Organisation
Maassluis is a unique city located on the Nieuwe Waterweg. In the 18th century, the city developed into an important fishing port. A large fishing fleet was created and the emerging trade, supply companies and later industry made the city grow and flourish.
Today, Maassluis has grown into a modern city with over 32,000 inhabitants, where the old city centre with its beautiful harbour forms a beautiful contrast with the new residential areas. The versatility of art, culture, recreation, sports and business make for an appealing and modern city, where you will always be amazed and entertained.
These trends call for a smart solution
Financial departments of municipalities struggle with budgets that are under pressure. On the one hand, this means that there is a demand for more efficient processes, on the other hand, more visibility – and control – of expenditure is needed.
As if that were not enough, the amended Financial Relations Act is now also coming into play. After all, as of the 2021 financial year, municipalities must include a justification of legality in the financial statements. Until recently, auditors assessed the legality and reported on it, while soon the municipality itself must autonomously determine whether the standards framework in which relevant laws and regulations were included was complied with.
How does FileLinx’s procurement solution help to keep budgets and obligations under control?
12,000 invoices for the municipality of Maassluis
The municipality of Maassluis, with more than 33,000 inhabitants, is relatively small, certainly compared to the large neighbouring municipality of Rotterdam. Nevertheless, some 12,000 invoices are received each year. For a long time, this invoice flow was rather confusing.
“Each department ordered goods and services in its own way, with its own notes and receipts,” says Remco den Oudsten, financial adviser to the municipality. olleagues even placed orders with budgets from other departments.
In order to gain insight into the expenditure, FileLinx ‘Procurement+’ was chosen. Using this tool, Den Oudsten and his team streamlined the entire procurement process, from order to payment. Each order is now linked to a specific budget by means of an order number. Because Procurement+ is linked to the budget program, it will show in advance whether the budget is exceeded.
“The entire process is now completely automated,” says Peter van Osnabrugge, the project leader. “If an order has been created and an invoice with an order number is received, the software recognizes this and the entire coding is done automatically. Then the system also knows where the invoice has to go.”
The budgets are now firmly managed. All data is located in Procurement+, and no longer on various systems, so the current situation is transparent.
Another great result is the time saved by a more efficient way of working. Van Osnabrugge: “If things go well, there is hardly any manual work. This saves a lot of corrections at the end of the year.”
How to get a grip on legality
As a result of the amended legislation, the issue of legality is a hot topic in all municipalities. In this way, of course, you want to prevent a conflict over an award from leading to a court case. In the worst case, the judge will force you to undo the award. The result: you will have wasted valuable time and you will not be allowed to work with your preferred supplier. By gaining insight into the size of the orders, you can prevent a tendering procedure from being carried out incorrectly.
In the context of the audit, the process of recording performance deliverables has also improved. Van Osnabrugge: “In the past, the auditor often asked for the performance deliveries for the entire year. These were recorded, but in practice they were still needed when preparing the accounts in February/March.”
Now that all data – contracts, performance deliveries and invoices – are stored in Procurement+, this saves a lot of research work. “With the information from Procurement+ linked with the Decade financial solution, we can make reports easier,” concludes Van Osnabrugge. “Instead of taking samples, we can now really zoom in on potential errors.”
The 7 advantages of Procurement+ according to the municipality of Maassluis
- Uniform work process
- Always have an overview of budgets and obligations
- Improved contract management
- Link with financial software and Invoice+
- User-friendly system
- Pre-audit instead of fait accompli
- Active support by FileLinx
