Ashfield District Council shows its authority with RAM

Ashfield District Council is responsible to more than 108,700 residents and has selected Real Asset Management’s (RAM) Series4000 solution to meet all of the local authority’s capital charge/accounting requirements.

The district council, with a turnover of more than £54 million and over 550 staff, previously managed its 8,000 assets using spreadsheets.  “Calculations were cumbersome, said Pam Taylor, Principal Accountant.   “Every type of amendment made to an asset required an additional column on the spreadsheet which then had to be multiplied by twelve before we could even begin to carry out any monthly calculations. Therefore, we settled on annual calculations which we had to manually journal in and post once all the changes for the year were known.”

 Ashfield District Council knew it was time to move forward. “Real Asset Management was recommended to us by Civica with which they work in partnership to provide an integrated solution to meet all the local authority capital charge/accounting requirements. RAM’s system includes as standard, the high level of accounting functionality that is required by public sector organisations.

“The benefits of RAM’s system were felt immediately.  Updating assets is now an easy and straightforward process that can be done regularly throughout the year.  Asset4000 calculates the charges each month and automatically creates the journals and posts them.  This means that we have accurate, timely information that is consistently kept up-to-date.

“The reporting functionality is another key advantage with reports that are quick, easy and flexible.  We can produce accurate data that complies with all of the current government guidelines with a few clicks of a button.”

Taylor has continued to be impressed with the level and quality of support provided by RAM. “The help desk staff have a wealth of experience gained across hundreds of government implementations and this provides peace of mind and reassurance that whatever situation may arise, RAM staff have the skill and expertise to resolve the problem to everyone’s satisfaction.

“I would have no hesitation in recommending Asset4000 to other local councils and public sector organisations.  The system fully satisfies the high standards demanded by local government and has proved to be an invaluable tool in the way we manage our business processes.”

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