The Baptist Union of Queensland has chosen Greentree, the Windows-based business software from the original developers of CBA, to modernise and enhance their processes. As a large, multifaceted non-profit organisation the Union needed consistency across all the groups’ systems. Moving to Greentree from CBA provides the Union with a more modern accountancy engine to manage the varied workload.

“Greentree allows us to remove the manual process. Extracting information for our reports will be more straightforward and the information will be easier to work with. Basically, because of Greentree’s simplicity the team will be able to do so much more.”

Bill Hogan, the Senior Accountant, explains the move, "We did not look at other products as it was a logical progression to move to Greentree. CBA was a good product, so we knew it [Greentree] has a proven track record for design and it would provide even more functions to help us manage and improve our processes. Using a modern technology makes a happier workforce!”

Changing from the DOS system to Windows-based Greentree is important to the accounting team, as it not only provides many CBA business concepts, but also provides many Windows features familiar to the ‘Windows-generation’. “Our staff prefer a Windows-based system as it is easier to use. We believe Greentree is very simple to use as there is no need to be a system expert to get around and get the information out. Greentree enables Windows proficient people to use an accounting system, it’s that simple. It will make life much easier for us,” says Bill.

Due to their familiarity with CBA and the seamless integration with common desktop tools, the accounting team feel the transition to the new system will be swift and relatively painless. Bill explains, “We will be up and running quickly without lengthy training and disruption. Greentree means we only need one system running.”

It is essential for the Union to improve their financial reporting and data management. The new functionality available to the team will enable them to better manage the information from its 30 centres including colleges, camp sites, church groups, and training organisations. “We need to produce over 30 monthly reports. Using CBA we were unable to enter and extract the information easily as we had to manually process all the data sheets from each of our centres.”

Greentree provides strong integration with common desktop tools such as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word to empower users in areas such as: financial reporting, budget modelling, transaction entry, and mail merge. A purpose built Excel add-in is designed to extend an organisation’s capabilities in a number of these areas. Bill comments, “The ease of importing and exporting data will reduce double handling of data that we have now. We will have a more efficient and time-saving way of managing our data.”

“We did not look at other products as it was a logical progression to move to Greentree. CBA was a good product, so we knew it [Greentree] has a proven track record for design and it would provide even more functions to help us manage and improve our processes. Using a modern technology makes a happier workforce!”

The Union now have direct access to key information that can be extracted, formatted, reviewed, and acted on using tools most appropriate to the task. The links to Greentree are “live” which means they only need to set up each reporting spreadsheet once, enter the period and year to report each month and Greentree takes care of the rest. In addition to financial results, budgets may also be extracted from Greentree. “Greentree allows us to remove the manual process. Extracting information for our reports will be more straightforward and the information will be easier to work with. Basically, because of Greentree's simplicity the team will be able to do so much more,” explains Bill.

Being able to analyse the financial information and compare costs across centres is important to the Unions’ management team. The team has diverse reporting demands, so the system needs to be flexible in order to generate customised information and a bespoke layout for each of the associated organisations. “We need to produce tailored reports for our multiple organisations; Greentree will allow us to use the data differently for each organisation.” Bill further explains, “For example, for our camp sites we need to see and analyse cost per beds, usage, accommodation demands, and other time and material costs. Overall, it allows us to see more about how each organisation is functioning.”

New modules will extend their capabilities further. The Union has also decided to use the CRM ‘Contacts and Relationships’ and ‘Bookings Management’ modules to provide full booking and management facilities for a number of their accommodation venues across south east Queensland. They plan to connect their branches to the head office system, so all the information is ‘on-line’ and available to all. Payroll for Greentree has also been included in the plans to replace their incumbent system. By using the integrated payroll system they aim to eliminate the double entry workload from system to system.

About The Baptist Union of Queensland

The central office of Queensland Baptists (The Baptist Union of Queensland) is made up of a number of “Service Groups.” They are there to provide assistance to the Church members, Pastors, Leaders, Deacons, and members of our congregations.