Financial Systems | News

BC District Moves to Web-Based Financial Suite

• By Scott Aronowitz
• 10/25/10

School District 70 of Port Alberni, BC, Canada is taking its finances online. The district has chosen SDS Software's Via for Schools to manage its financial activities and purchasing. SD70, located on Vancouver Island, enrolls about 4,100 students in 13 elementary and secondary schools.

GAAP-compliant and designed for simple automation of accounting processes, Via for Schools is a comprehensive suite of three applications that encompass all the necessary tools for financial management of a Canadian educational environment:

• eFunds: student activity accounting; payment and receipt management; check, receipt, and deposit slip printing; bank reconciliation; integration with SIS.
• Accounting: financial reporting, including summary and detailed formats; budget allocation; intuitive query search; account overview.
• Purchasing: workflow and approval process management; electronic routing of orders; shopping cart interface for order entry; cataloging with images; Web tenders for supplier bid entry.

Via for Schools is also designed especially to support virtual server technology, reducing the need for IT maintenance and eliminating duplication of hardware and resources. "The new virtual server infrastructure brings all of our network resources to a central server," said a district spokesperson, "reduces management of servers across the district and provides a common, consistent and stable environment for all applications, including accounting and purchasing."

SDS also provides fully managed onsite implementation, including user training, data conversion, and review of business practices to align with Canadian best practices, at a fixed cost.