Catholic Schools NSW

Faced with the limitations of an outdated budgeting system and the use of spreadsheets, Catholic Schools NSW (CSNSW) embarked on a strategic journey to revamp its financial planning and analysis processes. The organisation sought a solution that could streamline workflows and support its complex budgeting needs, aligning with its mission to manage resources efficiently across its various entities and programs.

Andrew Mandigora, their Financial Controller, explained that CSNSW’s budgeting process is deeply intertwined with its strategic objectives. As highlighted in their strategic plan, the budget serves as a financial expression of the organisation’s mission to lead and serve Catholic education.

”The system required numerous manual entries and late nights for the finance team during reporting periods”

The pre-existing spreadsheet-based budget management system at CSNSW lacked flexibility in managing their budgets and forecasts. The manual nature of the process made it time-consuming and left little room for collaboration across departments. As Jerome Akbarally, Senior Management Accountant at CSNSW, described, ”the system required numerous manual entries and late nights for the finance team during reporting periods”. The organisation found itself spending a lot of time on budget adjustments, forecast changes, and ensuring accuracy across multiple cost centres, projects and programs.

Furthermore, CSNSW’s financial planning is always a challenge given inevitable funding level changes. Funding level changes can impose constraints on funding growth. With system funding growth expected to decline between 2024 and 2029, CSNSW needed a more efficient and scalable budgeting solution. The integration of Workday Adaptive Planning is needed to allow the organisation to adapt to these constraints while improving budgeting accuracy and reporting.

Andrew Mandigora advised the decision to move away from a spreadsheet-based process to Workday Adaptive Planning stemmed from the need to improve both reporting efficiencies and collaboration across departments. CSNSW’s finance team needed a tool that could simplify the forecasting process while offering flexibility in making updates and changes on the go. Jerome highlighted the need to reduce the manual interventional of spreadsheets within the previous system stating, “We were spending too much time on spreadsheet manipulation and needed a tool that could simplify the process and allow better reporting and making decision-­making easier and faster.”

Stakeholders at CSNSW also expressed the need for greater involvement in the planning process, more visibility into their budgets, and improved collaboration.

“We were spending too much time on spreadsheet manipulation and needed a tool that could simplify the process and allow for better decision-making”

After evaluating several planning platforms, CSNSW selected Workday Adaptive Planning for its flexibility and ease of use. GK Horizons was chosen as the implementation partner, given their expertise delivering similar projects with organisations like Sydney Catholic Schools. Jerome noted that the cultural fit between the teams was crucial to the project’s success, and GK Horizons delivered strong support throughout the implementation.

“The relationship with GK Horizons was key to our success. Their consultants understood our needs and helped us at every step”

The implementation of Workday Adaptive Planning at CSNSW commenced in April 2023 and was completed on time and within budget, including the addition of several new models, showcasing the efficiency of GK Horizon’s implementation approach.

With the implementation of Workday Adaptive Planning, CSNSW assists in ensuring its core values of service, accountability, integrity, and collegiality are embedded throughout the budgeting and forecasting process.

Following the implementation of Workday Adaptive Planning, CSNSW has realised several significant improvements. Budgeting and reporting processes are now streamlined, allowing the team to spend more time on higher-value tasks such as analysis and decision-making. Jerome mentioned that the system has made rolling forecasts easier, reducing the time and effort required to create board reports and other financial documentation.

Before Workday Adaptive Planning, CSNSW’s financial reporting relied on an incompatible budgeting system and outdated spreadsheets, requiring significant manual work. The new system has introduced improved collaboration between the finance team and the other departments enabling automated daily integrations improving both financial and management reporting.

“The ease with which we can now create reports and share insights across the organisation is a game-changer,” Jerome stated. “The ability to make quick adjustments and run detailed variance reports has transformed the way we work, improving collaboration between finance and other departments.”

As Catholic Schools NSW (CSNSW) continues to evolve its financial planning capabilities, the focus now shifts to deepening the use of Workday Adaptive Planning. Future plans include expanding the use of rolling forecasts, enhancing scenario modeling, and driving greater collaboration across departments. We will also take advantage of Workday Adaptive Planning’s reporting enhancements (both structural and visual) to create better reporting.

With a desire to reduce manual reporting processes further, CSNSW is exploring more automation and self-service reporting. The organisation aims to unlock more insights and drive strategic decision-making while optimising resource allocation for its educational mission.