MAKINGYOURSELFACCOUNTABLE UNIT4 Business Software, a provider of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) recently sold its CODA financial management software solution to UK casino operator, Rank Group. The solution, which will be implemented by UNIT4 consultants, will support the financial operations of more than 135 Mecca Bingo, Grosvenor and G Casino outlets.
“Selecting a new system that would support our future growth was critical,” said Clive Jennings, Group Financial Controller at Rank. “We asked a number of the major accounting firms which system they would recommend, carried out a detailed market evaluation of those systems and then sought out client references for a solid accounting platform. The responses all pointed toward CODA. An important factor was the capability to easily adapt the system to the business. Its flexible chart of accounts structure maps to our business, allowing us to add new businesses and gaming outlets around the world as required. The CODA software is truly international and will help us develop a single view of our financial performance around the globe.”
CODA Financials will interface with each gaming outlet’s management system to capture performance and accounting data. Of particular importance to Rank is CODA’s ability to manage and reconcile the large volumes of cash it receives. Each day the system will automatically manage this process, reconciling cash with bank statements, calculating revenue and VAT liabilities, and quickly identifying any anomalies. The system will also remove less value added activities; administration for instance will be reduced using workflow allowing the 35 finance professionals at Rank to concentrate on business analysis and individual site performance.
“We expect the UNIT4 solution to enhance the efficiencies of our accounting processes and provide the capacity to accommodate multiple languages allowing Rank to use it as a single finance platform for
the company” said Clive Jennings.
Speaking to Group Marketing Director, UNIT4, David Turner, he explained that one of the most important elements of CODA, is the unique way in which it is able to capture information down to an unrivalled level of detail. “We capture money in whatever form it appears in your location,” stated Mr. Turner. “Be that as cash, card, cheques, tickets, vouchers, etc., we capture and record it at the source. We record the exact location on the floor, the exact machine and type of game being played. This allows us to match the cash to the exact profit- centre in the casino.”
The reconciliation of the cash goes beyond a regular accounting package, by analysing by specific area of the casino, and is unique in combining everything into a single ledger system. “Traditionally, operators would have one ledger for the accounts, another for money going out, another for specific projects etc.,” explained Mr. Turner. “CODA is multi-dimensional, combining everything into a single database that allows you to get an overall multiple view of everything - in real-time. You can process hour- by-hour if you want, or close your books at the end of every trading day, which simplifies the process massively.”
CODA also allows for the segregation of duties, ascribing every user with a separate profile, which segregates duties down to the ‘nth degree.’ While the duty manager is tracked in terms of their responsibility for recording the machine figures at the end of a shift, the logging of cash and the reconciliation of information between different individual members of staff is accounted for by the CODA system.
Integration is hugely important and to this end CODA is designed to easily integrate into other systems in operation at the location. “We can interface with all existing systems currently in operation in casinos, to ensure that we capture all of that information too,” said Mr. Turner.
G3 I OCTOBER 2010 I PAGE 59
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