AngliSchools Takes Control of Project Budget Reporting with Mastt

Background

AngliSchools manages a portfolio of around 10 large capital projects. Franzl Shannon, Director of Capital Projects, oversees the portfolio, with budget reporting providing the council with visibility of the financial position.

Challenge: Slow Reports and Limited Budget Visibility

AngliSchools needed confidence that project managers were reporting against the correct budget lines. Reports arrived slowly and were maintained in spreadsheets.

“One of the biggest problems that we had was the reports that we were getting, which were not very timely. At best they were all on spreadsheets.”
‍_{- Franzl Shannon}

Franzl was concerned that budget adjustments could obscure the actual financial position. AngliSchools needed a consistent reporting structure that made those adjustments easier to investigate.

Solution: Consistent Reporting with an Audit Trail

AngliSchools connected its reporting to the WIP in a uniform structure within Mastt. The audit trail allows Franzl to investigate budget items and trace supporting information.

“There was an audit path in Mastt. We could drill down and find it.”
_{- Franzl Shannon}

This gave AngliSchools greater confidence that project managers were reporting against the correct budget lines.

Impact: An Estimated 30 Hours Saved Each Month

Franzl describes resolving a variation query by opening Mastt, navigating to the project and consultant, and finding the variation, its authorization, and an attached email. He shared the information, and the query was resolved.

“That previously would have taken hours.”
_{- Franzl Shannon}

Franzl estimates the monthly savings across the portfolio:

“We’d certainly have 10 large-sized projects, and if you said that saving was three hours per project, that’s a minimum of 30 hours a month.”
‍_{- Franzl Shannon}

He also believes Mastt has reduced the work required from project managers.

Outcome: Oversight the Council Can Trust

The audit trail gives the council reassurance about how project budgets are overseen.

“The comfort the council gets is that there’s a level of oversight there. They’re able to see it easily, without having to drill into the detail.”
_{- Franzl Shannon}

Franzl also praises the support provided alongside the platform.

“I’ve used different software platforms over the last 30-odd years. This platform, and the support we get with it, you just can’t beat.”
_{- Franzl Shannon}

On returning to the previous way of working, his response is brief.

“Nope. That comes with my resignation, I think.”
_{- Franzl Shannon}