Calxa Case Study – NQ Women’s Centre

The Problem

The Women’s Centre was in the process of creating their five year business plan, the financial planning part of which was to be discussed at an upcoming Management Committee meeting. Three weeks before the meeting, Rose Morton, Administrator at the Women’s Centre in Townsville, North Queensland, promised to produce budget and cash flow forecasts for the five year Business Plan and have appropriate documents ready for discussions. As her deadline grew closer, Rose still hadn’t come up with a plan for producing the documents she knew the management committee would need.

The Solution

During this time Rose got an email from Calxa and she decided to give them a call. “My meeting with Alex and Ellen from Calxa was highly productive and we planned to have everything sailing beautifully in plenty of time,” she said. The Friday before reports were due, Calxa was installed on Rose’s computer and all her MYOB files uploaded. This left Monday to complete her reports!

Cashflow Graph a Piece of Cake

As a previous MoneyManager user Rose was slightly nervous about transitioning to Calxa but her fears were unfounded.

“I kept expecting that it would be more difficult, but once I got started it all happened quite quickly,” she said.

“The information from one budget year was easily transported into the next year ahead. I then edited the budget figures to match the spreadsheet calculations I had prepared previously for the next five years, factored in a CPI increase, saved my budget for each year and bingo: I was able to produce the Five Year Forecast Report from the menu selection in Calxa. The Cashflow Graph was a piece of cake as it was generated by the budgets I had already entered,” Rose said.

“I then had the five year forecast as well as a great visual to show the Management Committee how our finances would perform 2010 – 2015,” she added. 

Budget Analysis Reports and More

Additionally, the 2010/2011 budget was tabled as a draft for the next financial year at the same Management Committee meeting in the form of the Budget Analysis Report. This compared the forecast to the actual income and expenditure completed during 2009/2010.

“The reports I produced in Calxa informed Management of the financial ups and downs between the years and gave opportunity for discussion about decisions to be made in-line with Strategic and Operational Plans,” explained Rose.

“As a result, further planning and development within the organisation – including collaboration between myself and the Treasurer to achieve the outcomes of the Business Plan – happened faster than it would have without my Calxa reports.”

Calxa a Perfect Fit

Rose believes Calxa is perfectly suited to her organisation and the work she must complete on a regular basis.

“The reports Calxa produces are highly professional documents and I think this is a benefit to the not-for-profit sector, who often do not have the time or resources to produce complex financial statements our Management need and that are a requirement of our funding submissions.”

Simplifying Complex Financials

Rose finishes off with her recommendation.

“My recommendation about Calxa would be that the reports produced are highly professional documents. I think this is a benefit to the not-for-profit sector, who often do not have the time or resources to produce complex financial statements that their Management need and that are a requirement of our funding submissions.”