Semafo
Mining Company Streamlines Its Financial Reporting Process with Microsoft Dynamics™
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Company Overview
Mining is among the world’s most risky and potentially rewarding industries. Among these high-stakes players is Semafo Inc., a Montreal-based gold exploration and development company. Semafo began producing gold in Kiniero, Guinea in 2002. Since then, it has expanded operations across several West African countries.
Business Challenge
Locating and extracting gold deposits, while critical to the success of the company, is only the first step in site development. Once the gold is located, the process of exploration gives way to comprehensive project analysis. Part of this process focuses on reporting and data – two key components Semafo uses to track a project’s return on investment. Ongoing project profitability and operations analysis requires that staff all over the world share data and report real time on results. This requires data to be presented in multiple languages, currencies, and formats depending on where mines are located and where the company engages in trading.
“Sharing data is one our most important tasks. But it’s not as easy as emailing numbers in a spreadsheet. We have to report our data in different currencies, account for very different tax regimes in Africa, Canada and the United States, and ensure that all our data is available in French,” says Martine Meynard, Controller, Semafo Inc.
Semafo must run as efficiently as possible in order to maximize value for its shareholders, so finding a large contingent of specialized staff who could manually meet these requirements was near impossible. Semafo needed to find an automated solution that would help it share real-time data quickly and easily with stakeholders around the world.
“Price volatility is a fact of life in the gold mining industry and we need to make decisions very fast. The kind of ‘go or no go’ decisions we make are literally million-dollar decisions. Without accurate information to back up these decisions, the future of our company would be affected,” says Meynard.
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Solution
Semafo knew it needed to improve its data workflow. The ideal solution had to be easy to install and use. Semafo couldn’t afford a lengthy implementation or a lengthy user-training process.
“When you’re running an office at a mine site, you’re lucky if you have electricity, never mind a computer. And the office might still be miles away from the actual mine. Given that we rely on local resources, the process of logging information had to be very easy,” says Meynard.
Semafo turned to Microsoft® Gold Certified partner Groupe Conseil LVMB, which has developed an expertise helping mining companies integrate their global operations. LVMB analyzed Semafo’s situation and made a decision to implement Microsoft Dynamics™ GP, an integrated, adaptable business management solution that enables companies to make business decisions with greater confidence.
Semafo was particularly attracted to the financial reporting and integration features of Microsoft Dynamics GP. The Web-based FRx function enables users to input data into one central location so that it can be extracted in a wide variety of formats.
LVMB was able to install Microsoft Dynamics GP in only a few months. The software was set up on a central server at the company’s Montreal head office. Semafo staff operating in Africa and other locations are able to access the information using Microsoft Terminal Server and Citrix® MetaFrame® software - made available over a satellite network - to enter and view data in real-time.
“The French language capability of Microsoft Dynamics GP, as well as its ability to render financial data into numerous currencies quickly and easily was also a major selling point for Semafo. As a lean, international company, this helped to address its biggest concerns,” says Eric Richer, Team Leader, Groupe Conseil LVMB.
Business Benefits
By taking advantage of Microsoft Dynamics GP, Semafo was able to make its financial reporting process far more efficient and responsive. Costly and time-consuming manual processes were eliminated. Staff operating in a variety of languages and with different levels of technical sophistication found the new system easy to use.
Better decision making
With financial data now immediately available to staff, Semafo has been able to make better decisions, faster. For years Semafo found itself analyzing reports in different languages, different currencies and in a variety of formats. Now Microsoft Dynamics GP is configured to give Semafo staff the data they need, when they need it and in a format that is relevant to them.
Compiling the required month-end numbers used to take Semafo up to three weeks to complete. By taking advantage of Microsoft Dynamics GP, that process has been reduced to three days.
Purchasing processes were also simplified. It was previously a time-consuming process for staff in Africa to identify exactly what they had in inventory.
“Now staff can access Microsoft Dynamics GP and see what’s in stock right away. This has really streamlined the purchasing process,” says Meynard.
Tighter internal controls
As a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, verifying financial data and complying with new accounting regulations is a top priority for Semafo. Microsoft Dynamics GP is helping the company implement more efficient and transparent processes at each of its sites and, at the same time, help it ensure that its data is accurate.
“Given the new regulations governing financial disclosure, it’s critical for Semafo to have the processes in place to adhere to them. Microsoft Dynamics GP has helped us to achieve this,” says Meynard.
Reduced operating costs
With no effective business management system in place, staff were obligated to travel to and from Africa on a regular basis to solve a variety of problems face-to-face. By connecting to the Microsoft Dynamics GP server using Microsoft Terminal Server and Citrix MetaFrame software, information can be transmitted, controlled and corrected quickly and easily over the satellite network.
Flexible, scalable platform
Microsoft Dynamics GP supports French, which has made the financial reporting process much simpler for workers in French-speaking Quebec and West Africa. Like other successful gold exploration companies, it must be prepared for sudden and rapid growth. Adding field staff or projects no longer requires extensive data entry work at Semafo’s offices.
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics (formerly Microsoft Business Solutions) is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like and with familiar Microsoft software to help your people be more productive.
For more information about Microsoft Dynamics, go to:http://www.microsoft.com/canada/dynamics/default.mspx
For More Information
For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to: www.microsoft.com
For more information about Groupe Conseil LVMB products and services, call (450) 668-6664 or visit the Web site at: www.lvmb.com
For more information about Semafo Inc. products and services, call (514) 744-4408 or visit the Web site at: www.semafo.com
