Denbighshire Council cuts costs with budgeting system

Denbighshire County Council has saved the cost of three full-time members of staff by implementing a budgeting and forecasting system.

By deploying Advanced Business Solutions' system, the council says it has improved reporting efficiency, gained greater control over its financial performance and reduced over-spending.

The council's previous budgeting and forecasting processes involved manually consolidating information onto separate spreadsheets.

"We only recognised there was a budgetary issue when we were suddenly notified that one of our departments had overspent, sometimes by thousands of pounds, which subsequently impacted our year-end performance," said Rhys Lloyd Jones, senior management accountant at Denbighshire County Council.

In the medium-term this will save the authority the equivalent of two to three full-time staff, he says.

"We are now able to quickly and easily produce year-end reports and statements of accounts and instantly communicate this information to relevant staff across the business," Lloyd Jones said.

"For the first time, we have a clear picture of staff budget expectations, allowing us to plan properly for the future."