Wales & West Housing meets the SORP deadline using component accounting software from Real Asset Management
Forward planning with Wales & West Housing paves way for smooth transition.
With the passing of the SORP 2010 deadline in April 2012, housing associations should have finally bitten the bullet and invested in specialist providers who can offer a smooth and well advised transition into component accounting.
Gill Sanger, Financial Accounting Manager at social housing provider Wales & West Housing deployed component accounting software from Real Asset Management (RAM) in 2010 and has reaped the rewards of being SORP compliant ahead of deadline. The Asset4000 software now provides Wales & West Housing with a fully compliant, centralised and robust register for its £376 million asset base.
Out with the old, in with the new
Prior to the installation of Asset4000, Wales & West Housing used an excel-based asset register to record asset values and calculate depreciation in summary. Under the new SORP guidelines, housing associations are required to break their extensive asset registers down into individual components. For example, under the old guidelines, a housing unit could be classed as one single asset, but under the new guidelines, asset registers are required to contain more detailed information relating to replaceable components. This means that, what was previously a single asset is now split into eight or more individual components – achieving this can be a lengthy and arduous process.
For Wales & West Housing, this meant transferring what were once 8,500 assets into 95,000 individual components – a task that would have been almost impossible without the implementation of a robust component accounting solution.
Gill Sanger comments, ‘Taking on the task of component accounting is bound to put a strain on any finance department, regardless of the figures involved. Therefore we wanted to invest in a company that fully understood the housing sector and the associated legislation and which, as a result of this understanding, could aid us with the complex transition into component accounting.’
Witnessing the live performance
As the SORP deadline approached, Sanger explains the advantages of being compliant ahead of April 2012. ‘We were the first non stock transfer association in Wales to enlist a specialist provider and have certainly benefitted from RAM’s expertise. Throughout the transition, we benefited from the expert guidance of the consultants at RAM. During the installation period, we set ourselves internal deadlines to meet. The consultants were always willing to go the extra mile in order for us to meet them and it is safe to say that to this day, this level of service hasn’t faltered.’
In safe hands
Since making the decision to invest in a component accounting software product, streamlined processes have been introduced. Sanger adds, ‘The software not only provided us with compliant accounts ahead of the deadline but also afforded us further business insight that wouldn’t have necessarily been possible. We are now able to easily update, manipulate and extract data at the touch of a button.’
Sanger concludes, ‘Knowing that our property asset register is in the hands of this highly experienced provider is a reassuring thought. The RAM consultants have been helpful, flexible and, most importantly, dependable. They are always available to offer guidance, regardless of the situation. For us, having the ability to correctly categorise and record our assets within the SORP 2010 guidelines ahead of the deadline was crucial. The future-proof software is coping very well in meeting both our demands and the demands of the regulators, standing us in good stead for the transition to International Financial Reporting Standards.’
More information
Real Asset Management is a leading provider of fixed asset management and logistics software & services. Over the last 30 years, its products have been implemented by more than 3,000 organisations in over 70 countries.
With offices in the UK and the US and a network of resellers across the globe, RAM offers a range of products and consultancy services which enable organisations to effectively track and report on their assets. Its Series4000 product range incorporates modules for fixed asset management, depreciation, asset tracking utilising both barcode and/or RFID scanning technology, capital project control, asset budgeting, lessee asset accounting, document management, help desk, and maintenance management.
RAM, a leading supplier of IFRS, SORP and component accounting software to both the public and private sectors, has successfully implemented its software across more than 130 housing associations.
For further information, please contact: Karen Conneely, Real Asset Management, tel +44 (0)1689 892100, email kconneely@ramplc.com