​Business Situation
TUI inherited four different sets of accounting software. This mess meant that the finance team had to reconcile four different sets of figures from four different programs to produce a company-wide report. In other words, it was time consuming and slow.

There were other inefficiencies too. Different user interfaces restricted team members to one software package or another, making it difficult to move people from one set of accounts to another. They had to pay a third party company to scan invoices into their system ready for processing. Lastly, it was difficult to ensure that the company claimed all the discounts that it had agreed with its suppliers. These problems, though minor in themselves, cost the company a considerable amount of money to work around.

Solution
TUI chose Microsoft Dynamics AX to provide an integrated accounts and expenses management solution. They preferred it to sector-specific accounts packages because of Microsoft’s reputation and backing. Once they had picked the software, picking the supplier wasn’t difficult. “Avanade was the best of the people we saw,” says Marc Vincent, “not least because one of their team was a qualified accountant who actually understood where we were coming from.”

Avanade installed Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 in under five months – on schedule and on budget - with 50 concurrent user licences. Approximately 100 people access the system. The system was configured for finance, procurement and expense management as well as automatic data import from the booking system. Endusers liked the familiar Microsoft user interface and they were able to get up and running very quickly.

Results
The company has seen substantial benefits as a result of upgrading to Dynamics AX, including:

• Better insight. The division now has a single set of reports, which arrive promptly with less manual intervention. This gives managers the information they need to make the right business decisions.
• Cost savings. The finance team can scan invoices directly into the system themselves. Before they had to pay another company to do this, so they save about £40,000 a year as a result. In addition, they have been able to reduce their headcount, saving another £40,000 a year.
• More accurate payments. Having a better insight into supplier invoices meant that TUI could make sure that took advantage of the discounts that they had already negotiated.
• Increased staff flexibility. Because everyone uses the same software, it’s easier to move staff from one business unit to another; for example from winter holidays to summer holidays.
• Streamlined expenses management. The new system is “really good” says Marc Vincent and eliminates a lot of the paper pushing that existed before.

Overall, Avanade helped TUI save money, improve operational flexibility and get a better insight into the state of their business to support better decision-making.