Open College Network London (OCN London), a registered charity and not-for-profit awarding organisation operating across the UK, has partnered with cloud accounting software leader AccountsIQ, to transform financial operations, simplify workflows, and give the finance team greater focus on strategic decision-making.
OCN London supports learning providers nationwide and registers more than 40,000 learners a year. Its small finance team previously faced challenges with a legacy system that was clunky, out-of-date, and tied to on-premise servers, which made remote working extremely difficult. Prior to AccountsIQ, the team was under pressure managing complex invoicing processes, with learners frequently switching courses or adding units.
Since implementation, AccountsIQ has streamlined invoicing with customisable templates, reducing manual work and speeding up financial processes. Integration with the Power BI connection provides real-time data feeds, enabling the team to publish up-to-date financials, drive KPI visuals for the board, and share information more transparently across the organisation. With routine tasks automated, the team has more capacity to drive financial strategy and planning.
Damien Devaney, Head of IT at OCN London commented: “We looked at systems including Sage, QuickBooks, and Xero, but there didn’t seem to be anything between really basic and just wildly expensive. AccountsIQ just seemed to hit the sweet spot for a medium-sized enterprise like us.”
Devaney added: “Setting up AccountsIQ was straightforward and our onboarding specialist made the process very easy. There were no unexpected costs and invoicing is now ten times easier than it used to be. From an IT point of view, I find I’m being asked to fix things less. Because it works, the team can focus on more strategic, forward-looking things like budgeting and forecasting. AccountsIQ actually costs us less than we used to pay for the licensing support and server costs - so we’re getting more for less.”
Darren Cran, CEO at AccountsIQ, added: “Through integration with its learner management system and provision of powerful reporting through Power BI, AccountsIQ is helping OCN London achieve greater efficiency and insight across the organisation, allowing its team to focus on driving real educational impact.”