Vision and focus for CBM Australia

Customer: CBM Australia
Industry: Not for Profit
Solution: Sybiz Vision, Sybiz Visipay
Business Partner: Visionaries

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Introduction

CBM Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that last year reached millions of people in 35 countries through over 120 projects. Its primary mission is to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities in the world’s poorest countries. It also supports the Vision Australia talking book library, providing the Christian content for the library. Last year, CBM Australia raised nearly $30 million.

The challenge

Five years ago CBM Australia was using a standard financial software package. It simply didn’t have the depth of reporting that a fastgrowing not-for-profit needed. When every dollar counts, detailed reporting for analysis is essential.

Another challenge was to find a comprehensive payroll system that managed fringe benefits and could link to the General Ledger system.

Solution

One of Sybiz’s business partners, Melbourne based Visionaries, invested the time to really understand the business. The foundations of the solution were Sybiz Vision, Sybiz’s flagship business suite, and Sybiz Visipay for payroll. These solutions were tailored to suit the specific requirements of a not-for-profit organisation.

The process from needs analysis to installation took three weeks. As CBM Australia have grown, Visionaries have continued to help with ‘outside the square’ thinking and business functions such as an inventory system for CBM’s donated goods program.

Results

James Findlay, accountant with CBM Australia, says the ability of the Sybiz platform to expand and transform as their business needs increase has been an important component to the growth of CBM over the last five years.

‘We’ve grown from a $15 million fundraiser to a $30 million one - and the solution could easily manage $50 million. At the same time, we’ve gone from one accountant and 15 budget items to 20 individuals being able to control and manage their own activities and budgets.’

‘Visionaries walked with us on the journey. No system is perfect - you’ve got to get your hands dirty, get into the depths of the system’s functionality. You and your Sybiz business partner need to understand your business’ needs. This, like Sybiz, will give you a platform to success.’

Was the effort worth it? ‘Absolutely!’