HAPPY DAYS NURSERY IMPLEMENTS SAGE INTACCT FOR EDUCATION

About Happy Days Nursery

Happy Days Nursery is a nursery group operating nurseries and pre-schools across the South West, including Bristol, Bath, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire. Operating 21 nurseries, Happy Days provides high quality education and care for pre-school aged children. With ambitious plans for expansion, the Nursery Group required a new financial management solution to support their growth and modernise their finance function.

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Previous System Challenges

Happy Days Nursery previously used Sage 50 in combination with Sage Payroll and Connect for their finance system. With continued plans for growth in 2024, the nursery group had outgrown their previous system and required a more robust solution to meet their growing scale and complexity. The existing system had extremely limited automation features leading to an excessive amount of time spent on Excel work leading to inefficiencies and increased risk of errors. The nursery group also struggled with the lack of reporting capabilities leading to poor visibility into financial health. Happy Days required a modern accounting solution that could automate processes and provide a robust reporting suite for accurate in-depth reports.

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Objectives

To address these challenges, Happy Days Nursery Group partnered with ION to implement Sage Intacct for Education, a cloud-based financial management solution designed for education providers.  

Purpose-built to suit the needs of growing education providers, Sage Intacct for Education offers a comprehensive suite of accounting tools including multi-entity management, budgeting, reporting and analytics, and integration capabilities. Operating with true-cloud infrastructure, Sage Intacct for Education offers real-time capabilities ensuring that financial data remains up to date at all times.  

The implementation consisted of migrating existing financial data and configuring Sage Intacct to meet the nursery group’s unique requirements. The implementation processes included gathering detailed requirements, configuring the system, training the finance team, and conducting thorough testing ahead of go-live.

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Happy Days + Sage Intacct

Following the successful configuration and delivery of Sage Intacct for Education, Happy Days Nurseries were equipped with a centralised and modern finance solution. Sage Intacct for Education provided powerful and advanced automation tools that allowed workflows to be automated, reducing manual efforts, and eliminating the need for Excel spreadsheets. With the Sage Intacct solution, Happy Days also gained access to real-time data capabilities that allowed up-to-date reports to be compiled quickly and easily.  

Upon completion of the implementation, Happy Days Nurseries experienced numerous organisational benefits from the Sage Intacct for Education solution:  

• Streamlined Accounting Processes: With automated workflows reducing both manual efforts and the risk of errors, efficiency has been boosted. Routine tasks such as accounts payable and inter-entity transactions can be handled efficiently within the system for a streamlined and seamless workflow. By mitigating the need for manual Excel spreadsheets, the team’s time has now been freed up to focus on more strategic and purposeful work.
• Advanced Reporting Capabilities: Sage Intacct provided the nursery group with real-time data to improve their reporting processes. With real-time insights, they now benefit from having access to up-to-date reports within minutes and a deeper level of drillable data for strategic data-driven decision making.  
• Centralised and User-Friendly System: With Sage Intacct, Happy Days Nursery was able to manage all aspects of the finance function within one centralised and automated solution for improved visibility. The team benefits from both a user-friendly interface and easy-to-understand financial dashboards for an overall better user experience.

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What Happy Days said...

Toni Kilby, Finance Director at Happy Days Nurseries, said:  

“We are extremely happy with the implementation of Sage Intacct for Education by ION. The solution has streamlined our accounting processes and provided us with greater insight into our finances than ever before. ION’s team were excellent communicators, and we are confident that Sage Intacct has set us up for success as we continue to scale our nurseries.”

The strategic partnership between Happy Days Nurseries and ION and the successful implementation of Sage Intacct for Education has allowed the nursery group to streamline and optimise their financial management workflows and gain deep real-time insight into their financial data. The solution has boosted efficiency across routine accounting tasks and reporting processes. By choosing an education-specific solution, Happy Day Nurseries is now equipped with a solution that will support future growth and drive financial success.

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