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How A Modern Education ERP Reduces Costs

Educational institutions around the world often have limited budgets, spending only after careful deliberation. Prioritizing the teaching process first, investing in systems to support their school or university takes a back seat. In fact, many organizations make little or no investments in technology due to concerns about its cost. Unfortunately, many of them are missing an opportunity to help their students by leveraging technology to reduce costs overall, costs that can be reallocated to the learning process for their students. A modern education ERP provides technology that benefits the school and its students holistically, improving not only staff and teacher productivity but also enhancing communication between parents, students, school, and administrators.

A modern education ERP is a school management system that offers a complete suite of applications to support the educational institution. It includes functionality for student information management, finance and accounting, admissions and registration, academics, and student-teacher-parent communications. In addition, a modern education ERP offers advanced reporting and analytics tools.

This blog shares how a modern education ERP can help educational organizations save money by leveraging the advantages of the technology.

Reduces reliance on paper

Effecting a digital transformation for the school, an education ERP reduces costs associated with paper documents. This reduction in costs includes the reduction in the purchase of paper itself as well as the associated reduction in time needed to work in a paper-driven system.

Departments in educational organizations may use paper for their administrative and academic operations. Although many organizations digitized, a lot of data is still handled manually using pencil and paper. Student information is important so the records and files can take up entire rooms.

An education ERP stores all this data and reduces the cost of procuring paper. More significantly, school personnel can execute student record searches in seconds instead of hours, improving their productivity and allowing them to focus more attention on their students, parents, and other stakeholders.

In addition, schools can use an education ERP to automate many of their manual processes. For example, they can set up automatic payment reminders for parents or students who have outstanding balances.

Automates the payment process

An education ERP reduces costs associated with collecting student fees by reducing manual data entry errors and staff time needed for maintaining a paper-driven system. Also, the education ERP can be integrated with the school’s banking system so that payments process automatically.

Collecting fees is a critical process. It includes monitoring fees paid, setting up and sending timely reminders for balances due, and sending fee receipts. When performed manually, these tasks are tedious, time-consuming, and cumbersome. Also, utilizing manual data entry for posting of sensitive information, such as student payments, is prone to errors that can lead to parent and student dissatisfaction.

The time required to post fee payments and recognize them properly in the accounting system is another challenge. As the school grows and opens additional satellite locations, the problem worsens.

Automating fee collection, reminder notifications, receipts, bank deposits, and ledger postings, the education ERP reduces costs and frees up time for the school’s administrators, faculty, and staff to focus on the core mission of the school, educating its students.

Enhances Vendor Management

An education ERP helps automate tasks across different departments, including vendor management activities. Schools can use the system to create a master vendor list and track vendor performance. This enables schools to quickly identify and address any issues with their vendors. The system also provides workflows that route timely purchasing reminders to the correct party so that the school can take advantage of purchase discounts, thus freeing up more funds for the school to utilize in its core educational mission.

The education ERP improves the management of faculty schedules and class assignments. With the system, schools can create master class schedules and track faculty availability. This helps ensure that classes are properly staffed and that faculty members are teaching their assigned number of classes.

Controls examination costs

An education ERP reduces grading and reporting time associated with examinations and improves the communication of grades and reports to parents and students.

Schools spend considerable time and resources conducting examinations and reports. Based on them, an education ERP can create a more secure testing environment along with better communication of grades to students and parents. Instead of paper reports, grades are communicated electronically in near real-time.

Manual errors in grading diminish as well, reducing the time spent on misunderstandings and enabling teachers to allocate more time to teaching and less time to resolving potential conflicts.

In addition, administrators can quickly and easily run reports on student performance or other areas of interest. This allows for more informed decision-making about how to best improve the educational process.

Enables accurate statutory reporting to authorities

The modern education ERP includes compliance for statutory reporting. This consists of tax nexus and other filings required by government agencies. By automating these processes, the education ERP helps schools avoid penalties and save on compliance costs.

The education ERP also provides a central repository for all the school’s data. This can be used to generate reports on demand, ensuring only the most up-to-date information is available. All this data can be accessed from a single platform, making it easy to find the needed information in near real-time.

Improves decision-making with real-time insights

Education ERPs come with in-built business intelligence/reporting tools. In addition to out-of-the-box reports designed for the institution, including the statutory reports discussed earlier, these tools allow users to customize existing reports and create new ones. With a modern educational ERP, users require no programming knowledge to customize or create new reports; everything is easily accomplished with the education ERP’s user interface. The reports enable school administrators, executives, and owners to access a real-time view of their entire school including communications, teaching, and financial aspects. A parent portal provides up-to-the-minute communication with parents and students concerning enrollments, waitlists, exams, and fees. A teacher portal includes class schedules, teacher and student assignments, and disciplinary records. Financial reports cover budget and fund accounting, purchasing and disbursements, revenue recognition, fixed assets, and treasury, taxation, and banking.

By providing business intelligence to school executives, the education ERP provides a means to easily determine the financial condition of the school and to optimize it for the learning processes. Decision-makers can quickly adjust to changes in student payments, enrollments, overbooked and underbooked teacher schedules, and other unforeseen events.

Other capabilities of the modern educational ERP include better vendor management, timing procurement requests for best pricing, and streamlining financial processes.

Money saved by implementing an education ERP can be re-invested into the school, allowing it to invest savings in its core mission of providing best-in-class education to its students.

Softype is a global provider of cloud business automation solutions and an experienced enterprise consulting provider to medium and large enterprises. With offices in the US, Philippines, India, and Kenya and remote delivery and support capabilities, our friendly experts provide Softype clients with the help they need, no matter their geography.

Softype, a global Oracle NetSuite Solution Partner, successfully completed more than 450 NetSuite Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations in the past 20 years. NetSuite, the original cloud ERP system, is the solution of choice for organizations requiring the ability to pivot with the rapidly fluctuating economic conditions of recent years. In addition to NetSuite, the Softype team also specializes in workflow automation technologies and integrations for the Wholesale Distribution, Retail, Food and Beverage, Education, and Manufacturing industries.

Softype combines practical solutions with expert service, thus maximizing our clients’ investments in their business automation solutions. We have friendly experts who can help guide your team through its digital transformation. From mutual discovery to understanding your requirements and implementing the solution, we will support you every step of the way.

For further information, please contact us here. You can also reach out to us at [email protected] or call us at +1 650 488 4412 (Global), +63 967 429 9575 (Philippines), +91 22 4616 3839 (India), +254 720 940 174 (Africa), and +61 452 183 613 (Australia).

About the Author
Vidya Rangan
Vidya Rangan

Digital Marketing Coordinator, Softype Inc.

About Author

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Mr. Shreyansh Patil (Shrey)

Group CEO

Shrey holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales, specializing in consulting.

With extensive experience in Enterprise Cloud Solutions (ERP) and Management Consulting spanning four continents, Shrey is equipped with the ability to bridge gaps between technology and business outcomes that will enhance customer experience. Having held leadership roles in consulting, advisory, and technology organizations across various geographies, Shrey brings a wealth of knowledge and a proven track record in general management, leadership, and business development. With excellent people management skills and a strong consulting background, Shrey is extremely passionate about adding value through technology and process re-engineering.

Shrey’s unwavering dedication to cultivate a high-performing, customer-centric culture at Softype will empower our team to reach new heights and become the best version of ourselves.

Ms. Juliana Luz

Co-Chairman and Co-Founder

Juliana (Nana) holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Stanford University.

The first development of cloud computing found Nana working in this area with her own start-up. Understanding the benefit of consolidating data and systems into a single version of the truth, she then partnered with NetLedger (now Oracle NetSuite) to offer a fully functional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system built exclusively on the cloud.

Nana’s expertise includes envisioning change and delivering value to growth-oriented businesses. Utilizing ERP technology and her advanced skills in process optimization, she streamlines processes, eliminates redundancies and manual processes, and facilitates digital transformations for Softype clients.

A ‘hands-on expert, Nana has, since founding Softype, participated in dozens of projects across 26 countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and all over Asia. Nana serves on the board of La Proteccion de la Infancia (Gota de Leche) and United Success Global.

Mr. Hugh Klesch-Sawyer

Digital Marketing Specialist

Hugh holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing Management from Old Dominion University.

As the son of a grocery store owner’s parents, Hugh started his marketing education early, beginning at around 10 years old. After beginning his Softype career in Sales, he discovered that additional marketing knowledge would be beneficial. He began to immerse himself in marketing education and in 2021, Hugh started a 6-month Digital Marketing certification course through the Digital Marketing Institute and American Marketing Association. After 4 months in the program, Hugh earned his Digital Marketing Specialist and Professional Certified Marketer certifications. In January 2022, he accepted a position  change from Sales/Business Development to Digital Marketing Specialist.

Hugh’s mantra is: “If you think you can or you think you can’t, either way, you’re right.”

Mr. Terence Michael C. Rena

Customer Success Officer

Terence holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines with a major in Tourism Management.

Terence’s experience includes sales and marketing roles, particularly creating marketing strategies, promotions, and retention programs in the travel and tourism industry. Since joining Softype in 2021, Terence has been a prime driver of marketing insights and a facilitator of key marketing initiatives in the Asia Pacific region. Event management is his specialty, including both online and in-person events that attract potential Softype clients to engage with the brand. Additionally, Terence is the face of Softype to our clients in Asia and Africa, ensuring they receive optimal service.

Personally, Terence enjoys basketball, cycling, guitar playing, mecha (robot) modeling, and video games. His daily mantra is as follows: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Mr. Ebenezer (Ebe) Mutungwa

African Sales

Ebe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in Nairobi, Kenya.

Ebenezer (Ebe) Mutungwa earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). Ebe combines outstanding communication skills with expert knowledge of NetSuite ERP (5 years in pre-sales for NetSuite Africa). Although, as Softype’s Sales officer for the African continent, Ebe works with organizations in various industries, he has a soft spot for nonprofit organizations. A previous
NGO manager, Ebe understands their challenges and demonstrates how they can leverage the Oracle NetSuite ERP and NetSuite’s Social Impact program to support their mission.

When not working, Ebe enjoys traveling, jogging, playing the guitar, and spending time with family and friends. His words to live by are “Through it all; all is well.”

Mr. Jack V. Lazo

North American Sales

Jack attended the University of the Philippines, majoring in Hospitality Management.

Jack’s experience includes 4 years in the broadcasting industry and more than 33 years in enterprise information technology solutions sales. In the broadcast industry, Jack learned to match his style to anyone’s; he uses this skill today to communicate in a manner his clients appreciate. Jack combines empathetic listening skills with IT solutions knowledge to understand the finer points of what his customers require, need, and want.

Jack prizes spending time with his family. When he has time, he enjoys listening to music and watching soccer and mixed martial arts.

Mr. Chris Beecroft CPA

Vice President of Sales

Chris holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Florida Atlantic University, an MBA from Florida State University, and is pursuing a DBA degree from AMA University.

Chris has more than 16 years of software sales experience, including 13 years in ERP sales with Oracle and SAP. Combining his ERP and accounting knowledge (CPA), Chris finds the right solution for our clients. He dives headfirst into the details of his team’s engagements, ensuring that Softype’s solutions are always the best fit. Others describe Chris as action-oriented, hands-on, and accountable.

Personally, Chris enjoys tennis, squash, badminton, biking, and reading. He also enjoys leading others to change their lives by providing personal guidance. His words to live by are “Who Dares Wins.”

Mr. Upendra Rabde

Business Architect

Upendra holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Indus Business Academy in Bengaluru, India. His credentials include the academic specialties of Information Technology and Marketing.

Upendra’s experience includes business consulting and business process re-engineering. He brings more than 17 years of technical solution development experience to Softype. He counts experience in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Supply Chain Management (SCM) integration projects in the manufacturing, telecom, healthcare, retail, banking, and insurance industries. He is proficient in procurement solutions and complex regulatory and compliance areas. Upendra also counts additional product management experience in the health care industry.

Joining Softype in 2021, Upendra brings a capability for hyper learning and an outstanding attitude, two traits in the Softype DNA, and is always a pleasure to work with.

On a personal note, he enjoys HAM radio operations and watching cricket matches. Upendra’s philosophy of life is summarized in his daily mantra: Past is history, future is mystery but today is a gift; that’s why it’s called present.

Ms. Pooja Manudhane

Product Manager

Pooja holds a degree in Engineering from the University of Mumbai. She has also completed an MBA focusing on accounting and business processes.

Pooja’s association with Softype began in 2012. She joined Softype as a Junior Functional Consultant. From the beginning, she was engaged in working with clients, specializing in training clients to undergo digital transformations successfully. Pooja developed a knack for visualizing ERP solutions to inefficient processes and communicating her vision to clients.

Pooja automated manual processes using the NetSuite ERP solution, thereby improving worker productivity. As her experience grew, Pooja received promotions to Senior Functional Consultant and Product Manager. She mentors junior colleagues in technical and business processes and, in so doing, helps evolve and propagate the Softype company culture.

Pooja understands that NetSuite ERP is the cloud ERP provider of choice because of the ease with which it can be adapted to different industries, its intuitive User Interface (UI), and the speed with which Softype can successfully implement it (a few months).

Pooja delights in working with customers in different countries. Her patient approach to managing change and guiding subordinates has won her praise from clients and co-workers
alike.

Ms. Prachi Shende

Program Lead, Education Vertical

Prachi has a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics from the University of Mumbai and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Texas.

Prachi began her working career in the US (California). Over the years, she has moved from a purely technical role to a techno-functional role. As a techno-functional consultant, she can work with business, functional, and technical teams. Her specialty is implementing and customizing systems aligned with industry best practices. During her tenure of service, Softype promoted her five times in five years, culminating with her current position. Versatile and dynamic, Prachi cherishes a fast-paced work environment that allows her professional skills to grow. Her work is in the K-12 and tertiary education domains. She oversees the Softype education ERP (edERP) product development and management. The edERP product continues to evolve and expand due to new requirements in an ever-changing education sector. This gives her a chance to grow by constantly reinventing herself.

Prachi’s passion is to help educational institutions grow by migrating their enterprise-wide resources to cloud based systems. She believes that “Given new situations, the market for edERP, i.e., education on the cloud service, is here to grow. It’s about how we best serve it.”

Ms. Manisha Hule

Chief Operating Officer

Manisha holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Mumbai.

Manisha is the delivery manager for Softype’s ERP services. Experienced in project planning and execution, she provides leadership for all Softype’s solution consulting and implementation activities. Manisha began her career at Softype, working in all of its various departments, culminating in her selection as a member of the Executive team. Manisha has experience in all aspects of project organization and delivery. An excellent team manager, Manisha ensures that customer projects get the optimum resources required, facilitating minimal risk implementations that meet delivery schedules. Manisha’s expertise and guidance are significant factors in ensuring, that, unlike many ERP vendors, Softype implementations are delivered successfully and on time.

Mr. Moses Rajan

Global Finance Officer

Moses holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from the University of Mumbai, specializing in Accounting and Economics.

Moses has more than 15 years of experience in ERP implementations and rollouts in a wide variety of industries across multiple geographies. He has engaged with clients across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Building on this experience, Moses helps Softype’s customers manage the financial complexities of multi-books, multi-currencies, multi-exchange rates, landed costs, and the myriads of tax regimes such as sales tax, VAT, GST, and others that impact businesses. Working with Softype’s customers, Moses brings his experience to bear on their challenges of dealing with budgets, cash flows, currency revaluations, and financial controls.

Shreyansh Patil (Shrey)

Group – CEO

Shrey holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales, specializing in consulting.

With extensive experience in Enterprise Cloud Solutions (ERP) and Management Consulting spanning four continents, Shrey is equipped with the ability to bridge gaps between technology and business outcomes that will enhance customer experience.

Having held leadership roles in consulting, advisory, and technology organizations across various geographies, Shrey brings a wealth of knowledge and a proven track record in general management, leadership, and business development.

With excellent people management skills and a strong consulting background, Shrey is extremely passionate about adding value through technology and process re-engineering.

Shrey’s unwavering dedication to cultivate a high-performing, customer-centric culture at Softype will empower our team to reach new heights and become the best version of ourselves.

Dr. Arvind Khilnani

Chairman and Co-Founder

Dr. Arvind holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering (MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts), a Master’s degree in Management (MIT Sloan School) and a Ph.D. in Engineering Economic Systems (Stanford University).

A dedicated teacher and mentor, Arvind believes in Leadership through inspiration. Trained as a mathematical modeling and optimization analyst, Arvind focused his early career on developing tools to enable company growth. He worked with Fortune 500 companies to adapt their use of technology for growing new, evolving markets. Presently his efforts seek to expand these tools to small and medium enterprises.

Since co-founding Softype, he has channeled his energies to help international organizations grow by leveraging the benefits of technology, including process optimization and automation.