The Milwaukee Bucks Prophix Case Study

The Milwaukee Bucks Prophix Case study

Quick facts Industry Media & entertainment (broadcasting & sports) Company overview Operating since 1968 Annual revenue: >$75 million Number of employees: 100 (full-time) Head office: Milwaukee, WI G/L: Microsoft Dynamics SL nba.com/bucks

Having relied in the past on that they needed advanced software teams perform financially and benchmark spreadsheets for their business to address their needs for budgeting, them using comparable figures, the NBA processes, the Milwaukee Bucks forecasting, planning, and reporting. Over released a manual that set out how used Prophix to obtain complete the years, the organization had come to franchises should classify their revenues visibility into their finances, to rely on spreadsheets, which feature limited and expenses. Receiving this information develop advanced budgeting and capabilities for consolidation and analysis. in a standardized format would allow personnel planning models, and to With the help of a new system, the Bucks the league to accurately summarize and automate the production of their hoped to develop a personnel planning compare the financial results of its teams. financial reports based on the new solution not for budgeting player salaries—as requirements set out by the National teams only employ 15 players at a time—but Implementing a solution Basketball Association (NBA). rather for their rank-and-file employees. The Milwaukee Bucks selected Prophix as their Corporate Performance Management Jim Woloszyk, the Bucks’ Director of (CPM) software provider and found that Background Finance, explains, “Our sales employees the product’s implementation involved only The Milwaukee Bucks joined the NBA as an receive a base salary plus commission, minimal involvement from their IT team. expansion franchise in 1968. The team won and we also need to calculate the costs of According to Woloszyk, “Other than the initial a championship title just three years later their benefits. Budgeting for other payroll server setup, our department was able to with the help of Hall of Fame players Oscar expenses in the past involved something take the lead. Prophix’s consultant migrated Robertson and Lew Alcindor (now known as of a ‘best guess’ format—especially over our chart of accounts and secured an Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). The Bucks currently with regard to employment taxes, which ODBC connection with our General Ledger, play at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Former feature limits and changing rates.” Microsoft Dynamics SL. This link ensures that Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl, whose family our financial data automatically flows into started the Kohl’s food and department store Additionally, apart from their existing Prophix on a nightly basis, and that all of the chain, has owned the Bucks since 1985. demands for reporting, the Bucks needed reports and formulas update by themselves to address the NBA’s new requirements for as we add new accounts.” Recognizing the problem submitting financial information. Seeking Members of the Milwaukee Bucks’ a means to measure how the league’s accounting and finance department realized The Milwaukee Bucks Prophix Case study

Benefits Future plans With the help of Prophix, the Milwaukee Milwaukee Bucks CFO, Mike Burr, offers As the Bucks strive to make their department Bucks now have the ability to produce some perspective: “We have a number managers accountable and their user base detailed budgets whenever they need of different reporting requirements, each expands, members of their accounting them. As Woloszyk says, “The software will with their own formats. Prophix allows for and finance department expect to utilize allow us to take our actuals and adapt alternate reporting hierarchies or ways for Prophix’s security functions to a greater them to the appropriate league reporting us to reorganize accounting structures for degree. The organization also hopes to format. We can also take our budget and internal or external reporting. Soon we’ll get develop internal reports for specific areas easily convert that into our quarterly forecast to the place where we’re developing 3-year of responsibility within the company, or our annual report—all based on the rolling forecasts. That’s essentially impossible automatically generating monthly or solution’s ‘Member Properties’ functions! to facilitate with spreadsheets. If we keep quarterly reports for their employees in Most of our work now involves maintaining our forecasts up to date, we can generate travel, scouting, and basketball operations. the budget.” projections at any time.” Woloszyk says that he would definitely In terms of reporting, the Bucks now process recommend Prophix to other franchises three separate audits—one using GAAP or companies in his industry. “Prophix “Our work developing a (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) has enabled us to do exactly what we personnel planning solution and two special purpose audits related to with Prophix’s Detailed Planning intended for our reporting, budgeting, their membership in the NBA. In order to Manager puts us way ahead of and planning. Professional sports teams produce these reports as simply as possible, where we stood when we used that run their buildings could really take the Bucks use the Member Properties spreadsheets.” advantage of Prophix’s capabilities by function to remap the structure to fit the budgeting for gross revenue, cost of sales, —Jim Woloszyk categories/line items that populate their Director of Finance maintenance, personnel, and concessions, annual combined financials. Faced with Milwaukee Bucks and then merge those totals with the larger specific rules that outline which expenses organization. From what we see, it would should appear on specific lines, the related only take a few weeks to get that type of mapping process would be either fraught system up and running.” with errors or downright impossible to achieve with spreadsheets.