AGORA LEARNING PARTNERSHIP UPGRADES FINANCIAL SYSTEM TO SAGE INTACCT FOR EDUCATION

About Agora Learning Partnership

Agora Learning partnership is a collaborative educational network with 19 primary academies across Hertfordshire, emphasising unity and collective success. Established in 2013, the Partnership operates under a Christian foundation, providing high-quality education while allowing schools to maintain individual identities and curriculum autonomy. Success is measured by the well-being and development of the children and young people, with a strong focus on their happiness, safety, and educational growth. The central team manages finance, HR, payroll, and facilities efficiently, enhancing the overall strength of the organisation.

Objectives

Agora Learning Partnership previously used PSF/IRIS but partnered with ION to implement a more modern and robust financial management system. They required essential features that would streamline processes and boost efficiency such as easy consolidation of accounts.

Key objectives included:

1. Cloud-Based System: Eliminate the need for remote access to server-based programmes and allow seamless work from anywhere. Reduce downtime and improve efficiency by leverage cloud-based technologies such as Bank Feeds for faster bank reconciliation.

2. Streamlined Purchase-to-Payment Processes: Reduce paper-based processes and school office workloads by allowing staff to raise digital requisitions, maintaining school autonomy while following the school scheme of delegation.

3. Improved Reporting Flexibility: Enhance the reporting suite to increase month-end management account packs, enable the direct production of a SOFA report from the finance system, and eliminate the need for manually created spreadsheets and calculations.

4. Data Quality Improvements: Introduce system-based user restrictions to reduce mis-coding errors and allow users more time for activities outside the finance system.

5. Fixed Assets Included in Finance System: Incorporate fixed assets into the finance system to improve month-end close time and enable users to create fixed assets during the purchasing workflow to reduce duplication of tasks.

Agora and Sage Intacct

Agora Learning Partnership, under the leadership of Jayshree Shah as CFO, has successfully transitioned to Sage Intacct. Alongside streamlining processes, Sage Intacct provides several operational benefits to finance teams, including a user-friendly interface designed with ease and simplicity in mind. Agora have quickly and effectively adapted to the new finance system, making use of the availability of test environments, training, and ongoing support services, and rapid response times.