What Our Customers Say
"Our biggest issue, initially, was how to utilize a single database for our clients that had more than one legal entity, and had intricate needs for reporting at both the subsidiary and consolidated levels. The Multi-Facility Processing software effectively structured these entities so that we could manage them out of one database, while still being able to easily to generate reports individual entity level or for the company as a whole."
~ Julie Maloney, VP of New Client Services, W Squared
Healthcare Group Uses Multi-Facility Processing to build their Back-end for Growth
With over 25 years of experience providing quality care for patients in the post-acute continuum of healthcare, this Healthcare provider was looking to expand their operations by opening several new healthcare facilities. Because all of their current hospitals represented separate legal entities within Microsoft Dynamics GP, they were currently running 17 databases. With expansions planned in the near future, their database needs were growing. Because this was already an extremely time consuming operational area, their future growth plans highlighted it as one place that clearly required improvements.
Vendors and Inventory Coding Errors Across Facilities
While the hospitals technically were separate legal entities, they often shared the same vendors and inventory. If any one vendor was used by more than one hospital there was a chance that different characterizations of the vendor’s name could create coding inconsistencies. This commonly came up as an issue when vendor reports were run and inventory levels were compared across the facilities.
Signing in and out of Different Facility Set-ups
Switching back and forth from one company’s set-up to another for transaction processing and questions about inventory or vendors, was a time consuming task. If someone asked the controller to find the monthly transaction from one vendor they would have to access 17 different databases to find the answer.
Reporting Challenges
For annual reporting the set-up also proved inefficient, requiring nearly an entire day just to consolidate, back-up, and close all of the different companies that the Healthcare organization was managing.
A Recommended Multi-Entity Solution
After consulting with their VAR, the healthcare provider was recommended a well-known multi-entity accounting solution from Binary Stream Software that would enable them to consolidate their 17 databases into one database, while still maintaining the required security within Microsoft Dynamics GP. The Multi-Facility Processing software promised to solve many of the healthcare provider’s current frustrations.
Secure and Consolidated Information
The solution offered a centralized processing environment in one database, with a security layer that would prevent employees in one hospital or facility from seeing or posting transactions in another hospital’s domains. On the most basic level within Microsoft Dynamics GP, Multi-Facility Processing could bring all of the healthcare provider’s multi-entity information together securely within one centralized and consolidated system.
Shared Vendors and Inventory Items
Because Multi-Facility Processing centralized and consolidated the records, issues with inconsistencies would be eliminated since all of the hospitals or facilities could share items, vendors, and customers across their multiple locations. Intercompany due-to and due-from functionality allowed transactions to be completed among the separate legal entities quickly and easily for item and inventory transfers.
Simplified Day to Day and Period end Reporting
Since Multi-Facility Processing allowed every transaction to be executed within one company/database, jumping from database to database was no longer necessary to view or post transactions within several different companies. As long as a user’s security settings allowed them access to the different hospitals, they would be able to jump from one hospital facility to the next without having to sign out and sign in to another database. Because of this simple process, questions and reports, such as transactions with any one vendor during a month could be compiled and answered efficiently. Similarly, year-end reporting would be completed much faster since only one database would need to be backed-up and closed for the year.
Improved Reporting
Microsoft Dynamics GP’s reporting would be greatly enhanced by the Multi-Facility Processing solution by enabling several standard GP reports to be created under the context of the entire corporate entity as a whole, or on the individual facility levels. Profit and Loss reports could be created and compared not only against other facilities, but also against the company as a whole to easily create an average for comparison.
Overall the healthcare provider saw great value in Binary Stream’s solution and its ability to address several bottlenecks in their current reporting practices. They installed the solution and have been using it since 2006. Since this date they have seen great success from the software, saving almost 75% of their previous operating times.