Barwood Capital

The challenge

Eliminating time-consuming manual work and ending information silos

Barwood Capital’s finance team faced significant inefficiencies due to a legacy finance system that was no longer suitable for the organisation’s complexity. The software lacked the functionality required to manage the firm’s structure, resulting in a heavy reliance on spreadsheets for core financial processes.

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The team oversees more than 30 active legal entities at any given time, in addition to approximately 50 dormant or non-trading entities. The finance team is responsible for audit and tax compliance, management accounts, cashflow reporting and financial reporting across all entities.

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“Our previous finance system was Exchequer (now owned by Advanced),” explains Jill Smith, Senior Finance Manager. “It was outdated and operated on a siloed basis, requiring separate logins for each entity. This made day-to-day operations inefficient and increasingly impractical as the business expanded.”

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Exchequer lacked integrated workflows, meaning that processes such as invoice approvals and employee expense management had to be conducted outside the system. As a result, the finance team relied heavily on Excel for tasks ranging from management accounts to VAT returns and employee expenses – leading to a manual and time-intensive workload.

The solution

Processes have been streamlined and tasks have are automated

Recognising the limitations of its existing system, Barwood Capital’s finance team began evaluating alternatives. iplicit was identified early on as a potential solution, having supported other organisations transitioning from Exchequer.

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“We reviewed three main providers – iplicit, NetSuite, and Sage,” says Smith. “Our primary requirement was the ability to manage multiple entities and consolidate financial data across groups efficiently.”

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Additional considerations included compliance with Making Tax Digital, automated bank reconciliation, and overall usability. iplicit met these criteria and was ultimately selected as the preferred solution.

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Since implementing iplicit, Barwood Capital has achieved notable efficiencies across its finance operations. “Processes such as invoice handling, expense submissions, VAT returns and bank reconciliations are now significantly more streamlined,” says Smith. “Manual data entry and duplication have been largely eliminated.”

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Bank reconciliation, previously a manual task involving printed statements and manual matching, is now automated through integrated bank feeds. Invoice approvals, once routed through SharePoint and duplicated in Exchequer, are now managed entirely within iplicit. Expense submissions have also been digitised, replacing Excel-based forms with a direct entry and approval workflow.

The outcome

Time savings

A notable improvement has been in group consolidation. “Intercompany transactions are now automatically mirrored between entities,” Smith notes. “Consolidated fund reporting can be produced instantaneously.”

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The time saved through automation and improved workflows is now being redirected toward more strategic activities. “We’re able to support the property management team with tailored reporting and assist senior management with ad hoc analysis – adding greater value to the business,” Smith concludes.

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