Farnell Clarke helps Muscular Dystrophy UK take control of its finance processes

"Everything is so smooth with ApprovalMax – it’s all managed by the system. I don’t have to worry about audit preparation and now actually look forward to approving documents and receiving the daily email with what I need to review. I can start my day with something easy and immediately rewarding which is approving invoices, and then move to the more difficult tasks."

Krzysztof Krzyzanowski, Head of Finance and Resources at Muscular Dystrophy UK

Since 2009, digital accountancy firm Farnell Clarke has embraced the potential of accounting technology for its clients. As the first 100% cloud accounting firm in the UK, Farnell Clarke understands the opportunity of new cloud-based technologies for the world of accounting and works with clients to set up, manage, and use the right tech stack for their operations.

This was exactly the expertise not-for-profit Muscular Dystrophy UK was looking for in late 2023 when planning a move to the cloud in the new financial year. The charity supports a community of more than 110,000 people affected by over 60 types of muscle wasting and weakening conditions across the United Kingdom.

As a not-for-profit, the organisation prioritises putting its funding towards its mission. However, after years of using a clunky, outdated accounting system, Muscular Dystrophy UK’s finance team recognised the need to upgrade its systems and processes. “I'm good with systems and know what they could do, especially nowadays,” says Krzysztof Krzyzanowski, Head of Finance and Resources at Muscular Dystrophy UK. “When I first joined I thought ‘this system is archaic.’ It did the job but these days it can be done more easily.”

Upgrading archaic approvals

Part of this project involved looking for a tool to help with the charity’s approval process. Previously, the team used a Word document to track and approve invoices; for each invoice people would have to fill in the form with invoice details such as: supplier, invoice number, amount, cost account and department where it should be coded, and add their signature, then email it back-and-forth for to get further approval from budget-holder or Director.

With up to 40 team members responsible for 200 incoming invoices per month, this process couldn’t keep up with the pace of the organisation. Muscular Dystrophy UK has approval delegation of authority thresholds in place to manage who approves what amounts, such as invoices over under £500 or over £10,000. However, this was confusing for team members to follow using the old process so directors were often bombarded with emails for all approvals.

“It wasn’t a very well-designed system. Especially from an audit perspective, the system was deeply flawed, as all the directors' signatures were stored in a Word document, and it could be easily manipulated,” says Krzyzanowski.

Switching to a new system

Muscular Dystrophy UK turned to Farnell Clarke in late 2023 for help moving to its new finance tech stack of Xero and ApprovalMax, with the aim of going live in the new financial year. Despite the complexity of the charity’s workflows and audit requirements, the new system was up and running in just a week.

Everything is now managed in the cloud with this new tech stack. Individual team members are responsible for uploading invoices to be paid into ApprovalMax, where they’re automatically routed to the correct finance team member or director for approval. Then, bills are compiled into a batch payment which is paid weekly.

The charity has embraced the new system. “I was worried about how our team would react but we’ve only received positive feedback. They’re relieved they don’t need to manually email back-and-forth,” says Krzyzanowski. “Everything is done by the budget holders so the workload is spread. Now, if you forgot to submit an invoice it's only your fault – the sooner you deal with it, the better. This has made our life in finance less stressful.”

Faster processes, for the future

Now, with Farnell Clarke’s help, Muscular Dystrophy UK has strong financial systems and processes in place to support the charity’s important work. Some of the main benefits include:

Audit-ready, at all times

Now, everything is always ready for audit and available in one place. This means the team can simply give auditors access to ApprovalMax and Xero come audit-time, saving a huge amount of admin.

Faster processes – and payments

Previously, it took at least half a day to prepare invoice payments for a monthly payment run. Now, batch payments are ready in less than 30 minutes. This allows the team to increase invoice payment frequency to once a week and improve relationships with suppliers.

Reduced total cost of ownership

Using ApprovalMax allows Muscular Dystrophy to add unlimited users, create unlimited requests, and make unlimited approvals. This brings the total cost of ownership down based on having 35 requestors and eight approvers. Also, due to the AP and AR function now going completely paperless, it also gets rid of printing, stationery, and storage costs.

Consolidated processes across multiple entities

Beyond invoices, the team also uses ApprovalMax to streamline other financial processes, like employee expenses and new supplier details. The charity uses ApprovalMax to easily manage processes across its two entities with complete visibility.