Burlington SD Implements ERP To Integrate Management, Improve Communication -- THE Journal

Enterprise Resource Planning

Burlington SD Implements ERP To Integrate Management, Improve Communication

By Mike Hohenbrink
09/27/12

Vermont's Burlington School District has adopted a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to manage district resources such as budget management, invoices, and payroll in an effort to integrate management information, regulate finances and procurement, and help improve communication.

The new system, Tyler Technologies' Munis, replaced an in-house system that had been developed nearly 30 years ago and which lacked an ability to integrate with management or data systems. The older system also utilized several customizations, which created difficulty each time the district tried to upgrade. By contrast, the new system will be integrated with payroll and HR for the district, a change that not only saves time and effort but that also allows more oversight.

In particular, the new system will prevent individual departments from exceeding their budgets, which is designed to save the district money and force employees to be more accountable.

The Burlington School District, which serves approximately 4,000 students spread over 10 campuses, will utilize multiple Munis applications such as financial management, human capital management, and payroll processing.

With payroll specifically, the district is looking to move to email notification of when direct deposits are made for employees in order to save time and postage, and the system will allow quick data retrieval with its TylerForms for locating copies of direct deposits, which allows for a faster response to employee questions.

In addition, plans are in place to use Munis for budgeting.

"With Munis, we have converted to a 21st century program that will help the school district manage its finances much better going forward," said Burlington School District Superintendent Jeanné Collins. "Munis gives us greater control of our budget codes and functions, including electronic approval of requisitions with business rules that don't allow users to go over budget, which creates more accountability and ownership of spending by the front-end user. Also, the immediacy of the computerized system gives up-to-the-minute detail, which allows for greater controls and ease of use."

More information about Munis is available at tylertech.com.

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