PRESS RELEASE - Symmetry, a leading vendor of financial management software has won a contract to provide an accounting system for Richmond upon Thames College based in Twickenham.  The new solution replaces a 15 year old DOS system that was struggling to meet the College’s changing demands due to growth and capital projects.

Senior Accountant at Richmond College, Jyoti Baker explains their selection process following a tender involving six suppliers, “One of the key reasons we chose Symmetry was because their solution is fully web-based. This takes away the need for the installation of software and related upgrades and maintenance releases to individual machines. The functionality of a web based system along with the Portal module will enable non finance users to have effective and efficient access to their budget reports and other relevant information.”

She continues, “As part of the package we have also opted for Symmetry’s Activity Based Costing module. Colleges are coming under increasing pressure to ensure that their courses meet the government objectives of a skilled workforce in the most economically viable manner and for the reporting to be able to differentiate between priority and non-priority courses. We anticipate that this module will provide us with valuable management information that will enable us to deliver the curriculum economically and efficiently without sacrificing the quality of our provision.”

“We also liked the flexibility of the chart of accounts setup, which allows for changes to the organisation structure to take place without having to completely re-build the financial system in the future.” 

According to Jyoti, Symmetry’s Integrator tool and the various upload modules enable an easy transfer of data from the various college systems such as the student records and the till system.  This is expected to result in processing efficiencies and freeing staff to work on more strategic tasks.

The scanning option will facilitate the copying and storing of source documents, attaching them to the relevant record. This will mean that users across the college will be able to drilldown and see the particular invoice/payment that has been charged to their budget without having to follow a cumbersome paper trail.

Richmond upon Thames College provides over 2,600 courses to both full and part time students.  The system will be rolled out to its 80 budget holders and related administrative staff in the coming months.