University of Queensland Case Study
The University identified a need for an HR system that could solve a Workforce Budgeting issue born out of large and complex databases used not only for the HR department, but also finance management accounting functions.
The Challenge
The size of UQ's database is such that while individual departments and business units have on-demand access to their own data, in-depth reports covering the entire organisation are only run monthly.
The requirement was for a system that would accurately predict the impact on the budget of any workforce-related changes.
The Solution
UQ selected Aurion's Workforce Budgeting solution because of its ability to handle leave, on-costs, superannuation, workers' compensation and payroll tax in both predictable (such as teaching funds) and unpredictable (donations, research grants) areas.
The Benefits and the Future
According to Jennie Webb, UQ's Manager, Personnel Policy and Business Analysis, the University's system must handle its thousands of accounts and be able to record, integrate and report on the impact of individual transactions.
"Unpredictable or soft funding, for example, requires granular detail to the grant organisation - ie, is the research assistant taking holidays during that period, do they have on-costs that need to be considered and so on. The difference between $10,000 and $8,872 in grant funding is crucial," she said.
"Aurion had to be able to handle both predictable and unpredictable items for use by HR and Finance. Local managers also use it, to give accurate forecasts for their business units. So far, no-one's found a system that's an improvement on Aurion."
UQ staff are given 3 x ½ days' training on the Aurion system, which has to be set up to reflect an accurate position costing for both HR and budgeting.
"Using Aurion for Workforce Budgeting was the best decision," Ms Webb said.
"It predicts all events with 100 per cent accuracy and incorporates them in the budget."
Aurion's Workforce Budgeting predicts events with 100 per cent accuracy and includes them in the budget. Jennie Webb, Manager, Personnel Policy and Business Analysis.