Caledonia Housing Association (CHA) has moved from a spreadsheet-based component accounting process to MRI Software’s (MRI) specialist software. It made the decision in order to facilitate the growth of the association’s asset base and improve the quality of component information available to authorised users. CHA will also benefit from the system’s detailed depreciation calculating capabilities.
CHA is one of the leading suppliers of high quality and affordable homes in Scotland. It owns and manages around 4,000 properties across Tayside, Fife and the Highlands. It has two subsidiaries in Cordale Housing Association and Bellsmyre Housing Association that manage and maintain 1100 rented properties and 600 factored houses in West Dunbartonshire. It is a Registered Social Landlord and Scottish Charity and supplies a range of housing and related services.
CHA required a system where it can hold all of its property details, including component information and life spans, in one database. MRI’s product will provide this service.
The Association had found that managing its ever-growing asset base using spreadsheets had become difficult. Angela Murphy, Finance Manager at CHA comments, “As the organisation has grown significantly, it was time to move to specialist software to improve component accounting processes. The team is looking forward to making time efficiencies by having easy access to the details collated in the system.
“CHA required a system where it can hold all of its property details, including component information and life spans, in one database. MRI’s product will provide this service,” Murphy continues. “We will benefit from the depreciation forecasting functionality within the software, having accurate calculations for each component to ensure that all reported data is accurate and automating what would normally be quite an arduous manual task when using Excel™ spreadsheets.”
CHA selected the software after evaluating a number of available products. MRI supplies solutions to over 180 housing associations and enables organisations to comply with all financial regulations, including FRS 102, IFRS 16 and the latest SORP requirements. “After looking at the options on the market, MRI’s software best suited our needs.”
