Before moving to Pastel Evolution, the accounting divisions at Johannesburg Zoo lacked cohesion.

“Everything was done manually‚” says financial accountant Molebatsi Mokoena. Fixed asset management was done on spreadsheets, supply chain was done manually and in a blink of an eye a division had exceeded its budget.

Sowing the seeds

Integrating separate systems was a priority for JHB Zoo, so after reviewing several Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions, Pastel Evolution was chosen. Evolution proved to be the most cost effective solution that filled all the zoo’s requirements fast.

Mohammed Mosam, Pastel Evolution divisional director, says: “The biggest problem at JHB Zoo was to keep strict tabs on budgets and expenses. Income needed to be accounted for, as did the management of money from funding and sponsorships.”

Caging the beast

Johannesburg Zoo receives money from government, via City of Joburg funding, from the rental of facilities and from visitors. These different revenue streams mean that an accounting system must carefully monitor the intricate budget and ensure divisional targets are met.

Mosam says that various models were implemented to streamline the process. Procurement of stock, ranging from animal medication to food, needed to be closely managed. The variety of inventory also meant that a complex system of procurement, tracking and budget management needed to be streamlined and automated. All independent divisions need to be closely monitored and then tallied to ensure budgets are met system wide.

“The implementation of Pastel Evolution has been very satisfactory. We can now ensure no more human errors occur. Budget can be tightly managed and we can ensure that tax payers’ money is effectively spent and accounted for‚” says Mokoena.

Just eat the elephant one piece at a time

The multidivisional manner of reporting on allocated budgets meant a segmented general ledger was needed. Pastel Evolution’s powerful reporting can track over- and under-spending and ensure government money is spent in the right place.

Johannesburg Zoo provides a complex challenge as its divisions are independent and procurement processes and workflows need to be appropriately signed off through departments under the umbrella of zoo management.

With the implementation of Pastel Evolution the feasibility of events can now be accurately predicted and tracked, while ensuring revenue from subsidy funding and visitors is allocated and accounted for. Pastel Evolution neatly tracks the zoo’s asset management. It examines assets in various cost centres and monitors repairs as well as asset depreciation.

A good day out

“Ultimately Pastel Evolution has been the perfect solution for the zoo‚” says Mosam. It ensures departments are independently monitored; their income versus expenses tracked and their funding tightly managed. It can help determine where revenue comes from, if it is correctly allocated and ultimately how the zoo can better run its business.

The system has 20 active users but can account for 90 agents on applications. The installation of the system was completed within a record eight weeks, proving to be very cost effective. Resources were minimal, the system is easy to learn and the zoo is now on track without any problems as a totally self-sufficient system.

“Now that we are up and running and everyone has embraced the new technology, we are very happy with Pastel Evolution‚” says Mokoena.

Johannesburg Zoo Evolution solution at a glance

Number of users:

• 90 users in total with 20 concurrent users

Pastel Evolution modules in use:

• Evolution Core (GL, AR, AP, INV, Orders, Cashbook, Project Costing)
• Fixed Assets
• Procurement
• Point of Sale
• Job Costing
• Contact Management

Implementation requirements:

• Control budget and keep within budget
• Track expenses
• Manage procurement process

Benefits:

• An intuitive user interface
• Simplified administration functions making daily operations faster and easier
• Fully integrated solution for financials, Supply Chain and operations
• Better divisional budget management and tighter control over expenses
• Procurement processes managed by automated workflows
• Multi dimensional reporting by department / cost centre
• Asset management and tracking now seamless