The Higher Education Authority

Company Background

The Higher Education Authority is the statutory planning and development body for higher education and research in Ireland. The HEA has wide advisory powers throughout the whole of the third-level education sector. In addition it is the funding authority for universities in Ireland and a number of designated higher education institutions. The mission of the HEA is to foster the development of a higher education sector which is accessible to all potential students. While being recognised internationally for the high quality of teaching, learning and research it must also have the capacity to address the changing needs and challenges in society. The HEA gives policy advice to the Government and Minister for Education and Science on the development of higher education and research, and allocates public funding to the universities, teacher training colleges and other higher education institutions, including from later this year, the institutes of technology. The HEA manages the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI), the North-South Research Programmes and the Strategic Innovation Fund. The National Office for Equity of Access to Higher Education is part of the HEA, and the HEA is the National Agency for the EU's Socrates Programmes: Erasmus and Minerva.

The Business Challenge

Before the installation of Access the HEA was using a complex manual system which was proving to be tremendously time consuming. Therefore the driving force behind the investment of a business and accounting system was the need to accurately and securely process and track expenditure relating to all the above activities within the HEA. With the responsibility of processing such large sums of grant money, the HEA needed to have 100% confidence in whoever was going to provide the financial backbone to their business. The HEA monitor expenditure for Recurrent, Research and Capital Grants as well as various programmes for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI), the North-South Programme for Research, the Strategic Innovation Fund and the National Access Office.

All transactions/expenditure relating to this revenue is managed through Access Accounts’ advanced financial management capabilities. It was crucial for the HEA to have a sophisticated nominal coding structure that would allow a detailed drill down in to all of their data. Using Access Accounts, the HEA can provide a full reconciliation at a very detailed level regarding all payments made to any institution within a range of different headings. It is also used to substantially streamline the annual audit. At any given time, however, usually on a monthly basis, The HEA is in a position to provide a full reconciliation of all payments and deductions to the Collector General’s office, who are also a user of Access Accounts.

The Access Accounts Solution

The HEA needed a system that specifically provided them with a sophisticated solution that allowed them to reconcile information accurately and quickly. Stewart Roche, the HEA Management Accountant states that “In addition to this we needed to have our accounts package do as much Accounts work as easily as possible. Access Accounts provides this”. The HEA were delighted with the training and the way that the documentation was tailored to suit their staff skill levels within specific areas. Within the HEA, Access Accounts is used to record, process and monitor all expenditure relating to Grants & Programs within the HEA. The HEA are also using the Access electronic payments software that will allow the HEA to easily transfer payments to suppliers directly via the bank, eliminating the need for cheque writing or printing.

An advanced Alerts tool within Access Accounts allows the HEA to run an efficient suppliers payments system while at the same time providing an intelligent proactive system for ensuring that they have up to date Tax Clearance certificates for their suppliers at all times. Due to the Prompt Payments scheme, The HEA is obliged to pay any undisputed invoices no later than 30 days from the receipt of invoice. The Access Alert system allows the HEA to be proactively notified if any invoice has not been paid after 20 days, this allows time to investigate any discrepancies and action the invoice while avoiding penalties. In addition, once a supplier exceeds the rolling budget figure, Access will alert the finance team. The Management Accountant automatically receives notifications of suppliers, Tax certificates and turnover budgets every Monday morning.

The Future

The users within the HEA prize the benefits of Access Accounts and the support they receive. From a management perspective, the quality of drill down analysis, the fast detailed reporting functionality, and the overall ability to accurately and efficiently manage their expenditure to the highest possible standard has proved to be invaluable.

The HEA is currently managing expenditure in excess of €750 million, over the next two years in addition to the seven designated universities already in the plan it is anticipated that the 13 institutes of technology and DIT will be designated, ramping the expenditure up to in excess of €2 billion. “Having a system that we are confident in is critical to our organisation. We are in no doubt that we have made the right decision“.