Renewable energy
a new approach
Industry: Renewable Energy
Location: UK/Global
Turnover: €1.9 billion
Accounting: AccountsIQ
AccountsIQ's award-winning cloud accounting software transforms the way your finance function operates, making processes more efficient whilst saving your staff precious time. Over 4,000 companies in over 85 countries use AccountsIQ every day to gain efficiencies, create insights and make smarter decisions.
With its easy-to-use interface, navigation and smart query tools, AccountsIQ can be accessed and interpreted online at any time, from any location and device.
BayWa r.e. is a leading global renewable energy developer, service supplier, distributor and energy solutions provider. With an annual turnover of over €1.9 billion and offices across the UK and Ireland. BayWa.r.e. has employees based at multiple sites and locations.
Part of the leading BayWa Group driving innovation across the sustainable energy field, the Group has a global revenue of over €17 billion and more than 2,400 employees worldwide.
BayWa r.e. approached the ION team to upgrade their accounting system, with the current system Sage 50 being too limiting for a company experiencing rapid growth. Like many businesses operating with an on-premise solution, the processes were too manual and hindering the productivity of the team. With employees and entities based across the UK and Ireland, they needed a solution which could handle multiple sites, locations and currencies, as well as inter-company transactions and Group VAT reporting. With ambitious plans for growth and a dispersed workforce, having a system which could be accessed by anyone, anywhere was seen as a major benefit for BayWa r.e.
Working in collaboration with the BayWa r.e. team we identified AccountsIQ as an ideal solution for the business - easy to use, flexible, powerful reporting and with all the functionality they required.
With multiple offices and locations, AccountsIQ was an ideal solution to allow for simple consolidation of multiple-entities and currencies. ION set up the system as one-click processes to give the business full visibility of their overall operations without the need for complex reporting or manual consolidation. The aim for BayWa r.e. was to centralise operations as much as possible to allow for potential group reporting in the future, with that in mind the ION team consolidated all VAT reporting and created an intercompany sales and purchase ledger.
A true cloud accounting system, AccountsIQ allows the team to access real-time data from anywhere. Removing the need for expensive and high-maintenance servers in each location, with AccountsIQ team members could work from other sites or home offices whilst still getting complete access to the system.
Taken straight away by the simplicity and ease of use of the system, ION worked with BayWa r.e. to streamline their processes and make management as efficient as possible. To meet their complex invoicing and approvals requirements, iCompleat was selected as a solution which could be integrated with AccountsIQ and minimise any duplication through the invoicing and payment process.
ION continues to support BayWa r.e. with training, technical support, and system development through our Managed Services offering - to learn more click here.
The overall impact on the business has been phenomenal, helping them to work smarter and faster, whilst giving them the perfect springboard for growth. Here are some of the areas we have seen improvements:
Automation increasing employee availability >20%: Widespread efficiency improvements with automation reducing manual inputs and allowing the team to focus on core activities. Automation of key processes also ensures compliance procedures are correctly followed and safeguards the overall validity of data by reducing chances for human input errors.
Scalable platform for growth: The business has been growing rapdily and expects this to accelerae further over the coming years. With this new system, they have a system which can grow as they do, with the ability to add new sites, currencies and users with ease. .
Alignment of systems: Integrating AccountsIQ and iCompleat means that the invoicing system is fully connected to the accounting data, meaning that the team do not have to duplicate inputs. Using the combined solution of Accounts IQ and iCompleat, BayWa r.e. has been able to improve automation and reduce manual input using iCompleat’s approval process.
Going paperless and improving traceability: The new expenses process allows expenses to be submitted directly for approval, removing the paper chain, having full traceability of the submissions and allowing all stakeholders to view the current status.
Consolidated VAT reporting and compliance assurance: With the new Group VAT functionality, the team can create VAT returns, consolidate them into one Group VAT Return and run all the necessary reports. This speeds up the entire process and ensures that they are conforming to HMRC’s MTD guidelines fully.
Intercompany sales and purchase ledger: With a number of processes moved into the system, the team can track the progress of processes including approvals. This removes the need for paper and email exchanges, with everyone being given access to the information.
Real-time accessibility across all locations: The new systems enable Oxford Royale to easily add and change users when demand changes. This was previously a major headache for the team and did not allow them to alter their processes based on demand. With this system, they have the flexibility to adapt their business as the market changes.
Contact our cloud accounting experts below to learn more about how we can transform your business.