Diocese of Salisbury Case Study

The of Salisbury is a Church of diocese in the south of England, within the of , covering most of Dorset and Wiltshire.

The Diocese prepares accounts and budgets for the Diocesan Board of Finance, provides funding and grants, pays clergy stipends and pension contributions, and manages relationships with statutory bodies.

Their property department is involved in estate management, clergy housing and commercial building services within local communities.

The Digital Transformation Challenge

The ’s existing finance system and at risk of renewing their license at management system was almost two decades a prohibitive rate, making the need to find a old and 17 versions behind the software’s latest replacement system even more urgent. release. This resulted in the use of outdated All in all, there was a clear opportunity for and inefficient work processes, including trying operational efficiency improvements and cost to manage data across multiple spreadsheets. savings to be had. Digital communication between the accounts and property offices was difficult and both departments were overrun with paper files, making it challenging to keep on top of important information and deadlines. “TES showed a Moreover, much of the Diocese’s work was being done manually, including accounts production real desire for the and VAT returns, reporting and submission. They new system to be were also approaching the end of their contract the best it can be with the provider of their existing accounting for our needs”

[email protected] 0345 257 1173 totalenterprisesolutions.co.uk The Solution

The Diocese needed a modern way of accounting that involved replacing manual with automated processes. A method of joining property spend with the finance system was also necessary, to give a true picture of costs. The technology and computer systems used by the Diocese was limited; apart from the finance system, Microsoft Word and Excel were the only two digital platforms implemented. Therefore, it was important to them that their new solution could integrate with the Microsoft software their staff were already familiar with. After speaking to several providers, the Diocese of Salisbury chose TES as their Digital Transformation partner to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Why Did They Choose TES?

TES has been working with NFP organisations for Additionally, partnering with TES meant the over 15 years. In that time, TES has developed Diocese of Salisbury would receive ongoing an extensive understanding of the challenges support even after the initial implementation commonly faced by charities, like the Diocese of of Business Central as well as comprehensive Salisbury, and we have used this knowledge to training as part of the implementation process. make their operations more efficient through TES made the project with the Diocese of the implementation of modern technology. This Salisbury live within an exceptional time frame long-standing relationship with the NFP sector of three months, avoiding additional costs makes us the leading UK Microsoft partner for through the Diocese renewing their existing charities and NFPs. license. What’s more, our passion for helping NFPs means we are always looking for ways of improving our processes, so that they can better serve those in need. This continuous improvement is reflected in the regular CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) and NPS (Net Promoter Score) surveys carried out by TES.

The commitment by TES to continually developing our delivery is reflected in the technical makeup of our solutions, which consist of tools tailored to NFPs. Indeed, Dynamics 365 Business Central enables customers to reap the benefits of regular enhancements from Microsoft, which combined with our ever-evolving TES IP and Upgrade Assurance Programme, offer a futureproof solution.

[email protected] 0345 257 1173 totalenterprisesolutions.co.uk Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Features and Benefits

The implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central was the Diocese of Salisbury’s first upgrade for many years. Its features has offered them multiple benefits and enabled them to do things that were not previously possible, including:

• Cloud enabled – Business Central operates • Unique IDs – Emails from occupiers and on cloud computing technology, allowing the suppliers can be identified by a unique code Diocese of Salisbury staff to successfully work so they can be automatically logged against from anywhere. All their future audits will also a property, making it simpler to manage and be conducted remotely from now on. keep track of.

• Automatic upgrades – The TES Upgrade • Integration – The Diocese of Salisbury Assurance service reviews the up-and-coming was impressed with the range of Microsoft changes introduced twice a year by Microsoft products Business Central can integrate with. and how they will affect Business Central. This includes Office 365, Teams, Power BI Not only does this service test the new and Power Automate, enabling the Diocese’s functionality before launch, but it also trains different departments to become truly users on how to use these features too. This interconnected. means the Diocese will always be using the • Reporting and analytics – Business Central’s most up-to-date solution available. powerful reporting enabled the Diocese • Centralised data – Rather than having it of Salisbury to conduct VAT returns and spread across multiple sources, Microsoft submissions efficiently, tasks which previously Dynamics 365 Business Central consolidates took several days to complete. Furthermore, information about accounts, the property there is now a clearer way of reporting trading company and the Diocesan Board repairs split by category, by house and on the of Finance into one location. This saves time profitability of each job. which would usually be wasted juggling data • Improved productivity – Purchase ledger in multiple spreadsheets and platforms. With processing and inter-company transactions information up-to-date and stored in one are managed more quickly and more easily, place, it also allows the accounts and property saving staff valuable time. The Diocese have departments to work together more closely, reduced their general ledgers accounts from ensuring they are singing from the same hymn 1,000 to 40, with Dynamics 365 allowing them sheet! to analyse the income and expenditure in a • Occupancy schedule – Creates visibility of variety of ways, tailoring reports to the end property usage and timelines for availability so user. The ability to provide management that the Diocese of Salisbury can adapt their accounts with in-depth analysis at the touch of strategy accordingly. a button has also improved efficiency.

[email protected] 0345 257 1173 totalenterprisesolutions.co.uk The Result

The huge number of benefits realised by the Diocese of Salisbury as a result of their Dynamics 365 Business Central deployment has prompted them to undertake further exciting projects with TES. This includes the expansion of their solution’s reporting functionality, integration of Power BI dashboards for different levels of users, and the improved procurement and evaluation of suppliers in both accounts and property. This all makes up part of the aim of TES to provide its clients with a system tailored to their individual operational needs.

“With TES’s help and excellent systematic training, we were able to achieve go live within 3 months”

For more information on our Upgrade Process contact TES on:

TOTAL ENTERPRISE SOLUTIONS GROSVENOR COURT [email protected] WHEELHOUSE ROAD 0345 257 1173 LEA HALL ENTERPRISE PARK totalenterprisesolutions.co.uk RUGELEY, WS15 1LH