4-page Case Study - Posted 7/1/2007

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Singapore Chinese Orchestra

Singapore Orchestra Cuts Selected Costs by 40 Percent Using Customized Reporting

“Microsoft Dynamics helps us better handle complex project dimensions. With no risk of data being out of sync, we can now update our budgets and rework our project budgets upon changed orders.”

-- Mr Ken Chang, Executive Director, Singapore Chinese Orchestra Company Ltd

Situation

The Singapore Chinese Orchestra Company Ltd (SCO) has its roots as a cultural troupe under the government’s community services arm, the People’s Association. Since becoming professional in 1996, the SCO has been performing to great accolades around the region and on the international stage.

We are pleased to have acheived 40 percent cost savings with the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics. We are convinced that to be successful, one needs the right tools and I believe we have chosen the right partners to strive with us along the way. Mr Ken Chang Executive Director Singapore Chinese Orchestra Company Ltd

To position it as a world-leading Chinese orchestra, the SCO wanted sound leadership from a world class management team backed by a world-class infrastructure and the right tools. However, its existing basic accounting system was more suited for trading and manufacturing companies.

All financial and management reports were prepared manually using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. This made period-end closings a tedious process, with many of its staff staying late during every month and quarter-end closings.

With its present wide-ranging portfolio and increasingly complex project costing needs, the SCO found it increasingly difficult to manage project change orders and budgetary variations.

As a professional orchestra, the SCO has taken on new functionalities such as staging fund-raising, outreach programs, community services, talks/forums and overseas concerts Now housed in the Singapore Conference Hall (SCH), the SCO also needs to manage the occupancy rate of the concert hall and offices in SCH. Being a non-profit organization and an Institute of Public Character (IPC), the SCO also has to observe strict public governance guidelines for greater transparency in its fund management.

After reviewing its new roles, management saw the need for a flexible Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to better meet its unique project needs and its expanded role and responsibilities.

Solution

Following an extensive review of market offerings, the SCO decided on Microsoft Dynamics™ NAV.

“As a non-profit organization, we need a functional and reliable system to help us meet our auditing and reporting needs. It should be easily customizable for our unique project costing requirements as an orchestra. More importantly, it has to be cost-effective to optimise our funds from donations, government grants and sponsorships,” explained Ken Chang, Executive Director, Singapore Chinese Orchestra Company Ltd .

After an extensive evaluation, the SCO chose Microsoft Dynamics, Chang said,”I am pleased to see how easily Microsoft Dynamics can be customized for our unique project costing and reporting needs. Microsoft world renowned brand name and commitment to innovation also convinced us of the solution’s ability to grow with our business.”

Besides Microsoft Dynamics, the SCO also implemented the Project Costing Solution from Davidson Business Systems Enterprise Solution Suite, built on Microsoft Dynamics. Commending Davidson Business Systems Pte Ltd (Davidson), a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner, Chang said, “The Davidson team took time to understand our business processes and designed a solution tailored to our specific requirements.”

The implementation took about two months and went live in January 2006.

I am pleased to see how easily Microsoft Dynamics can be customized for our unique project costing and reporting needs. Microsoft world-renowned brand name and commitment to innovation also convinced us of solution's ability to grow our business. Mr Ken Chang Executive Director Singapore Chinese Orchestra Company Ltd

Benefits

“I am pleased to see how easily Microsoft Dynamics can be customized for our unique project costing and reporting needs. Microsoft world-renowned brand name and commitment to innovation also convinced us of the solution’s ability to grow with our business.” Mr Ken Chang Executive Director Singapore Chinese Orchestra Company Ltd Microsoft Dynamics helped the SCO to boost project budgeting accuracies, increase project management, streamline invoicing processes and enhance reporting and auditing.

Boosted Project Budgeting Accuracy

Typically, for every project the SCO is engaged in, the project cost items include largely variable components. These can vary from the programming of the repertoire, guest performance fees, costs of building the performance platform/stage, soloists fees, fees for second or third instrument, purchase of bouquets for soloists, refreshment costs and costs for sound technicians.

On average, each of the SCO projects encompasses 70 to 80 percent of variable costs. The large variable component made project budgeting a tedious process. Prior to Microsoft Dynamics, budgets were usually planned in lump sums. However, since becoming professional, larger-scale projects such as gala performances, where budgetary planning often starts a year before the actual performance, was becoming the norm. With numerous project change orders, such as changes with the choice of soloist instruments, tracking of cost changes became difficult. Manual updates via spreadsheets also made data redundancy and accuracy a concern.

Enhanced Project Management

“With Microsoft Dynamics, we are better equipped to handle the many complex dimensions required for our projects. With no risk of data being out of sync, we can now easily update our budgets and effectively rework our project budgets upon changed orders,” explained Chang.

With a comprehensive view into their project portfolio, the SCO project managers also gain more visibility into project expenses and revenue versus costs. With a centralized database in Microsoft Dynamics, the resource managers can now utilize the historical base of estimates for better project estimates.

Streamlined Invoicing Process

Previously, as a semi-professional orchestra, the SCO only had one type of invoicing for regular performances, which was handled by the finance department. Since becoming a professional orchestra, the SCO now issues five types of invoices. These include venue management (billing for office rental in SCH), venue marketing (billing for rental of SCH concert hall and resources), education (billing for education outreach programs), finance (billing for invited performances and talks) and miscellaneous.

After implementing Microsoft Dynamics, the SCO’s departments can now generate their invoices directly from the system, which caters to the varied invoicing needs of each business unit. “Invoicing is now streamlined as each department can print, post and collect invoices and receipts on their own. The finance department only needs to reconcile all invoicing and payment information for reporting,” said Madeleine Chong, Manager (Finance and Administration), Singapore Chinese Orchestra Company Ltd.

“With Microsoft Dynamics, we have cut period-end closings by 40 percent. It is so much faster and more flexible. We can now close our books whenever required, as all transactions are up-to-date,” explained Chong

With Microsoft Dynamics, we have cut period-end closings by 40 percent. It is so much faster and more flexible. We can now close our books whenever required, as all transactions are up-to-date. Ms Madeleine Chong Manager (Admin and Finance) Singapore Chinese Orchestra Company Ltd

With the new system, the SCO also enhanced its capabilities in meeting auditing requirements.” We find the audit trails and drill-down functionalities in Microsoft Dynamics very useful, the SCO is now able to concurrently handle our recent internal and external audits,” said Chang.

With the audit trails now available from Microsoft Dynamics, the SCO now enjoys better security enforcement and tighter tracking of data changes. Instead of going through General Ledger listings and physical files, auditor requests for more details on specific projects or transactions are now easily fulfilled using Microsoft Dynamics drill-down capabilities.

With a government-appointed Board of Directors, the SCO is also required to submit detailed financial and operations reports for its quarterly Board meetings. According to Chang, with seven committees including finance, investment, audit, marketing, artistic, human resource and the Board, the orchestra’s financial reports need to cater for each department’s requirements.

According to Chang, “We have reduced quarterly reporting time by 40 percent since implementation of Microsoft Dynamics. With more detailed reports based on more accurate figures, our mid-year budget reviews are also more effective. This enhances management visibility and enables faster decision making.”

For each fund-raising activity, the SCO is expected to disclose online, how the funds received were utilized. “With Microsoft Dynamics, we are making great progress in fulfilling the best practices for public disclosure stipulated in the Charities Act,” stressed Chang.

Fuelling the Passion to Inspire with Thousands of Notes

Looking ahead, the SCO will continue to reach out to the masses, so more individuals from different races will learn to appreciate their music. To this end, the SCO is also commissioning original compositions and organizing music competitions to incorporate music elements from the South East Asia region.

The SCO knows the importance of having a flexible yet robust IT infrastructure in order to fuel its passion to “inspire, influence, educate and communicate with its thousand notes”. Regarding both Microsoft and Davidson as its strategic technology partners, Chang said, “We are pleased to have achieved 40 percent cost savings with the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics. We are convinced that Tto be successful, one needs the right tools and I believe we . For the SCO, this also means having thehave chosen the right partners to strive with us along the way. We have seen the dedication from both Microsoft and Davidson during the implementation and appreciate the valued partnership cultivated through the process.”