Case study: University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine
The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine (“UF CVM”) is Florida’s only veterinary medical college. UF CVM’s mission is to advance the health and welfare of animals, humans and the veterinary medical profession through world-class education, innovative research, and state-of-the-art clinical services. The College offers a master of science (MS) or doctor of philosophy (PhD) degrees in Veterinary Medical Sciences through their graduate studies program.
Financial System
Peoplesoft
Annual Operating Budget
Over $100 million budget
Student Population
460
Business Need
University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine required a budgeting solution to make their process less manual and more efficient.
Products
Questica Budget
Organizational Benefits
- User-friendly system for collaborative budgeting with departments
- Powerful functionality for faster completion of budgeting tasks
- Drill-down through budget details for a greater understanding of the budget
- Robust reporting for better analysis of the budget
The Challenge
David Segura has been with the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine for over 18 years, specifically for the past eight years overseeing the budget and fiscal operations. The College previously prepared their budgets using two other systems in tandem. David often found that he had to enter the budget twice which was very time-consuming. The decision to search for a budgeting solution was because only one IT staff member was knowledgeable about the database and what to do when things were not working. David realized they could not continue to operate in this manner. A best-in class-budgeting solution would not only resolve this issue, but would likely improve the efficiency of UF CVM’s budgeting process.
The Solution
Questica Budget instantly appealed to UF CVM because the solution allowed them to budget to the lowest level and drill-down through the details to understand how the budget had been developed. With Questica Budget’s powerful functionality, the College has increased efficiency, reduced risk of errors, and avoided the duplication of work. As a result, UF CVM can complete budgeting tasks faster and has more time for planning and analysis. For instance, they have been able to use Questica Budget’s forecasting features to see how their budget will look in a few years based on different percentages. Upgrading to the latest version of Questica Budget in 2020, the College expects to further improve their process with more advanced search capability, formula building, plus improved reporting and analytics.
Organizational Benefits
User-friendly system for collaborative budgeting with departments
Questica Budget is a user-friendly system that provides a collaborative budgeting environment for multiple users. With role-based security levels, users participating in the University’s budgeting process have online access to their specific budget data at any time. UF CVM staff enjoy using a system with Excel-based functions and having the ability to quickly access and review budget changes in real-time.
Powerful functionality for faster completion of budgeting tasks
UF CVM is able to complete their budgeting tasks faster and more efficiently using Questica Budget. Often the College needs to transfer the budget from one place to another due to their large number of cost centers. They find it easy to make these transfers, as well as other tasks within Questica Budget, such as making adjustments, changing positions or allocating distribution payments. Tasks that previously took 15 minutes or more can now be completed in a few minutes. In addition, seamless integration with their financial system makes exporting and importing data into the system a simple process with manual data entry or duplicating work no longer necessary.
Drill-down through budget details for a greater understanding of the budget
Questica Budget allows UF CVM to add notes and budget details as they prepare the budget. The ability to drill-down through their budget data to look at actuals or variances has proved invaluable to the College for helping them gain actionable insights from their complex budget. They have also been able to communicate better with departments when discussing allocations and expenditures due to their deeper understanding of the budget.
Robust reporting for a better analysis of the budget
The College was pleased that the reports they previously relied on for budget information can be replicated in Questica Budget. Upgrading to the latest version of Questica Budget will further their understanding of the budget with the ability to create shareable dashboards and use new Smart reports for deeper analysis and to enable better financial planning and decision-making.
“Another nice thing about Questica Budget is the importing and exporting functionality. So if we export and make changes, then import it back, I don’t need to be keying in or doing a manual process that’s time-consuming or frustrating.”
— David Segura, Budget Manager, University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine is budgeting faster and smarter with Questica Budget’s powerful functionality and robust reporting features.
