Llfe & Peace Institute - Case Study

An International peacebuilding organisation reaps significant benefits from SunSystems implemented by FinanSys

Profile

Life & Peace Institute is an international peacebuilding organisation founded in 1982. The organisation currently has operations in six countries including Sweden, Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia.

With 75 members of staff, Life & Peace Institute is registered under the Christian Council of Sweden. The institute’s main donors include Sida, EU, Swedish Mission Council (SMC), USAID, United National Peacebuilding Fund (UNPBF) and Church of Sweden (CoS).

Their work is driven by the desire to see a world where peace, justice, and non-violent relations prevail through people’s active work and commitment.

Background

Life & Peace Institute had been using an accounting software that did not efficiently meet the organisation’s requirements, resulting in manual data manipulation and causing delays in reporting.

With donations from global donors coupled with the challenge of effectively managing resources to meet the organisation’s goals across different countries, Life & Peace Institute had very specific accounting needs:

Being an international organisation with multiple
operations in different countries, they needed a reliable financial management system with multi-company and multi-entity setup.
They needed a system with support for complex donor reporting and multi-currency functionality — that is, a tool that supports different reporting requirements in different currencies.
They also needed a system that could segregate/ aggregate data, so they could break down data per donor’s reporting needs
They wanted automation functions such as for data entry. They use Excel to upload data and so needed a system that had this flexibility.
Finally, the institute needed a system with
multidimensions per transaction string. They needed 9 and Infor SunSystems provided this.

SunSystems from FinanSys Did It All!

During their evaluation of alternative accounting software, the advantages of Infor SunSystems stood out, as it met all the criteria the organisation needed.

Infor SunSystems is a powerful accounting software used by thousands of organisations across 190+ countries. With top-of-the-range features and capabilities, the tool has been helping organisations speed up their financial close, accurately track expenses, and seamlessly integrate with core operational systems. It provides unrivalled analysis, dynamic reporting, and a real-time view of an organisation’s financial performance. In short, Infor SunSystems is a onestop-shop for all your financial management needs.

The next step was making a decision on who to pick as their SunSystems implementation partner. As a trusted SunSystems provider, FinanSys’ track record of successful projects combined with decades of experience and deep knowledge of the not-for-profit industry, amongst others, made it easy for Life and Peace Institute to make a choice of a SunSystems Partner.

Life and Peace were so happy with the implementation that they kindly decided to talk about their experience with us.

It’s more of a partnership than a service provider and we’re on a journey together and sharing the experience together, Said Chief Financial Officer, Aderemi Sotunbo FCCA

A summary of the conversation can be found below

Question : Why did the organisation choose to go with FinanSys for SunSystems?

Aderemi: When we were first looking for a partner, we initially used an Open Tender approach. We weren’t getting the right implementation partner with the right people, so we decided to talk to Infor (the authors of SunSystems) about our challenge.
In turn, Infor recommended FinanSys. In the end, we were extremely pleased with the demo FinanSys provided as well as with the price and communication. We felt that FinanSys were the right partner to work with.

Question : How did Life and Peace staff react to the implementation of SunSystems?

Aderemi : There was staff buy-in from the start as we had a very consultative approach to everything. The staff all sat down and worked out what it was they needed and what they needed to do to achieve their goals.
Everyone was involved in the process, as management followed a bottom-up approach towards decision-making.
People were excited by the design phase, a system that they could build that would work for them. The programme implementation went really well. The team felt like they were really part of the process and got quite excited by having a new system.

Question : What did Life & Peace make of the implementation consultancy?

Aderemi : The planning was well done, the process was smooth, and the training (including the User Acceptance Testing) was executed with great professionalism.
FinanSys provided face-to-face, personalised training which was invaluable for the complexities involved. FinanSys’ trainers were very good and answered the questions in an easy-to-understand manner.
Generally, we enjoyed good support throughout the consultancy project.

Question : How do Life & Peace find support post-go-live?

Aderemi : Working with FinanSys, the turnaround time for support was extremely good, typically 3-5 minutes after sending an email.

Question : Has the deployment of the new solution resolved the business issues that drove the need to change the system in the first place?

Aderemi :Yes, SunSystems from FinanSys has resolved all of our financial accounting issues and even beat our expectations. In short, we are looking to extend our usage of the system to benefit our organisation further.

Question : What are the main business benefits being experienced?

Aderemi : Life & Peace’s accounting team has experienced tremendous improvement in our accounting processes, approvals, and workflows. The SunSystems implementation by FinanSys has saved us a massive amount of time and effort, and as a result, the turnaround of donor reports is now much faster than they have been.
It’s a miracle to be able to beat the deadline. Reports are now done at least two weeks before the deadline. The last system we used was very manual and a lot of data manipulation was required.
With SunSystems from FinanSys, it’s just a click of a button, then dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. Our teams can spend less time in the office in the evenings now.
Infor Query & Analysis is wonderful, once the data is there you can quickly draw it out.
Additionally, the year-end process is easier compared to our last system. We’ve also been able to meet their audit deadlines for the first time since using SunSystems from FinanSys. Efficiency in creating the report ahead of time allows for more analysis

Final Thoughts on Working with FinanSys

When asked about their experience with FinanSys, Aderemi had this to say “It’s been a superb journey so far.” And when asked if they’ll recommend SunSystems from FinanSys, he said “We are more than happy to recommend FinanSys and SunSystems. Support is great, turnaround time is there, and the regular checking in makes it feel more like a partnership!

SunSystems Key Features

Multi-currency and multi-language support for effortless global expansion
Advanced multi-company setup with support for multiple charts of account structure
Seamless integration with other business systems you’re already using
Powerful reporting and analysis capabilities
High-level automation that cuts approvals and processes from days to minutes
Cloud deployment and on-premise support
On-demand financial planning and fast financial close
Online purchasing and employee expenses with flexible approvals
Streamlined budgeting, forecasting, and planning data from stakeholders and other operational systems

What are the next steps?

Get in touch with us to schedule a call
We will listen to your requirements and discuss how FinanSys can help
We will then present you with a tailored demonstration and quotation

Why FinanSys Stands Out

- An agile and personal approach to customer service
- 22+ years of experience
- 200+ implementations of SunSystems in 36 countries
- Dedicated public training courses for the SunSystems community
- Highest ratio of support staff to customers within the SunSystems community

FinanSys has been operating for over 25+ years
Highest ratio of support staff to customers within the SunSystems community with a combined experience of over 100 years
By purchasing SunSystems Cloud or NetSuite through FinanSys you will get a 1:1 license of FinanSys Apps at no additional cost
Our dedication to quality service and customer satisfaction can be seen in our impressive 93% customer renewal rate
200+ implementations of SunSystems in 36 countries
Extensive training and consultancy available