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At Brunton we strive to be the best at implementing and supporting SME solutions including ERP, POS, IT and Payroll. We have a passion to Improve, Optimize and Grow our clients business.
Selecting the right business software and supplier to take your business to the next level is a significant decision. It can be challenging and even daunting. With Brunton we can provide that best fit software that will help you improve operations and help you achieve your business goals.
We’ve worked with some of the Great companies.
8 August 2024Case StudyThe integration of two best-of-breed software solutions has provided a growing family owned manufacturing firm the functionality of an enterprise ERP system for a fraction of the cost.
The combination of the Accredo accounting system and 4Technology manufacturing software has proven a winning formula for Auckland-based wallboard painting company, AJ Bates Ltd. A single point of information entry and a seamless ‘order to invoice’ workflow process has been achieved, ensuring all orders are invoiced accurately, fulfilled and delivered on time.
With the two systems working in harmony, CEO Andrew Nixon can drill down and accurately track all his business overheads.
“Data flows seamlessly between the two systems and we don’t have to double handle information. Thanks to the interface between the two we can access all the key information we need for informed decision-making and can exert tight control over the company as a result.”
AJ Bates business software support partner, Brunton NZ, moved the company off its Prophet accounting system onto Accredo in 2005. “That change gave us a Window’s based accounting solution that was easy to use and allowed us to do more advanced business analysis,” says Nixon.
AJ Bates supplies a small number of customers – including James Hardie, Laminex and Winstone Wallboards – with high quality coated wall panels. Nixon says those companies look after the marketing of the final product, whereas his key concern is maintaining close control over the company’s quality control, plant and materials. “We are quite demanding when it comes to managing the efficiency of each of our coating machines. Our repairs and maintenance runs to around 40 odd sub-accounts on the General Ledger.”
To streamline scheduling and production processes AJ Bates installed 4Technology’s, 4Operations manufacturing software in 2011. In doing so, AJ Bates became the first company to integrate 4Operations software with the Accredo accounting solution.“We now have all our key scheduling, manufacturing and compliance processes fully automated,” says Nixon. “The 4Operations software tracks the consumption of labour and materials for specific jobs and passes data onto Accredo to produce the invoices. Any updates in one system are immediately reflected in the other,” says Nixon.
Nixon says the integration has equipped A J Bates with a level of functionality way beyond what a mid-sized manufacturing firm would usually retain. It has also prevented information within different parts of the business becoming ‘siloed’.
“We now have a single point of truth for information and have avoided what many growing firms end up with – systems bolted-on but not fully integrated with the core accounting system. That situation leads to information building up in different departments and usually a mess of spreadsheets. All of which causes inconsistencies in your reporting.”
That becomes a bigger problem with time critical events such as ordering materials and production scheduling, says Nixon. “We process thousands of panels each week, and as a growing business it would be easy for mistakes to start creeping in when you are under pressure. Thanks to our two systems working in partnership we have a full picture of everything that is going on, enabling predictive decision-making and planning what needs to be attended to in advance.”
Nixon is a heavy user of the reporting function in Accredo. “Brunton’s has created a range of customised reports that provide a very nuts and bolts view of all our expenditure. I previously completed this type of data analysis manually using spreadsheets and now have all the reporting parameters in Accredo with reports produced automatically by the system. I can go into Accredo two days before month end and pull the numbers straight out.”
Nixon keeps a close eye on yields and product sales trends. “It’s important to keep tabs on our yield. It costs the same to produce an ‘A’ grade board as it does a reject, however no revenue results from rejects. With the systems I have in place I can see what the fluctuation is month by month and monitor whether we are improving or slipping back.”
One of the Accredo features Nixon says he has really grown to appreciate is the ability to scan invoices and store them on the system. “Six months later when you have a query about an expense, rather than having to physically find the piece of paper, we just bring up the scan search function on Accredo.”
He says it is particularly handy when doing budgets. “It allows you to look back and identify trends. For example, when I analyse why maintenance is higher in one month than another, the scans on the system provide me with a very useful narrative.”Accredo is also delivering better day-to-day control to the company. While its administrative expenses haven’t dropped it is getting more value for the same amount of spend. “Thanks to the automation of some time-consuming tasks we have freed up staff that previously were doing transactional activities and reassigned them to work more strategically on the business.”
Grant Meikle of 4Technology helped undertake the integration of the two systems, and he says the unique thing about Accredo is how advanced its automated programming interface is for a mid-sized product. “Accredo has an exceptionally smart programmable interface for a product its size. It’s well written and well documented and allowed us to build the interface relatively simply.”
As a result, Meikle says AJ Bates now has a best of breed solution for a fraction of the cost a customer would normally spend on installing SAP or a similar enterprise system.
Nixon says the next challenge for his business is to use the data interchange capability of Accredo to integrate more closely with his customers. “In the near future we will by looking into more direct data integration and exchange with our customers’ systems to further automate the electronic invoicing process.”
– Andrew Nixon, CEO, AJ Bates […]
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8 August 2024Case StudyOne system that does everything is how Karen Orr, Office Manager for South Island-based Fluid Power Solutions, describes the company’s Accredo business management software solution.
“If Accredo has built the functionality, we are more than likely to be using the module for it. It is our one and only business software solution and it takes care of our reporting, accounting, job workflow and inventory needs.”Typical of many small to medium New Zealand companies, Fluid Power has grown incrementally over time, adding new services and opening new offices to become one of the leading hydraulic and pneumatic services companies in the country. When it was established in 2001, Fluid Power operated from one office in Nelson, but over the years it has at least doubled in size and now has offices in Greymouth and Blenheim as well.Fluid Power was desperate to find a more versatile solution after an unfortunate experiment with a system it had implemented to replace its old bespoke DOS software.Orr says the new software was unable to undertake the job costing processes that are an essential feature of the engineering and repair side of the business.“It was fine for compliance accounting activities, but when it came to the nitty gritty aspects of job and workflow processing it was a disaster.”As one of the people who suffered the inadequacies of the system acutely, Orr, together with the company’s accountant, took a proactive step and researched what else was available on the market. They identified three or four possible replacements.The pendulum swung Accredo’s way, when Orr read a case study about a company similar to Fluid Power, based in Gisborne.“They were hydraulic specialists also. So the problems they were encountering were very similar to ours. We ended up having a frank discussion with them and they only had praise for Accredo. They imparted a lot of knowledge which made us feel very comfortable with the decision to select it.”What Fluid Power required went well beyond accounts processing. The company wanted a system that could streamline some of its core business operations. More flexible work processing functionality was paramount to enable staff on the shop-floor to access the information they needed to complete their day-to-day tasks more easily and efficiently.
“Essentially, the boys in the workshop wanted a one-stop shop, a summary screen from which they could perform all their key actions. And that is what Accredo gave us. We call it our custom job form.”
Previously, Fluid Power had no way of accessing this data efficiently. Says Orr: “On most other systems to get this data you need to dive from one area of the system to another – that takes time and leaves things open to error as people move from screen to screen. The beauty of the Accredo system is that everything relevant to the job at hand is easily accessible.”The implementation and ongoing support of the Accredo system is carried out by Brunton NZ – an Accredo reseller with plenty of experience managing the technology needs of growing companies.“The support we receive from Brunton’s is second to none. They are more than willing to transfer their knowledge of the system to us. ”The company uses Accredo for managerial and financial reporting. “We can always extract the data we need. I run staff productivity reports on a monthly basis and we also produce financial reports which give our owners and directors a clear indication of how the business is performing.”Budgeting, fixed assets and inventory control are all managed, and more importantly controlled, with the help of the Accredo system.Orr believes the Accredo system has given herself and the other managers a finer degree of control over the company. “We know what is happening within the business at a much more granular level. And because Accredo has automated many of the manual tasks, we have more time to monitor our key performance indicators and anticipate issues before they become problems.”
– Karen Orr , Office Manager, Fluid Power Solutions […]
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12 June 2024Case StudySteve Aschebrock, National Sales and Marketing Director of Inzide Commercial has been a client of Brunton for years. When asked why Aschebrock chose Accredo he replies “we needed a product that was going to allow our company to grow without having to invest in another product within a couple of years. We also wanted a product that was easy for the staff both existing and new to learn and utilise ongoing”.
Inzide Commericial specialize in flooring systems. “We needed to be able to track product by batch, and to have quick access to sales information by customer, Accredo enables us to do this with ease”. Explains Aschebrock. “Brunton respond quickly and efficiently to any requests we have, if it is a new project they quote and give a guarantee for the work completed so we know exactly what we’re getting and can budget accordingly with no surprises. Brunton have been able to configure our Accredo package, with special operations via scripting that has meant Accredo has been hugely adaptable for Inzide Commercial, especially batch tracking of our stock in the warehouse for easy picking and packing which is a major part of our work” explains Aschebrock. “Any upgrades we have required have been seamless, Brunton thoroughly test all upgrades and we receive training on the new features to keep staff up to date along with very informative procedure manuals.”
Steve and his team can write their own customized reports using simple filters and save and download these into excel files for reports, presentations and discussion. “being involved in the sales side of the business, a package that was strong on Sales Analysis was extremely important to me. The fact I can report on product categories and break it down by customer with depth has provided far better insight than we thought possible”. Brunton can also automate functions and set different access permissions via user login ensuring that data is able to be kept confidential from staff when necessary. “We have found Accredo’s ability to automate functions and the quick keys a huge time and cost saver making daily roles more effective. The duplicate contra button which can be used for invoices, credits, journals is a definite favorite of the staff”.
The feature-rich nature of the Accredo system is an ideal fit for a business like Inzide where all the features they need are built-in. “We have found the Team at Brunton great to work with, they go the extra mile for us every time”.
Moving forward, Aschebrock believes they have the support and everything else the business needs to continue improving its performance “Accredo has helped future proof our business needs and we feel extremely prepared for any changes that may happen in the future”.
– Steve Aschebrock, Inzide Commercial Ltd […]
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12 June 2024Case StudyWilliam Aitken & Co. Ltd had been using the same accounting software for more than 20 years. “ It was a good solid system, but development effort on it had fallen away.” explains Graham Aitken, Managing Partner.
“We decided that it was time to look to change to a system that was designed around, and to take advantage of today’s computer operating systems, and that was also under constant development to provide an extremely full feature-set.” After some industry research, Graham got in touch with Kurt and the team at Brunton and have since taken their operating systems internally to the next level.
“Accredo has helped immensely to streamline our order entry. Our customers typically require similar products on successive orders, and by creating standard orders for individual customers which we can then merely adjust each time they order, we’ve saved a considerable amount of on-going time.” Notes Aitken, “Multi-currency handling has also been another hugely accommodating tool, as an importer it is vital that multiple currencies are handled completely accurately in our accounts and Accredo does this seamlessly”
“When we installed and transferred to Accredo, one of my greatest hesitations was how we would go about interfacing with our supermarket customers and third party logistics providers. Brunton were absolute experts at this, they already knew the people involved that they had to deal with, and they knew exactly what was required. It was all done with the minimum of fuss. You couldn’t ask for better than that” adds Aitken.
“Learning the new functions and operations of Accredo was to be honest, quick and painless. Accredo is extremely intuitive, with an attractive interface. That coupled with the ready availability of Brunton has made learning easy”. Having now been working with Accredo internally for 2 years. Graham and his team work ongoing with Brunton to ensure their accounting software package is utilized to the best of its abilities. “Brunton supply the whole package. By that I mean not just Accredo (which incidentally they know inside-out), but when we have needed it they have provided us with office support staff to help us use Accredo as we require, and have also helped us create better office procedures. They have become a very valuable support provider to us.”
– Graham Aitken, William Aitken Ltd […]
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12 June 2024Case StudyAccredo unlocks growth potential of tool and equipment importer.
The right business management system, together with excellent software support, has seen Auckland-based company ISL Industrial not only survive in a competitive market, but expand and thrive.
Since adopting the Accredo accounting and business software system through Brunton, ISL has removed roadblocks to growth. It has successfully introduced new business processes, made a strategic acquisition and developed an e-commerce website that is helping more and more of its key buyers find crucial product information and undertake online ordering.
ISL owner and managing director Colin Hodges was introduced to Accredo while acquiring a smaller, but complementary, importer distributor.“During the due diligence on that business we found that the software system it was using – Accredo – was very flexible. Exporting data was easy and it was able to provide better reporting than our existing software”, says Colin.
“The flexible nature of the software and Brunton’s expertise has enabled us to automate key processes, reduce time and cost, and meet each new challenge as it comes along.”
–Colin Hodges, Director, ISL Industrial Ltd […]
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12 June 2024Case StudyAccredo’s integrated functionality does heavy lifting for growing contracting company
Acquiring a business is a proven way to grow and diversify a company quickly. But while sudden growth presents opportunities, it also carries risks.
When Clements Contractors purchased a quarry and yard three years ago it doubled in size. Business owner, Murray Clements, realised he needed to consolidate and control his newly expanded operations. To do so, he opted to implement Accredo – a business management software solution that enabled him to integrate all his key business processes. Now, one year on, he has real-time information to guide day-to-day decision making and full visibility of the business to plan future strategies.
The Northland-based operation has three parts to its business – transport, quarrying and construction. It operates four quarries; has over 30 trucks, diggers and other heavy machinery assets; and undertakes civil earthworks for sub-division construction, as well as private excavation work.
“We used to use MYOB for our accounts, and Workbench – a project construction management tool,” says Clements, who runs the business together with his wife, Sandra. “They both worked well but when we took on the new operation, quarrying and transport became a much bigger part of our business. We found we couldn’t link the two systems successfully.”
Without a connection between the two, information had to be entered manually and then exported. It was a time-consuming and error-prone process that didn’t give Clements the real-time reporting he desired. Luckily, around that time Clements met Catherine Scott, who works for Accredo reseller Brunton (NZ) Ltd, providing Clements Contractors with Business and IT system support.
“Catherine recommended Accredo. We did some research and spoke to a few other companies that were using it happily. That gave us the confidence to try it.”
Clements wanted a system that would work across all areas of his business. “We had grown a lot and we had a long-term plan to grow more. We had already done three software changes over the years, so we wanted a system that would meet our needs for a long time to come.”
He says the move to Accredo was a big step up. “It’s different to what we were used to, but the beauty of it is its flexibility. You can customise it to meet your unique processes. With other packages, you get what you pay for and that is it. With Accredo you can make changes.”
Clements says having Brunton on hand to provide support has been extremely valuable. “I don’t think we would be in such good shape without Catherine’s help. She has tailored the system to make it easier for us to conduct our day-to-day activities. She has been brilliant.”
An example of the time-saving functionality Clements Contractors now has is the integration between Accredo and the company’s electronic load scanner. A laser scan of every empty truck is stored in the Accredo system. Once the trucks are loaded they are scanned again and Accredo calculates the difference to get an accurate cubic metre load.
“We charge by volume, but the loaders work by weight,” says Clements. “The accuracy of the conversion is vital. We used to do it by recording information on bits of paper, which the office staff then used to do a manual conversion. Automating the process and letting Accredo do the maths has been a real revenue saver.”
Clements says relying on manual processes is error-prone because it’s easy for people to get distracted when they are busy. “The process is now a lot smoother and quicker. Everything is electronically measured and converted, and the information goes straight onto the relevant customer job.”
The benefits of the integration flow through to invoicing. “Because the information is available immediately we can now invoice weekly, and that has improved our cashflow management,” says Clements.
Customised job costing functionality is another key innovation, says Clements. “We have had Brunton customise Accredo’s Job Costing module, so we now have everything related to a particular job all in one place in the system.”
From one screen, Clements Contractors can track everything to do with a job – from raising purchase orders right through to invoicing, as well as pricing new tenders, adding labour costs to jobs, and issuing construction contract claims.
“The claim certificates we send in for our construction work have to be submitted in a specific way to comply with the Constructions Contract Act. Accredo automates the assembling and sending of that information – it can all be actioned from the job costing screen.”
Recording time and accurately mapping costs against relevant jobs is crucial in any contracting business. To meet this challenge Brunton created a time management module in Accredo.
“All the time the guys spend on the job, and the amount of time the trucks, diggers and other machinery are in use is recorded on timesheets, which are entered into Accredo,” says Scott. “The module collates the information and logs the costs accurately against the right job.”
As a result, visibility into profit and loss on company assets is much better, says Clements. “I can now get a very clear picture of both plant usage and labour hours. Armed with that information I can not only invoice more accurately but I can price future jobs with more precision.”
When your business doubles in size that type of information is crucial to controlling growth, says Clements. “The timesheet information goes straight against the relevant jobs, and I can get real-time insights into how each job is progressing. Prior to Accredo, we wouldn’t know until a month later how each job performed financially. Now, with daily recording I can monitor job performance and I don’t have to spend time back-costing plant or labour.”
Clements says the possibilities Accredo is unlocking for improved business planning and financial management are exciting. “We are now in the place we always wanted to be, but prior to getting Accredo it was too hard to achieve.”
With Accredo’s reporting power, Clements has more granular control of the business. “I can see areas that need to be pushed or where we need to dial back. We regularly review the jobs we have done to see the margins and highlight which ones were most profitable. We discuss the reasons why a job went well and why it did not. All the intelligence is based on reporting we are getting from the system.”
Says Clements: “We grew from 20 to 40 people when we purchased the quarry. That is a lot more people to manage and more processes to get right. We needed systems to manage growth and ensure proper controls were in place. Accredo has been a big part of that. It has enabled us to consolidate our business processes, giving us better visibility and management oversight.”
– Murray Clements, Clements Contractors […]
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12 June 2024Case StudyWhen Steve Malcolm went looking for new software to run his wholesale pip fruit distribution business he struggled to find a system capable of handling his key business processes – that is until a colleague suggested Accredo accounting software.
“I took a few providers around and showed them how we operate, and they just scratched their heads and said they wouldn’t know where to start,” says Malcolm, director of Echodale Marketing Ltd, a fifth-generation New Zealand-owned family business that has been operating in the Nelson region for over 80 years.
Echodale is a leading fruit distributor that specialises in selling apples and pears. It receives, stores, packs and distributes for growers around the Nelson region, supplying fruit to multiple supermarket chains across the country. It also exports fruit offshore to countries around the Pacific Rim.
The goal was to install a system for Echodale that could automate the tracking, traceability and grower payment processes that the company, up to that point, had been doing by hand.
“We already had established a robust system for tracking each grower’s fruit from arrival to the point of sale and then calculating the pay out to the growers, but it was all manually done – written in books, on cards and using Excel. I wanted to automate these processes and document more accurate financial information to make payments to the growers. The aim was to reduce the chance of human error and to free up more administrative time to focus on growth and customer service activities.”
Echodale looked at the systems some exporters were using, but they weren’t appropriate to what it was trying to achieve. “Once the produce left New Zealand there was no easy method of linking it back to the growers, which is what we wanted to achieve,” says Malcolm.
To drive customer service forward and meet the growing customer demand for complete produce traceability, Echodale management wanted to know at the end of each day or week, exactly what had been packed and sold for each particular grower.
“There are a lot of different costs that need to be recorded during the packing, storing and transport of the produce. We wanted to automate the workflows involved and drive all that information into one system, where we could report on it and see how we were performing. That would allow us to provide timely information back to growers and get insights into where we could improve our practices.”
After being recommended Accredo, Malcolm read about another Accredo customer, Barnes Oysters, that processes much of the Bluff oyster quota each season, packing and shipping the oysters to wholesalers and retailers around the country.
“Their business model was like ours and they were using Accredo to achieve some of the gains we wanted, such as the ability to automate the invoicing process and handle multiple delivery addresses.”
With his business expanding, Malcolm decided he needed richer functionality and more comprehensive reporting than his existing MYOB system could provide. Enter Accredo Qualified Support Person (QSP), Sue Brunton, owner of accounting solution support provider, Brunton NZ. She and her team went on site and saw exactly how Echodale operated, copied all the procedures and set about customising Accredo’s accounting software to systemise the company’s daily activities.
“It is important to have a robust paper system to begin with,” says Sue Brunton. “We were lucky in that Echodale is a very mature operator, its systems and processes were tried and tested, and that made our job much easier.”
Brunton has not only replicated Echodale’s paper-based processes but also improved its batching and traceability activities.
Every bin of fruit that arrives at Echodale is entered into the Accredo system. There is a traceable number linking the grower to the packed produce in the cool store.“As the daily orders come in from various supermarket distribution centres, the packed fruit is picked out of the cooler and re-entered into the Accredo system,” says Brunton. “It sits there until payment is received and that is recorded against the grower. There is a traceable number linking the grower to every carton or crate that goes out the door.”
The data automation has saved the time equivalent of about one full-time person. Echodale’s processing is also more accurate and faster. The system picks up on most human errors and users can query the system and find out exactly, for example, what the return has been on packing pears for the last two months.With more accurate and up-to- date information in the system, other activities across the business have also improved.
“We now have one source of truth. The information is captured in the system and checks are in place,” says Malcolm.
Echodale expects further gains when it introduces barcoding, allowing incoming and outgoing goods’ information to be scanned directly into Accredo. “That will save even more administration time and iron out any remaining kinks in the workflow.”
Accredo has simplified Echodale’s inward and outward receipts. “A good example is the bins we provide growers. We now use Accredo’s inventory module to record where the bins are, and we can track their movement in and out of the cool store much more effectively, which has saved us time and reduced some of our costs.”
One of the unexpected benefits of the Accredo accounting software is that it has made Echodale staff work better as a team. The system makes all the many different administrative tasks that must be done each day more easily seen. “As well as automating day-to- day activities, exceptions and notifications can be seen in the system by all the relevant users. It gives us more transparency, is good for teamwork and things get done more efficiently.”
Working with a QSP that knows Accredo inside and out has reaped rewards. “I like the fact that Accredo is a Kiwi product and we enjoy working with Sue and the Brunton team for the same reason. They offer great service and support. Everything they do for us is executed in a timely fashion.”
Malcolm says it was the flexibility of Accredo, together with the amount of information and processes you can adapt it to undertake, that won them over.“But having a good support partner is key. Brunton has the Accredo knowledge but they also listen, which means the customisations we have made in Accredo operate exactly how we want them to.”
– Steve Malcolm, Director, Echodale Marketing […]
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