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Social entrepreneurs look for numbers in the cloud

Sarah Harding October 11, 2013

< 1 min read

Having used Xero as their accounting system from inception, Pollinators Executive Officer, Andrew Outhwaite says “It really suits our working style, we have a mix of part-time staff and contractors and our board members travel a lot. Being able to access our accounts from anywhere is critical.”

As a community of collaborators and profit-for-purpose organisation, Pollinators creates an ‘ecosystem of support’ for social entrepreneurs and social ventures. Based in the midwest of Western Australia, connectivity is of high importance to the organisation.

To find a reporting system that would provide in-depth data analysis and would work harmoniously with their accounting system, Outhwaite and his team followed best practice, setting out the criteria of what the ideal solution would look like before undertaking extensive product research.

Excel-based templates were immediately rejected due to concerns regarding data integrity issues. After research, three potential candidates remained, with the Pollinators team choosing Calxa Premier due to its user-friendly nature and compatibility with Xero’s accounting data. The ability to budget and report on various projects and business units simultaneously was also a contributing factor.

“Within the first two hours of our trial we saw that a major project would take us close to the red in June/July. We were able to talk to suppliers and extend our terms and to our grant providers about the timing of funding to avert a potential crisis,” says Outhwaite.

The implementation of Calxa Premier meant that Pollinators could create an accurate and easy to interpret report for present and future planning.