Deuz Retirement Home

Care of the elderly – a black hole?

Cost control with controlling software at the Deuz Retirement Home

Our society is ageing. This has led to the costs of medical and geriatric care going through the roof. In light of this development, systematic monitoring of economic efficiency is essential for old people's retirement homes. With CP software, the necessary cost transparency is taken care of.
CORPORATE PLANNER has been in use at the Deuz Retirement Home since 1998. The software is used at the Christian institution near Siegen in Germany for internal management controlling. An important part of this is the preparation of the financial plan – a detailed statement of the projected expenses and revenues and of the planned investments and covering funds for a fiscal year. The financial plan for the coming year is drawn up during the last quarter of the previous year and then approved by the board. "For us, CORPORATE PLANNER is a very efficient and user-friendly tool," says Hermann Müller, the manager of the Deuz Retirement Home. "What used to take Accounts weeks to prepare is now ready within a few days". The controlling software is used to keep track of economic efficiency over several years as well as for detailed plan/actual comparisons of particular areas. In addition, CORPORATE PLANNER provides automatic variance analyses and graphic presentations for inclusion in the monthly reports.

Gottfried Steinseifer, Head of Accounts (left)
Hermann Müller, Manager of the Deuz Retirement Home

The old solution had reached its limits

Before CORPORATE PLANNER was implemented, controlling tasks were performed using Excel. However, the Controlling team were not going to be satisfied with this in the long term. "Managing all the figures of our institution and preparing reasonable analyses in Excel used to require a lot of time and effort and was prone to error," as Gottfried Steinseifer, Head of Accounts at the Deuz Retirement Home, recalls. It was not possible for the data to be imported automatically; these had to be entered by hand – several times, in some cases. If the Controller overlooked one file when updating the figures, errors would slip in unnoticed. Analyses such as cash flow calculations or monthly budget/actual comparisons were always very time-consuming to prepare. In addition, the reporting system was very rigid – if the Controller wished to view the figures from a different angle he first had to create a completely new report. "As time progressed, the Excel spreadsheets would become even larger, more complex and slower anyway," Steinseifer continues, "which is why we switched to CORPORATE PLANNER without further ado."

The clear display wins the trick

The Controlling team were given a compact one-day introduction by CP. Holger Schwarz from the Siegen consultancy firm ®KOLDI Consulting GmbH was on hand to assist the staff in putting into practice what they had learned. The retirement home was divided first into various profit centres, such as care services, social services, housekeeping and administration, before individual structures were developed for financial accounting. After that, the Controllers created the profit and loss account structures using the master tree function. With this layout, it is instantly clear how a parent field, Profit, for instance, is made up. This is shown by its subsidiary fields which branch out into ever increasing detail, and the numerical data on which each field is based are also displayed at the same time. Various data streams, perhaps a budget/actual comparison with variances, are likewise shown alongside each other. The results for any particular time span can be displayed by simply changing the time line setting. "It is impressive how quickly the program adds the structures for each profit centre and aggregates the entire organisation in an inverted tree view," Steinseifer comments."
The graphics module is a great advantage. With this, the data in the system can be presented in two or three dimensions. Steinseifer explains: "We use this function in board meetings, for example – we all know that a picture is worth a thousand words".

Routines make work easier

CORPORATE PLANNER dynamically links together each controlling section, producing a self-contained, consistent system. These links are extremely convenient when it comes to analyses and evaluations. In order to make the data available from the pre-systems, DATEV and Sinfonie being currently in use, an import script was created with the help of ®KOLDI Consulting GmbH. With this import script, all the figures which arise can now be transferred to CORPORATE PLANNER automatically at regular intervals. The data can then be exported in a format defined by the user. Furthermore, the program has interfaces with the Microsoft Office software.
After five days of intensive work, the controlling system at the Deuz Retirement Home was up and running – comprehensive documentation included. "We are very satisfied with the application," concludes the director of the retirement home, Hermann Müller. "Today the software is used by Accounts and Management."

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About Deuz Retirement Home

The Deuz Retirement Home has taken on the task of providing the elderly with assistance and care in secure surroundings. This is done deliberately according to principles laid down in the Bible, the Word of God. In its charitable role, however, it is also open to other people seeking help who are ready to accept its Christian orientation. The residential home is backed by the registered charity "Altenheim Deuz e.V.".


www.altenheimdeuz.de