A School District's Journey to Streamlining Finance and HR Processes

Number of employees: 560
Number of Students: 2,825
A Tyler client since: 2007

Challenges

Greeneville City Schools, Tennessee, needed a way to streamline their finance and human resources processes. For years, they relied on DOS-based accounting and standalone software systems, which meant that their business processes were time consuming and lacked integration. In fact, central office accounting staff had to physically visit a school location in order to assist with accounting functions.

"At the time, everything was paper-based and we didn't share systems, nothing was integrated;" said Chief Financial Officer, Ellen Lipe, "employees had to wait for their paper pay checks, pay stubs, and reimbursements, and the central office had to keep paper copies of paystubs and Form W-2s." Electronic workflow didn't exist for the schools either. Purchase orders were paper-based and had to be physically sent from one person to the next for approval. If someone was out of the office, the approval process came to a halt until that person returned.

Solution

Greeneville City Schools (GCS) selected Enterprise ERP to modernize and integrate their finance and HR functions. Implementation was led by an on-site team from Tyler that worked closely with the GCS finance and tech team. Following the implementation, the accounts payable accountant for GCS moved into a new role as the district-level Enterprise ERP administrator, supporting anyone in the district with questions about Enterprise ERP. This model for implementation has helped GCS successfully adopt a new and robust ERP system and has encouraged the district to implement more Enterprise ERP features over the years.

Results

With Enterprise ERP, purchasing lead times have been significantly reduced, and the district's purchase order approval process is completely paperless. Department heads as well as the chief financial officer can approve purchase orders from anywhere in the world with a single click. The central office can access school level accounting records and provide assistance without visiting individual school sites.

All the district's hiring, evaluating, and record keeping processes seamlessly integrate with its payroll and accounting systems. Information that was once collected and entered in several places is transferred directly from employment applications into the Enterprise ERP database.

Now, employees receive direct deposits for payroll and reimbursements rather than waiting for a paper check. Form W-2s and direct deposit notifications are emailed to employees and are available to them indefinitely in their inboxes. Because of Enterprise ERP, the district uses paper W-2s and envelopes for only nine percent of employees.

"Enterprise ERP has transformed our business processes and continues to offer exciting ways to expand automation and promote efficiency. In a small, rural school district with limited resources, every dollar is important. Each minute saved though streamlining and integration represents resources that can be redirected to our classrooms," said Lipe.