Novatech

The challenge

Move on from an outdated system and achieve compliance and efficiency

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The news that Exchequer’s finance software would no longer be actively supported was the last straw for Novatech. The software’s limitations had already been causing headaches for the company, necessitating laborious manual processes for tasks like supplier payments, fixed asset depreciation and group consolidation.

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“We’d been looking to change for quite a while, to update our VAT processes to make them more compliant – and to take advantage of some automation tools,” says Novatech’s Finance Director, Alex Puttock. “But when they explicitly said they weren’t going to support our on-premises product beyond a certain date, it was clear that after 15 years, it was more than time for a change,”

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The solution

iplicit has slashed time taken by routine tasks and integrates with Novatech’s own software

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The main requirement of a new system was that it should be able to integrate with Novatech’s own in-house software for sales and stock. “That ruled out about 60-70% of the competitors,” says Alex. “They kept telling us we’d have to get third parties in to carry out those integrations. We’ve got a really clever in-house IT team so we didn’t want to bring in anybody else.”

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He adds: “Whenever we asked iplicit whether the system could do something, the team showed us. Every other vendor we went to assured us that the product could do it but said we’d need to download this or integrate that – and we never saw it in action.

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“Our board naturally asked me why we didn’t go for Sage Intacct, which would seem like the safe bet. Well to begin with, the team disliked it in user testing. And the people at iplicit showed us their product, whereas I’ve still not seen Sage Intacct do the things they say it does.

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"We didn't need an incredibly complex system. We wanted a fairly out-of-the-box system with key changes in places to accommodate our requirements – and that’s what iplicit provided.”

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The company has recorded a host of significant benefits.

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AP automation: Under Exchequer, the accounts payable process was a laborious, multi-step procedure involving paper invoices, manual checks and rekeying data. That process has been replaced by automation. "We're posting things, essentially, when stock lands,” says Alex.

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Batch payments: Paying suppliers was previously a lengthy manual process. "We used to spend two days at month-end making payments and now we can probably do that in an hour,” says Alex.

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Foreign exchange: Previously, Novatech handled foreign exchange transactions by converting them into sterling. iplicit's live FX feed has made that unnecessary. “Everything's held in foreign exchange and we can pay it in dollars, euros, whatever it might be. It massively simplifies that process,” says Alex.

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Bank reconciliation: Bank reconciliation has been drastically simplified by automation. “Some days, the time savings might be two minutes; some days, it might be half an hour to an hour,” says Alex.

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Fixed asset depreciation: Fixed asset management no longer relies on spreadsheets. “When you’ve got hundreds or thousands of assets, each with their own depreciation schedule, it gets complicated – and any changes or corruption of spreadsheets can cause real problems,” says Alex. The register is now held in iplicit, which applies depreciation automatically. “There’s considerably less effort involved and, most importantly, more reliability,” Alex adds.

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Consolidation: Accounts for the holding company, the Novatech trading company and its smaller sibling Coconnect (a school internet provider) are now easily consolidated. “This futureproofs us and ensures we have everything in one place,” says Alex.

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The outcome

Team is set up for growth in partnership with iplicit

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Beyond big efficiency savings, the move to iplicit has given the team confidence in its processes – and has prepared the company for further growth. “I definitely sleep easier knowing that we have iplicit. Things like the VAT compliance are much safer, much more secure, and I’ve got a much better audit trail in all areas of the business,” says Alex.

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“Although we’ve saved time, the exercise isn't necessarily about saving time and cost, it’s about being efficient. What it does is enable us to grow. We can facilitate more transactions, we can grow to a higher turnover and higher cost base without having to add bodies.”

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He has been impressed by iplicit’s ongoing support and willingness to take on board feedback. “Sage may have been considered the safe bet – the product most people go for – but never in a million years are they going to listen to us or make any changes to the product based on our feedback,” Alex says. “I genuinely believe iplicit listens to us and I can start to see those changes happening. I like the idea of iplicit and us growing together over the coming years.”