Spectrum Housing Group has implemented performance management software from Infor for planning and budgeting, replacing a very spreadsheet-led culture. The new software is intended to help Spectrum to deploy its resources more effectively and provide all budget holders with the tools to forecast more accurately.
Spectrum’s previous spreadsheet-based planning processes meant that there was an increased risk of inaccuracy, poor data quality and inconsistencies across different areas. Furthermore, expensive accountancy resources were needed to manually analyse data, and Spectrum decided that these skills could be deployed in more value-adding areas across its operations.
In order to address these issues and reduce risk, Spectrum selected Infor CPM Planning and Budgeting. The main benefits of the Infor software are that management accounts can be created quickly and confidently, and through interfacing with the housing provider’s HR system, budget holders have access to current meaningful data on total employee costs, not just retrospective, two-dimensional data. Infor CPM Planning and Budgeting is now being used by 20 finance staff and 80 budget holders across Spectrum’s business operations.
Kathryn Price, director of finance, Spectrum Housing, said, “Infor CPM stands to deliver immense value to us. Straight away the improved visibility allows us to budget and forecast more accurately. In particular, the interface with our HR system means that we can perform this based on accurate meaningful information – for example, the system will factor in whether an employee is leaving halfway through the budgeting period or if pay reviews are likely to result in a spike in salary costs.”
