Friends of Deansfield
Industry: Education, Non-Profit
Location: South-East London
Est. 2021
Team Size: Volunteer-led with a committee (Implied by PTA structure)
Digital Transformation of Accounting to Xero & Enhanced Financial Reporting
Friends of Deansfield School (FODS), a vital non-profit organisation supporting Deansfield Primary School in Eltham, London, relied on traditional, manual accounting methods, including spreadsheets and extensive data entry. As a volunteer-led committee responsible for fundraising and managing significant funds for the school, their processes were time-consuming and prone to human error. The challenge was to move away from these inefficient methods to a modern, digitised accounting system that would make financial reporting more sophisticated, accessible, and transparent for their trustees and stakeholders, while reducing the administrative burden on volunteers. They needed a solution to eliminate manual data entry and leverage automation for improved accuracy and efficiency.
Pennyhills partnered with Friends of Deansfield School (FODS) to spearhead a full digital transformation of their core accounting processes, migrating them to Xero accounting software. Our solution involved:
We meticulously set up FODS on Xero, configuring their chart of accounts and integrating necessary functionalities to reflect their non-profit structure and diverse income streams from fundraising activities.
A key aspect of our solution was setting up automated bank feeds directly into Xero. This eliminated the need for manual data entry of transactions, drastically reducing administrative time and improving accuracy.
We configured Xero to generate sophisticated and easily accessible financial reports. This empowered the trustees and stakeholders with clear, real-time insights into fundraising performance, expenditure, and overall financial health, fostering greater transparency and informed decision-making.
We provided comprehensive training to the FODS committee members and volunteers on how to effectively use Xero, ensuring they were comfortable with the new system and could leverage its features independently.
We guided FODS away from reliance on manual data entry and disparate spreadsheets, establishing streamlined, automated workflows that significantly improved efficiency and reduced the risk of errors.
By collaborating with Pennyhills, Friends of Deansfield School successfully achieved a complete digital transformation of their accounting functions. The move to Xero, coupled with automated bank feeds, eliminated cumbersome manual data entry, saving valuable volunteer time and significantly enhancing accuracy. Crucially, the transition provided FODS with more sophisticated and accessible financial reporting, enabling trustees and stakeholders to gain clearer, real-time insights into the school’s funds. This digital upgrade has not only streamlined their operations but also bolstered transparency and accountability, allowing FODS to focus more effectively on their mission of supporting Deansfield Primary School.
Moving our accounting to Xero with Pennyhills was transformative. We’ve gone from messy spreadsheets to seamless automation, making our reporting for the school so much clearer and easier. They really understood our non-profit needs and made the whole process effortless!
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