Auckland Theatre Company
Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) has been a prominent professional theatre company in the city since 1992. In 2016, they inaugurated their new home, the ASB Waterfront Theatre, located in the thriving arts and culture hub of Wynyard Quarter's innovation precinct. The ATC presents its seasonal plays at the theatre for up to 24 weeks each year, along with national and international dance, film, and theatre productions.
The Challenge:
ATC faced a challenge in accurately itemizing financials for each individual show to fulfill reporting requirements for funding agencies. As the company grew and staged an increasing number of shows annually, their existing systems became inadequate. They encountered limitations with their reporting capabilities using MYOB, the software they were using at the time. Transferring data from MYOB to a separate database system was a time-consuming and error-prone process, often resulting in unreliable data transfers and corrupted files. Moreover, accommodating different financial periods posed a challenge as their funders operated on a January to December cycle while Auckland Council followed a July to June cycle.
“We now have very good financial reporting and can consolidate all our information easily to get one source of truth about our overall performance.” Kerry Tomlin Financial Officer, Auckland Theatre Company
The Solution:
To address these challenges, Top Flight recommended and implemented Accredo's Report Designer module. They recreated all the reports ATC previously used and enhanced the presentation of information. With Accredo, all reporting could be done within the system, eliminating the need for data exports and making report generation less laborious. The reports themselves were improved and offered greater flexibility to modify fields for different types of analysis. Accredo also provided the convenience of exporting data to Excel. Additionally, Top Flight helped establish a strict month-end procedure, where all reports went through a business manager and then to the general manager for final approval. Each new show was set up as a separate branch in Accredo, allowing for precise assignment of financial transactions to specific shows.
The Outcome/Results:
“Month end reporting with Accredo compared to MYOB is like matching a Ferrari against a Morris Minor.”
ATC now benefits from strengthened and streamlined reporting processes. Managing the company's finances on a daily basis has become simpler, providing improved visibility of expenditures and better tracking of budget performance. At the end of each month, ATC can easily generate profit and loss reports for every show staged. This information is vital for understanding audience preferences and informs their planning for future productions. Accredo's superior reporting capabilities have enabled ATC to consolidate all financial information easily, resulting in a single source of truth regarding their overall performance. The transition from MYOB to Accredo has been akin to upgrading from a Morris Minor to a Ferrari in terms of month-end reporting, with ATC now having access to excellent financial reporting and comparative data on specific shows.
