Seminole Electric Cooperative Eliminated Software Customizations with PowerPlan

Background

“ We can only hope our next software implementation will be as easy as it was with PowerPlan.”

Director of Business Technology

Seminole was managing project and asset accounting with an older system which depended upon numerous customizations. But as the cooperative and its Members’ demands grew, Seminole executives recognized they needed a far more robust system for financial reporting on project costs and other critical data to make informed decisions.

Challenge: Identify an off-the-shelf solution for Seminole’s specific needs

Seminole’s accounting system was customized to meet their group depreciation accounting and tax reporting needs. Because of the customization, it was more difficult to perform system upgrades. When Seminole was notified their version would no longer be supported in the near future, it prompted an urgent need to replace and modernize the accounting and financial software with an off-the-shelf solution.

Solution: Implement PowerPlan to meet growing accounting and financial needs

At the same time Seminole was outgrowing its legacy asset accounting system, the leadership team was looking across the organization for opportunities to adopt technologies that would help them operate more efficiently, minimize risk, and free staff from laborious manual processes.

“We sought out commercial applications that embodied best practices for cooperatives. We also looked for a dynamic, digital, knowledge-based system that was easy to use for any of our stakeholders,” explains Zachary Niebauer, Seminole’s Manager of Budget and Analysis who was a part of the Request for Proposal (RFP) process.

The team began searching for a more holistic project and asset accounting solution. “Our CFO challenged us to find a system that would meet our complete needs out of the box, one that would not require customizations in order to work for our unique needs as a utility,” explains Niebauer. “We spoke to other utilities, and PowerPlan quickly floated to the top of the list based on their endorsements. Other vendors who responded to the RFP could generally handle capital budgeting, but most were disqualified because they couldn’t resoundingly say they were able to handle group depreciation accounting without customization,” he says.

After considering all the factors, the Seminole team determined the cloud-based version of PowerPlan was the best fit for their needs. “As we looked at possible solutions, PowerPlan offered the best total value in terms of capabilities and cost. It was also evident they provided a complete solution to our unique configuration,” says Niebauer.

Critical Requirements:

• Meet Seminole’s out-of-the-box needs
• Resolve issues with legacy customizations
• Focus on process improvement and efficiency for the accounting, tax, and IT teams
• Instill confidence, security protocols, service and stability of the chosen vendor
• Provide best practices guidance for utilities

Results for Seminole

• Achieved first cloud implementation successfully
  PowerPlan was Seminole’s first-ever cloud implementation, which was designed to incorporate more best practices into their project accounting and asset management system. “We recognized an on-premise solution was burdensome and no longer working for us. We were also cognizant of the potential risks associated with cloud and had robust internal discussions about whether to do it,” explains Steve Saunders, Seminole’s Director of Business Technology. “But we asked a lot of questions, and PowerPlan’s comprehensive approach to cybersecurity gave us the confidence to move forward.”
• Eliminated software customizations
  By acting on the recommendation of other PowerPlan users, Seminole now has a system that is built exclusively around the unique needs of utilities and required no customization. This means a system is in place that the entire team can understand, providing a consistent source of truth with common standards as they weather natural changes that happen in any cooperative. PowerPlan also reduced the burden on their IT resources.
• Shortened month-end close for property accounting from 7-10 days to a few hours
  “With our previous system, depending on the volume, it took us days to run month-end by the time we talked to engineers, and prepared, keyed and reviewed transmittals and so on. With PowerPlan, that timeline is significantly reduced,” exclaims Jong Gao, Senior Property Accountant. For a smaller team, that time savings makes a huge positive difference. “We no longer have to rush the last few days of the month to close our books,” he adds.
• Tightened the asset structure by 30%
  The team is finding that data flows in immediately and unitization is much faster. They’ve been able to standardize 30,000 retirement units down to 10,000, and find the entire process much simpler.
• Received support from a team focused on utilities
  Support is a major factor for Seminole in any new vendor selection process. “We had heard from others in the industry that PowerPlan support was amazing, and it turned out to be true,” says Gao. “The team is there to listen and resolve any questions or issues quickly.” It is also very reassuring to the team that PowerPlan continues to look for ways to enhance the usability of the system.
• Connected project accounting with financial analysis
  Not only is the team confident they are working from the most current data, but they also now have far fewer handoffs. “Forecasting, depreciation, and other vital functions are now all brought together within PowerPlan,” says Jenny Nguyen, Seminole’s Controller. “This gives our accounting and tax teams more robust and accurate management reports around project costs and other critical data they need to make informed decisions.”

Looking to the future

Seminole’s decision to make the transition to PowerPlan allowed their teams to work together efficiently, and ultimately take greater advantage of utility industry best practices. Their cloud deployment means they can rely on PowerPlan to keep their system up and running, and updated with the latest security and product features.

Seminole is now looking to move other systems, such as their general ledger, to the cloud. “Our successful transition to PowerPlan’s cloud solution has given us confidence and freed up our resources so that we can proceed with the remainder of our modernization initiative,” says Saunders. “We can only hope our next software implementation will be as easy as it was with PowerPlan.”

Wins for Accounting:

• Reduced month-end close drastically — from 7-10 days to a few hours
• Streamlined processes gave the team more time for value-added work
• Completed successful, first-ever cloud implementation
• Improved standardization to align with utility best practices
• Eliminated customizations for project accounting

For More Information

Cooperatives have unique needs that PowerPlan has supported for decades. PowerPlan is purpose-built to help cooperatives automate the accounting of capital assets, manage project costs more strategically, enable transparency for all stakeholders and apply industry best practices. To learn more, connect with our team through confidence@powerplan.com or visit PowerPlan.com.