Case Study: Scaling Financial Success with Dynamics 365 Business Central: A Labor Union’s Transition from QuickBooks

Learn how Withum worked with this client to successfully reduce manual processes, improve workflows and increase internal controls while increasing future scalability.

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To modernize their technology, enhance financial insights and streamline operational efficiency, a not-for-profit organization partnered with Withum to successfully implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ERP. This comprehensive transformation brought significant benefits, including improved reporting capabilities, streamlined processes, improved cash flow management, stronger internal controls and future scalability.

The client is a labor organization based in California in the public safety sector. They have multiple legal entities, including a not-for-profit.

This organization needed help managing financial processes for multiple entities using QuickBooks as their financial software. This task was previously controlled via a non-cloud (on-premise) QuickBooks Desktop, but the process was tedious due to separated company files and outdated technology.

This led to cumbersome procedures and financial entry issues, including multiple QuickBooks backup files, access issues during role transitions, difficulties in expense management, suboptimal financial reporting and complexities in handling ACH payments and approvals. It became clear that modernization was essential to consolidate technology systems, align with their strategic vision and enhance overall financial efficiency.

During this implementation process, Withum’s Business Central consulting team applied their implementation methodology, emphasizing shared responsibility and partnership with the client. This collaborative method fosters a sense of ownership and enhances teamwork. The process consists of several phases designed to align resources, minimize business disruption, boost employee engagement and establish a structured framework. It combines the strengths of a waterfall approach with the flexibility of an agile framework.

The process began with a comprehensive discovery phase. Through workshops and meetings, Withum gained insights into the client’s existing processes, aiming to develop a tailored solution. After aligning on system design, the project progressed through development, training, testing, deployment and optimization. The new ERP solution, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, was cloud-based and improved accessibility and data security. This enables authorized users to access financial information from anywhere at any time. It also unified all legal entities within a single environment (separate companies, one environment), facilitating consolidated financial reporting and providing a holistic view of the organization’s financial health. This made analyzing and reporting performance, profitability and compliance easier across the organization. Additionally, it streamlined and facilitated intercompany transactions, reducing the risk of human error, and improving overall process efficiency.

Optimizations to the Chart of Accounts and dimensions led to a remarkable 20% reduction in General Ledger accounts. Significant enhancements in financial processes were achieved, particularly in accounts payable, cash management and fixed assets automation. Approval workflow automation and optimization resulted in fewer delays and bottlenecks, improved segregation of duties, better internal controls and a more robust audit trail. Reducing manual processes and reliance on Microsoft Excel led to decreased human error and significant time savings.

Through this implementation, our team provided the organization with a modern cloud-based system, where its various legal entities could operate in a single environment. In a joint effort with the client, the project successfully reduced manual processes, improved workflows, and increased internal controls while increasing future scalability. The ERP can now grow with the organization’s needs, accommodating expansion and changes in business requirements.