GAB Robins drives efficiency with good asset management

GAB Robins’ adoption of Asset4000 and Lease4000 from Real Asset Management (RAM) to support the management of its leased company car fleet has transformed month-end reconciliation, reducing processing time. In addition, improved asset information is supporting enhanced budgetary reporting, whilst the software’s electronic reporting capability is enabling the company to meet its environmental strategy by reducing printed output as well as costs.

Risk Management
GAB Robins is a leading provider of global risk management services and solutions to the insurance and self-insured marketplace with affiliated operations in 58 countries. Employing more than 3,300 employees worldwide, the GAB Robins Global Group of companies provides seamless claims services globally for the property and casualty insurance market.

The organisation has more than 500 staff in the UK operating from a national network of 19 regionally based sites. In common with many service businesses, it had difficulty in achieving accuracy in its asset registers, relying on manual processes to keep track of IT equipment and furniture. However, in 1999, GAB Robins decided that its spreadsheet-based process for recording assets and managing depreciation was simply too inefficient to deliver the strong financial control required to support the expanding business.

Trevor Sutton, management accountant at GAB Robins, explains, “As the organisation grew, it became quickly apparent that we would not be able to meet requirements for the wider reporting on fixed assets that we needed to meet. It was obvious that we needed a new solution, especially to support ongoing budgeting and forecasting processes.”

Having researched the marketplace, GAB Robins decided to implement Asset4000 and later Lease4000 from Real Asset Management, both from the Series4000 suite of software products. Immediate benefits were achieved through improved reporting and faster month-end reconciliation, with the company now using RAM’s software to support the leasing of company cars for up to 300 employees.

“Asset4000 and Lease4000 are functionally rich solutions at a good price,” Sutton confirms. “Furthermore, the software can be integrated with our General Ledger system, SunSystems, which will deliver significant benefits in the future.”

Business Support
The software upgrade process ran smoothly, with the new system delivered on time and to budget. “Real Asset Management also included training as part of the contract to ensure GAB Robins’ finance staff can exploit the functionality of the new system,” Sutton explains.

The company has already attained significant efficiencies following the implementation of Asset4000 and Lease4000, particularly in the management of company cars. “When the decision was first made to lease cars, the entire lease management process had to be managed via spreadsheets,” says Sutton. “Now I know at the touch of a button the monthly interest payments and any maintenance due on each vehicle.” He adds, “Since there are up to 300 assets in our fleet, this constitutes a phenomenal time saving.”

The company can now search for any car through the fixed asset register by registration number, driver, or asset number as required, easing the process of locating crucial information.

GAB Robins works to a complex cost structure, reporting on 65 cost centres across its 19 sites. This creates a potentially complicated situation for transferring assets between cost centres and measuring depreciation accurately. The new software from RAM has greatly simplified this procedure. Sutton comments, “Asset4000 automates the whole process of reporting by cost centre as well as asset, managing depreciation and transferring assets between cost centres,” he continues, “This is a real benefit and provides a significant time saving.” 

In addition, the company can now respond rapidly to discrete requests for information to support budget planning.  Sutton explains, “In the past, information had to be consolidated from multiple spreadsheets to determine the potential availability or cost of company cars over the next few months.” He affirms, “Now, with an accurate database of cars, by driver, cost and location within the business, that information can be delivered immediately.”

Green Strategy
The company undertakes periodic physical audits of all fixed assets, a process which has confirmed the accuracy of the data stored and managed within the asset register. Sutton insists, “Excellent supervision of the asset base is a core component of sound financial management. Fixed asset management is vital to us as a service company, secondary only to the management of our staff.”

GAB Robins is also benefiting from Real Asset Management’s browser-based interface. Information is checked easily on screen rather than via innumerable print outs. Sutton confirms, “The system is geared up to reporting electronically through ExcelTM spreadsheets, which is a real bonus for the company. We are committed to reducing print in order to drive down costs and improve our carbon footprint. Series4000 supports this initiative completely.”

Sutton concludes, “GAB Robins is a highly cost-aware organisation and Series4000 has provided the facility to store detailed and accurate information about the entire asset register and streamline the management of lease purchase. Importantly, we are now achieving this while reducing paper and print costs, which is a significant benefit to the business.”

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