew. More specifically, they needed a system that was much better suited to the idiosyncrasies of plant and equipment hire brokerage, in particular back-to-back invoicing. Because of the nature of hire agreements, EPH needs to raise two invoices for every transaction – one for the supplier, the other for the customer.
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The Solution
MYOB Exo has helped cement Eastern Plant Hire’s future
Their system, MYOB Exo, was customised to include specific functionality over and above the standard package – which was critical. For example, written reports to keep track of contractors’ public liability insurance, and created debt collection letters that can be issued automatically to debtors when credit limits are breached.
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The Outcome
Improvements for today, compatibility for tomorrow
MYOB Exo has dramatically improved management visibility, from the custom-built reports right through to the day-to-day basic profit and loss and balance sheet reports. MYOB Exo provides greater visibility on what’s going on in the business, and the EPH Team are empowered to generate and modify reporting as needed. The company still exports some reports to Excel for graphing and presentation purposes, however the support within MYOB Exo allows them to do this with ease. Looking forward the system is flexible enough and capable of growing with us.
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Summary
Before
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A system that held back growth potential
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Limited reporting capabilities
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Slow manual invoice processing
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After
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The power to custom build reporting as needed
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Processing over 5,000 subcontractor dockets a month in a single step
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Significant time saving across the business
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