Customer Story: St Michael's Primary

• Need for Modernisation: Liz Nugent's experience highlights the importance of recognising outdated financial systems and advocating for change in educational institutions.
• Leadership and Trust: Liz's success was enabled by supportive leadership and trust, emphasising their crucial role in implementing significant changes.
• Implementation Challenges: Transitioning to new software involves hurdles such as data transfer issues. Collaborative efforts and support are essential for overcoming these challenges.
• Efficiency and User Experience: Access Education Finance's simplicity and time-saving features were key factors in enhancing efficiency, emphasising the importance of user-centric design.
• Centralised Management: The software's multi-user functionality allowed for centralised management and effective task delegation, promoting collaboration and reducing individual workload.

Previous experience of Access Education Finance

With two decades of experience in the banking sector before transitioning to education, Liz is well-versed in financial management. It was during her first role as School Business Manager at an academy that she was initially introduced to Access Education Finance.

Having been an active user of our software in her previous position, the contrast became evident when she joined St. Michael's in 2019. Liz quickly identified the inefficiencies of their outdated system and advocated for a switch to Access Education Finance.

When I joined St. Michael’s Primary, they were using FMS, which, in all honesty, was very outdated in comparison to Access Finance.

Advocating for Access Education Finance at St Michael’s

The prevalence of outdated financial management systems is a common theme in many maintained primary schools, as noted by Liz.

Crediting her Headteacher's forward-thinking leadership and the trust placed in her autonomy, Liz successfully led the charge in implementing Access Education Finance at St. Michael's School.

The pressure to bring about change

For many schools, sticking with familiar systems may seem preferable to navigating the complexities of implementing a new financial management system. This was certainly the case within the Trafford authority, meaning that St. Michael’s School was the only school in the authority to transition from FMS to Access Education Finance at the time.

Liz emphasised that she had to exert considerable effort to gain the local authority's trust in her judgment regarding the introduction of Access Education Finance to St. Michael’s. However, she noted that the effort paid off in the end.

The pressure to bring about change was significant, especially considering St. Michael’s was the only school in the authority to transition from FMS to Access Education Finance at the time," Liz explained. "But despite encountering some challenges with data transfer, the Access Team were able to resolve them, and we reached a point where the finance system met our needs, which was fantastic.

These challenges highlight that implementing new software isn’t without its difficulties, but the benefits far outweigh the initial hurdles, as we will explore further in this case study.

This also underscores the importance of collaborating with a provider capable of tailoring a solution to fit the unique needs of each school and adapting to any challenges that come their way regarding things like data transfer.

Liz’s advice for schools considering the transition to a modern finance management software

Liz observed that many schools, especially in her borough, are now starting to embrace change and are exploring modern financial management solutions, with numerous options available on the market. Despite the abundance of software choices, Liz staunchly supports Access Education Finance:

For anyone seeking education finance software, you really ought to consider Access Education Finance because it’s remarkably simple and straightforward. It has the potential to transform your processes.

Liz is now working closely with other schools in the borough to show the benefits that Access Education Finance can bring.

Benefits of Access Education Finance

When we introduced Access Finance, it was just enlightening. It was so simple, so straight forward. It did everything you needed it to do, and you could see what you needed to see at the point where you needed to see it!

When questioned further about her preference for Access Education Finance, Liz emphasised the significant time-saving aspect as its primary benefit.

It's incredibly easy and straightforward to obtain answers, as opposed to having to navigate through various channels to reach the desired point.

Liz also highlighted the software's multi-user functionality, emphasising the ability to assign different users to different levels and delegate specific tasks accordingly. This centralised management, she noted, reduces the burden from solely resting on one individual and distributes the workload effectively.

Conclusion

This customer success story is one of loyalty, trust and innovation. Liz has been a firm advocate for our solution since it was introduced to her in a previous role, and her willingness to bring it over to her new role demonstrates Liz’ appreciation of the product.

Moreover, this narrative shed light on the challenges faced by educational institutions in migrating from antiquated systems to more contemporary, user-centric solutions, amidst a myriad of available options in the market.

Thank you to Liz and the team at St Michael’s Primary for your unwavering support!

If you are in the market for a new financial management platform for your school, then why not schedule a free demo of Access Education Finance? Similarly, we have a variety of guides, on-demand webinars and thought-leadership articles in our resource area, which you may also find useful.