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Toowoomba Regional Council

The Council reduced costs by $2.5 million and saved three days in payroll processing

Case study highlights

  • Reduced costs by $2.5 million per year
  • Transformed into a digital local government
  • Saved 3 days in payroll processing

The Challenge

Toowoomba Regional Council went to market seeking an integrated, enterprise solution that would enable it to transform its business from a manual, paper-based organisation, and bring it into the digital world.

“We recognised that our previous business software would no longer support the size and complexity of our organisation,” said Toowoomba Regional Council’s General Manager - Finance and Business Strategy, Arun Pratap.

“We needed to have the latest technology in place to support contemporary business processes and deliver efficient and effective services to the community - which is the whole reason the council exists.”

The Solution

Toowoomba Regional Council implemented TechnologyOne’s OneCouncil solution, including Financials, Asset Management and Human Resource & Payroll. Built in collaboration with more than 200 local governments, OneCouncil provides Toowoomba Council with a single, integrated enterprise solution across the entire council.

The Outcome

TechnologyOne’s OneCouncil solution has enabled Toowoomba Council to streamline its processes, reduce costs and provide employees with self service access to everyday tasks.

“We’re saving at least three days every month in efficiency gains for each of our 18 payroll staff,” Mr Pratap said.

“The visibility of what is happening from a Financials point of view is unrivaled. This means the reports we’re receiving at an executive and Council level are of a much higher quality.

“With better strategic and operational asset management, we’ll also have a two percent gain in our depreciation figure - which equates to a savings of about $2.5 million per annum. We expect to make a full return on our investment within five years.

“Our focus has always been on transformational change, and the TechnologyOne solution has certainly enabled this.”

Toowoomba Regional Council

Because Ci Anywhere is so intuitive and user friendly it has been easy to roll out, as it doesn’t require extensive training to learn how to use it.

Perspective

Toowoomba Regional Council is a local government area located in the Darling Downs part of Queensland, with a population of approximately 164,000 across a land area of 12,973 km2. Council is responsible for the delivery of services to the community, which costs around $4.2 billion per annum.

The council implemented TechnologyOne’s OneCouncil solution as part of a transformational project to become a digital local government.

“One of the key drivers for implementing TechnologyOne’s software was that we were operating without peers. Most of the other councils around us were using TechnologyOne, and we felt as though we were very much missing out,” said Mr Pratap.

“I’ve been around in the local and state government sector for quite some time, and you get to know the local vendors that really know the industry, can understand your business, and have a roadmap for how the software will remain relevant moving forward.

“TechnologyOne stood out leaps and bounds over competitors - and they have done so for some time.”

Mr Pratap said the rollout of the solution went smoothly, with staff embracing the intuitive self service functionality.

“We now have 900 staff using the Employee Self Service function to enter timesheets, and the takeup has been very successful.

“The first payroll we generated after implementing the solution was the first time in Toowoomba Council’s history where we can say every timesheet was in on time, signed, authorised and correct. Compare that to our previous paper-based approach and we could never could have expected that.”

Spotlight

Mr Pratap said this kind of business transformation had many change management considerations, and required ongoing engagement and buy-in from key stakeholders across the business.

“We’ve taken a significant step forward, going from manual, paper-based processes to a self-service electronic system,” Mr Pratap said.

“It has been challenging to keep people constantly engaged and motivated, because such change requires enormous effort and participation from a large number of stakeholders across the business. We’ve turned our back on silos and other outdated ways of working, which represents a complete departure from what much of the team has known for years.

“Thankfully, we’ve had the leadership and courage needed to make such a significant step-change, and delivered the project on time and just under budget. That isn’t the kind of praise you would normally hear from a major enterprise implementation of this kind.

“Having a partnership relationship with TechnologyOne was absolutely key to the successful outcome we’ve had,” he added.

“We’re feeling very empowered now, and this project has just brought our organisation to the starting line for further innovations and efficiency gains.”

Enterprise Content Management

About Toowoomba Regional Council

The Toowoomba Region is a local government area located in the Darling Downs part of Queensland, with a population of approximately 164,000 across a land area of 12,973 km2. Established in 2008, it was formed as the result of an amalgamation of several previous local government areas, with histories extending back to the early 1900s.

Toowoomba Regional Council website

Publish date

18 Feb 2016

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