Zuyd University of Applied Sciences

Alistar's Comprehensive Financial Solution 

Last year, we collaborated with Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. With campuses in Heerlen, Sittard, and Maastricht, and more than 14,000 students and 1,850 staff members, it is one of the medium-sized universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands. Through a competitive bidding process, they sought a new implementation partner for their financial accounting software and for a simple time-tracking solution.

It was an exciting process, at the end of which Alistar was ultimately chosen as a partner. We discuss how this process unfolded and what made the collaboration so enjoyable with Raymond Slijpen, an information professional at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences.

Flexible from the start

Raymond has been working at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences for 12.5 years now and has been involved in the bidding process and implementation from the very beginning. Raymond explains: “We were using Microsoft Dynamics, a 2009 version. It was no longer supported and no longer met our needs, so we put the project out to bid. We received a number of proposals, and then you choose the partner that seems best at that moment. It’s quite a task to weigh all the pros and cons against each other. I deliberately say ‘at that time,’ because a demo can sound so promising, but only practice will show whether it’s actually any good. So we chose Exact with Alistar as our implementation partner. The Alistar team was involved from the start and was very flexible.”

“The demo team was also the implementation team, which was really nice.”

Raymond Slijpen

Flexible implementation 

When asked what factors played a role in choosing Alistar, Raymond is clear: “The team’s flexibility and willingness to collaborate, right from the start. And, of course, the first impression made by the people who gave the demo. It felt right away, and they ended up handling the implementation as well; that was a nice bonus. Their proactive involvement started right away, too. For example, we don’t use projects in the way the project module is actually intended—with the ultimate goal of sending invoices; we use it purely to track costs and hours associated with a grant. That, of course, depends on many conditions, and Alistar really thought through those with us. They were also well-versed in the rules.”

Exact Financials and the Hours Module

Zuyd University of Applied Sciences now works with Exact Financials and the Alistar time-tracking module on top of Exact. In Zuyd University of Applied Sciences' software landscape, Exact Financials the core system, and from there it can easily be integrated with, for example, procurement software, external HR modules, and student management systems. It supports two-way integration, which minimizes the need for manual work.

The university's financial administration is challenging, with three VAT regimes. The education regime is 0 percent; in addition, there is the standard rate and the pro-rata arrangements that Zuyd University of Applied Sciences has in place.

“Working with a consultant from Alistar, the hours module was actually customized to meet Zuyd’s specific needs.”.

Zuyd University of Applied Sciences

The Hours App on top of Exact

Recording hours is always a challenge; generally speaking, people don’t feel like doing it or see it as a form of monitoring. How did Zuyd University of Applied Sciences manage to get its employees to use this system during the implementation? Raymond continues his story:

“Working with a consultant from Alistar, the hours module was actually customized exactly to Zuyd’s needs. We also want employees to see only the projects they’re allowed to log time on—and for that to be in line with their scheduled hours. For example, if someone has a 1 FTE appointment, which equals 36 hours, there needs to be a check to ensure they log at least 36 hours that week, and an additional check to verify that their appointment details haven’t changed in the meantime. We allow time to be logged retroactively for up to four weeks, and in the background, all of this is checked against the employee’s appointment details and hourly rate. We have to comply with grant conditions, and it took a lot of trial and error to figure this out.

Alistar provided excellent advice on this and built it entirely to our specifications. The employees who still have to log their time are the ones working on grant-funded projects, and they truly understand the value and necessity of the system. These employees helped test the system during the first round and reviewed it during the second round to ensure everything was set up correctly. That fosters support and enthusiasm.”

Impact and Benefits of Implementation

“So Microsoft Dynamics became Exact Financials with Alistar’s time-tracking module integrated into it. How much of an impact did this implementation have? Raymond: ‘It is and remains an accounting system; you have accounts receivable, accounts payable, and a chart of accounts, and entries need to be made, so that part stays the same. The way we do it, however, has changed dramatically. The biggest advantage is the time saved; manual tasks have been eliminated for 90%. Because Exact Financials ’By linking it to all the other modules, I save a lot of time. For example, I used to have to manually enter all the standards into our purchasing system because there was no integration. So that’s been resolved now.”

Details of the route

“It was an unusual time, right in the middle of a pandemic,” Raymond emphasizes. “Because of COVID-19, the implementation for 95% took place via Microsoft Teams. That’s quite unusual, because that’s not how we had planned it. Ultimately, it’s still not our preferred method—and of course, things go a lot faster when you can actually see each other in person—but thanks to the project structure that was put in place, everything went incredibly smoothly.”.

For example, we had a weekly meeting where we reviewed our progress on the schedule and discussed what needed to be done that week. It was clear who the point of contact was on both the Alistar and Zuyd sides; these two employees both served as a sort of ‘fly-in support.’ So there was room for flexibility in the structure. It’s actually quite straightforward: we finished on time, and everything was clear.”

Wishes for the Future 

“Raymond notes that the bidding process took up quite a bit of time. The fact that it was conducted primarily through Teams also made the days more taxing. ‘In terms of concentration, it’s harder to communicate via a screen all day than when you’re sitting together. For now, it’s especially important to learn how to work effectively with the implemented software and to take stock of it after a year. We’re also still in the process of implementing single sign-on; that project is still ongoing. Once that’s implemented as well, we’ll be really well-equipped with top-notch financial software.’”

‘The bottom line is that we’re just very satisfied with how things went and how the project unfolded. The cooperation of Alistar’s staff, in particular, made it a very pleasant project. There will always be challenges with a proposal, but then you sit down and talk it through together and work it out. A remote project is perfectly doable, but fortunately, we were able to celebrate the final handover in person. With a slice of vlaai, of course.’”

About Zuyd University of Applied Sciences

Zuyd University of Applied Sciences is an institution of higher professional education in South Limburg, the Netherlands, with campuses in Heerlen, Maastricht, and Sittard, and a total of 29 academic departments. The Board of Directors is based in Heerlen.  www.zuyd.nl