Ex Cathedra

The challenge

The clock was ticking for Ex Cathedra as it looked for a new finance system. The choir shares a building with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra – and also shared the same server-based finance system. For Ex Cathedra, just two part-time staff were using that system for budget preparation, management accounts, financial statements and audit readiness.  

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The choir and the orchestra both knew they needed to find a more efficient system, and decommission the shared server.

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Both ended up choosing iplicit – and Ex Cathedra saved days of staff time every month as a result.

The solution

“My predecessor had done some initial research which pointed to iplicit as the most suitable system,” says Ayesha Khan, Finance Manager at Ex Cathedra. “We explored iplicit at the same time as looking into other options, such as Sage and QuickBooks.”

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There was no reason Ex Cathedra and CBSO had to choose the same system but both were impressed by iplicit.

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“When you’re buying a new system, the top concern has to be efficiency,” says Ayesha. “From my first interactions with the iplicit team, I could see the system had the potential to give us much more than we were getting from Exchequer.”

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“When you’re buying a new system, the top concern has to be efficiency. From my first interactions with the iplicit team, I could see the system had the potential to give us much more than we were getting from Exchequer.” Ayesha Khan, Finance Manager

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‘The support has been excellent’

Ayesha was impressed by iplicit and the team delivering it.  

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“We were trained by Shane Galea, Senior Implementation Consultant, who did a fantastic job,” she says. “The support team has been excellent, always prompt in answering our questions and incredibly patient. We’ve always felt comfortable asking questions and the team consistently follows up to ensure we have everything we need.”

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She found the software intuitive to learn. “I’ve really come to appreciate how user-friendly the system is,” she says. “One of my favourite features is the way it allows me to simultaneously work on different processes without needing to close one to open another. For instance, I can have the bank reconciliation for the current month open while referencing journals from previous months.”

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“The support team has been excellent, always prompt in answering our questions and incredibly patient. We’ve always felt comfortable asking questions and the team consistently follows up to ensure we have everything we need.” Ayesha Khan, Finance Manager

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‘We’re saving at least half a day a week’

“We are definitely saving a lot of time,” says Ayesha. “Exchequer required multiple steps for even simple tasks, like posting journals or running reports. With iplicit, the process is much faster and more streamlined.  

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“The bank reconciliation process is also so much smoother now because the system automatically finds matches between the bank statement and purchase invoices. That saves a lot of time.”

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Ayesha and a junior colleague used to work five-and-a-half days a week between them. Her colleague has since left and Ayesha has absorbed the extra work by going full time.

“I can now manage everything myself in a five-day week, so we’re saving at least half a day every week – or at least two days a month,” she says. “There was a learning curve early on but as I’ve become more familiar with the system, it’s only become quicker and easier.”

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“Exchequer required multiple steps for even simple tasks, like posting journals or running reports. With iplicit, the process is much faster and more streamlined." Ayesha Khan, Finance Manager

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‘iplicit presents everything the way I need it’

Just as important as the time savings is the fact that iplicit delivers real-time financial information as the team needs it.

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“Previously, a lot of our information lived in Excel spreadsheets, which meant I had to spend time collating and reorganising data for reports,” says Ayesha. “Now, iplicit presents everything in a clear and organised way, exactly how I need it.  

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“It’s also been a big help with planning and forecasting. The system provides better visibility into our financial data. That makes it much easier to prepare for board meetings and properly plan ahead.”

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“iplicit provides better visibility into our financial data. It's much easier to prepare for board meetings and properly plan ahead.” Ayesha Khan, Finance Manager