Our vision in Finance is to be world-class in everything we do, recognised as a trusted strategic partner in the successful delivery of the University’s academic mission. Image Craig Henderson, Head of Finance Systems We’ll do that by building a strong professional finance community, removing complexity and duplication and delivering trusted support that’s easy to access. Creating a single Finance Systems team is one of the first steps on this journey. We spoke to Craig Henderson, Head of Finance Systems, to find out more. Who are the Finance Systems Team? Finance Systems comprises of two teams which have brought together colleagues from Financial Information Services (FIS), System Accounting Section (SAS), eProcurement (ePS) and Pensions/Payroll Technical Support. What do we do? We provide strategic direction, administration, development, support and training for all of the University’s finance systems. Who does what? Systems Administration and Support Team Led by Gordon Forbes with colleagues Pamela Baillie, John Bannaghan, Donna Thomson, Michael Curtis, Niall MacIver, Annemarie Marko, Simone Martin, Adam Scott, Karen Urquhart and Calum McLachlan. The team is responsible for operational procedures such as general systems support; month-end ledger close; user administration; interface management; systems testing; systems training; report writing; Payroll/Pensions system support; website management; and Finance Department PC software & hardware support. Business & Strategy Team Led by Douglas Stewart with colleagues Frank Eardley, Louise Finnie and Stephanie McHugh. The team is responsible for Finance Systems Strategy for the Finance, Payroll, Procurement & Printing programme of projects; implementation & development of new and existing finance systems; process improvement, business efficiency, automation and standardisation of existing University processes, sustainability development through paperless processes, carbon savings and digital capacity for the University’s financial operations. What will a single team mean for our users? A single team means colleagues will have a single point of contact for anything finance systems related, making it easier to get a consistent approach to administration, development, support and training. Colleagues from across the University who need finance systems support will receive a more joined-up, efficient and resilient service. What opportunities are there for the new team? The establishment of the new team presents a number of opportunities to improve the service, including: More effective use of resources due to shared priorities and common goals. A unified approach to systems administration and development. Standardised processes across systems. Specialist knowledge shared across the team, reducing risks from key person dependencies, and increasing service resilience. What challenges will we face? The coming months will be an extremely busy time with lots of change happening: embedding the Finance Helpline, providing an integrated systems strategy and administration service, and working with our Service Excellence partners to design the new core finance system. This article was published on 2024-07-01
