Provider of support services to public and private sectors, Parkwood Holdings, recently implemented a new e5 financial management system from Advanced Business Solutions, a provider of integrated business applications and services, enabling the latter company to make timelier financial decisions. The system also features integrated budgeting and forecasting functionality, electronic procurement and document management solutions.

The new system will allow Parkwood to access and respond to key financial information more quickly — an important factor in challenging economic times. The new system is to go live in a phased approach beginning in January of 2013.

Parkwood employs over 6,000 people across 150 locations throughout the U.K., providing such services as Grounds Management, Leisure Management, Healthcare and PFI project management. Advance Business Solutions' e5 finance system will be used by up to 300 people in Parkwood's finance and operation teams across all the company's divisions and is expected to deliver a return on investment within as little as two years.

Parkwood's previous financial system used a range of solutions from different providers, with teams operating in silos. The company felt it was time for a change, specifically a unified solution, and Advanced Business Solutions came highly recommended.

"After a competitive tendering process, we chose Advanced’s finance system because it was more functionally rich than any of the other systems we looked at and it came highly recommended," said Mike Quayle, group finance director of Parkwood Holdings, in a statement. "The Advanced team’s expertise and knowledge also impressed us and ultimately, the relationship with our software provider is as important to us as the suitability of the product."

By standardizing the financial system across the whole group, Parkwood can enjoy more efficient operation and replace a multitude of excel spreadsheets.

Advanced Business Solutions recently announced Advanced Business Finance, a financing model developed in collaboration with Syscap, which enables purchasers to pay using flexible payment methods.

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