Expertise is needed both in terms of substance and systems. Few people have a deep understanding of financial processes, our industry, and the system we use. At Efima, all of these come together.
At the end of 2017, the City of Tampere decided to incorporate its public property development and management unit, leading to the establishment of a new in-house company: Tampereen Tilapalvelut Oy. The company’s 260 employees are responsible for the full lifecycle of 800 buildings – including Tammela Stadium and numerous schools across the Tampere region. The founding of the new company also opened up opportunities to renew the systems, services, and operating models in use.
One of the units awaiting renewal was Tilapalvelut’s financial administration, which handles tens of thousands of purchase and sales invoices annually, along with the specific requirements of financial management in the construction sector. The first target of the renewal was the old financial management system, which was difficult to use and slow and challenging to develop – a leap forward was clearly needed.
One renewal led to another
"We decided to replace our financial management systems with modern ones, and chose Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Our previous partner, who had provided financial services, was unable to support us with the new system, so we launched a competitive bidding process to find a new partner to support our financial operations," explains Controller Tiina Alanen.
The implementation of the new system provided an opportunity to rethink how financial processes could be developed. "When the system changes, the processes change too. We wanted to find a partner who could work within our new system and support our finance team with both the system and our processes," recalls Jani Knuuttila, Head of Financial Services at Tilapalvelut. Through the competitive bidding process, Efima was selected as the partner, as they were seen to have strong expertise in Microsoft systems, financial services, and the development of financial processes.
Praise for an experienced partner
Changing both the financial management system and the partner at the same time is a challenging situation where the partner’s expertise is truly put to the test. "We changed systems and partners simultaneously, so this has involved major changes. The new system also brought changes to certain roles, and Efima has been very actively supporting our experts in learning the system, as well as in conversions and other tasks related to the implementation," says Knuuttila.
Efima’s experts were closely involved in testing the new system and documenting financial processes and guidelines to support the Tilapalvelut team. Thanks to the close collaboration, financial services were up and running smoothly after the system implementation, and today, experts from Tilapalvelut and Efima work together to ensure the daily operations of financial management run seamlessly. "Expertise is needed both in terms of substance and systems. Few people have a deep understanding of financial processes, our industry, and the system we use. At Efima, all of these come together," Alanen says with satisfaction.
Proactivity and transparency make the difference
There will be a continued need for a development-oriented partnership: in addition to financial services, Efima’s experts are actively involved in system development and testing of regular version updates, and they also highlight areas for improvement, such as changes in financial regulation. "There’s ongoing development work related to the system and automation, and we’re looking for solutions with the support of Efima’s experts. I know you have a lot of expertise in automation, which we can benefit from going forward," says Knuuttila.
There is clear agreement on the most important qualities of a good partnership. "Transparency, communication about noteworthy issues, and actively solving problems together are key characteristics of a strong partnership," says Alanen. "I would also highlight transparency as one of the most important aspects. In addition, expertise and precision are especially important in financial management," Knuuttila adds. "Flexibility from the partner is also crucial. We haven’t always been able to anticipate everything in advance, and the support we’ve received in those situations is something we truly value," he concludes.
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