How MRI Fixed Asset Accounting helped Southwark Council cut depreciation runs by 95%
As one of the UK’s largest landlords with more than 37,000 council dwellings and a substantial non-residential portfolio, Southwark Council relies on MRI Fixed Asset Accounting (Asset4000) to manage its assets. By 2023, the database had become too large and unwieldy.
Since first adopting Asset4000 in 2012/13, Southwark had accumulated historic data that grew to over 177,000 assets. The council dwellings portfolio was split into four separate components, further increasing the size and complexity of the database. Running depreciation transactions could take four to five hours, while reporting was also significantly slowed.
Simplifying a complex structure
On MRI’s recommendation, Southwark restructured its database using MRI Fixed Asset Accounting. They took the opportunity to:
- Record each council dwelling building as an individual asset
- Create a land asset for each block of flats
- Remove unnecessary components
- Streamline other asset categories
MRI also advised keeping a separate database as an archive for historic transactions. This provided a lean and efficient live system while ensuring older records remained accessible whenever required.
The number of assets dropped from 177,000 to just 43,000.
Reducing from 177,000 to 43,000 assets has made the system far easier to manage and maintain.
-Rodney Simons, Capital Accountant at Southwark Council
Faster processing and less waiting
With the simplified database, depreciation runs that previously took four to five hours now complete in just 10 to 15 minutes. Reporting delivers the same gains, reducing delays and freeing staff from time-consuming waits.
Depreciation runs that used to tie up the system for half a day now finish in minutes.
Lower risk and higher efficiency
By eliminating duplication and streamlining categories, Southwark reduced the risk of errors and unnecessary workload. The archived system provides ongoing access to historic transactions on current and disposed assets, while the live environment delivers fast and reliable performance.
Having the old database archived has proved invaluable. We use it regularly to view historic transactions without slowing the live system.
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