Top 10 problems solved by Infor SunSystems Cloud in Education.
Problem #7: Strategic Decision-Making Limitations
This is the seventh in our blog series highlighting ten of the most common challenges faced by finance teams in the education sector. In this blog, we highlight strategic decision-making limitations.
On reflection, the title of this blog is too short. Brevity has made it ambiguous. It should be something like “Does your financial management system limit strategic decision-making? “. That is the question we shall try to answer in this blog post.
Is your financial management system holding you back?
There are many reasons why your financial management system might be holding you back. Here are our top three:
Lack of Real-Time Insight
Many legacy systems rely on batch processing, spreadsheets, and manual processes. As a result, leadership is forced to make decisions using historical rather than current financial information. Overreliance on manual systems also increases the risk of human error, raising the possibility that decisions are based on inaccurate information.
Siloed Data
Older finance systems are frequently disconnected from other key business systems such as MIS and student records. This fragmentation complicates the process of combining financial and other performance-related information.
Inflexibility
The FE sector operates in a rapidly changing funding and regulatory environment. Legacy systems can be difficult and expensive to adapt when reporting requirements change. Institutions may therefore struggle to produce the data needed for compliance, performance management, or strategic funding bids.
How SunSystems Cloud supports strategic decision-making
Infor SunSystems Cloud addresses many of the core limitations of legacy finance systems by transforming finance from a transactional function into a strategic decision-support capability.
Real-Time Visibility
Legacy systems often provide reports days or weeks after events occur. Infor SunSystems Cloud delivers real-time access to financial information through dashboards, reporting tools, and continuously updated ledgers. This enables FE leaders to monitor budgets, cash flow, staffing costs, and departmental performance as activity happens, helping them make faster and more informed decisions.
Integrated Reporting
Many colleges operate with disconnected systems for finance, HR, payroll, procurement, student records, and estates. SunSystems Cloud is designed to integrate with other enterprise applications, reducing data silos and manual reconciliation.
With SunSystems Cloud, leadership gains a unified view of financial and operational performance, making it easier to assess the true cost and value of curriculum delivery, campus operations, and strategic initiatives.
Multi-Dimensional Analysis
One of SunSystems’ most powerful capabilities is its ability to analyse financial data across multiple dimensions without requiring a complex chart of accounts.
Colleges can report by:
- Department
- Curriculum area
- Campus
- Funding stream
- Project
- Cost centre
- Grant programme
Leaders can understand profitability, efficiency, and performance at a much deeper level than is typically possible with older systems.
Take the next step
These are just some of the ways that Infor SunSystems Cloud from LAKE could help your organisation. To find out more, please download a copy of our SunSystems Cloud Beginner’s Guide – Education.
In the next blog in this series, we focus on the complex process of tracking and reporting across multiple revenue streams.
By Jon Isherwood