The York Region District School Board is committed to meeting the increasing demand for school space and accommodating the region's growth. Their unwavering focus on success and achievement keeps York Region students performing consistently above the provincial average. The board aims to empower students to realize their full potential and maintain exceptional academic achievements amidst the evolving educational landscape.
YRDSB faced significant challenges with their existing system, as many of their processes were excessively time-consuming and required significant manual labour. From a purchasing perspective, the board lacked sufficient reporting capabilities, leading to a lack of visibility into the procurement process.
The York Region District School Board successfully implemented the Sparkrock K-12 Finance Solution, resulting in significant improvements in the operational efficiency of their finance team. By leveraging this solution, the YRDSB team operates more strategically, with accelerated data access and robust reporting tools. Previously, all bank reconciliations were conducted externally from their system; however, with the seamless integration of the General Ledger, the reconciliation process can now be efficiently performed within the solution. This integration has streamlined their financial operations, enabling them to enhance their financial management processes and achieve greater effectiveness in handling their financial responsibilities.
"We’ve seen Sparkrock grow as a company over the years, and their response times are amazing. They listen to what we need and what we’re looking for, and it’s clear they are dedicated to being involved with their customers from their regular on-site visits.”
Dan Reynolds
Senior Manager of Finance
Following the implementation of Sparkrock, the YRDSB finance team has significantly enhanced their ability to assist a broader range of individuals. Adopting a new ERP system has empowered them to operate more proactively, granting them faster access to critical data and enabling them to harness the power of robust reporting tools. The heightened visibility of real-time data has proven valuable in facilitating streamlined and efficient purchasing processes, ultimately benefiting many organizational stakeholders.
"These areas where time and effort is saved benefit all members of the school board, although getting all school users on board for a new system can be tough. It is a big change, but ultimately once users learn the new system they truly enjoy it.”
Dan Reynolds
Senior Manager of Finance
By embracing a more modern solution, the YRDSB finance team continues to leverage technology effectively, expanding their capacity to provide timely and effective support to an increasing number of individuals. A few strategies employed by the board to entice users and engage them with the solution's potential revolved around its robust functionality, particularly with reporting. Users now receive monthly reports containing relevant and personalized data, allowing them to see the solution's potential in improving their work. Demonstrating how the solution can benefit them alleviates any uncertainties about learning something new. This proactive approach fostered excitement and confidence amongst users as they recognized the solution's capacity to enhance their everyday workflows.