Muslim Hands NGO

The requirement for a centralised system of information for all departments and offices to access in real time

• Synchronised information
  The current software system the charity were using had run its course and a new system was required to fulfil the needs of the charity. 
  The new system had the requirement to have a centralised set of information including financials, so that all departments whether fundraising, projects or accounts were dealing with the same numbers rather than each having its own set, none of which reconciled with those kept in the other departments. This information would also be needed to update and be available to all departments in real-time.
• Projects Budgeting vs Accounting for Audit
  A great challenge to overcome was the ability to get financial information which could be arranged in a way that projects departments could use for their budgeting and future planning but also be able to reconcile with the headings that are required by auditors for financial statements.
• Off the shelf software vs Bespoke software development
  There are a number of software packages that cover certain elements but almost none that can do everything that the charity required. Question arises whether to accept less functionality at a lower price or a bespoke system that may be a little more expensive and time consuming to setup but does exactly what it needed in the end

After much analysis together with the client, the final solution chosen was the bespoke route. Whilst the software development itself was handled by the charity and an external software development team, the putting together of the proposal took a great deal of participation from us from the financials side and then subsequent testing and training on the use of the software for all related staff.