“Before Euna Budget Professional, we didn’t have a system for our operating budget. All we had were spreadsheets. The first year was simply ‘let’s get a system that we can put all of the information into,’ but by the following year we were using Euna Budget Professional to build our budget completely.”
— Camilo Ramirez, CMA, Budget Officer, City of Edmonton
The City of Edmonton is the capital city of the province of Alberta, a vibrant urban center located on the North Saskatchewan River that serves as a gateway to Canada’s north. With a population of over one million citizens, Edmonton is one of the youngest and fastest-growing cities in Canada.
Needs
Edmonton needed to move away from outdated Excel-based budgeting for its operating budget and an inflexible customized database for its capital budget. Departments used inconsistent systems for record-keeping, and the city struggled to consolidate data, analyze budget information, or create reports. They required a solution that would centralize data, enable collaboration, and provide robust reporting and analysis capabilities.
Solution
The City of Edmonton selected Euna Budget Professional, integrating it with both SAP and PeopleSoft to create a seamless flow of data between systems. With hundreds of users participating in the budgeting process—whether entering department budgets or generating reports—Euna Budget Professional provided a secure, centralized location for budget data. This allowed real-time access to information, enabling collaboration between finance and other departments, and ensuring timely budget preparation.
Real-World Impact
Switching from spreadsheets and an antiquated system to Euna Budget Professional transformed the way Edmonton managed its budget. The city gained a comprehensive view of its budget data and could produce a variety of reports for analysis and sharing. Euna Budget Professional’s advanced functionality provided insights that were previously impossible to obtain. For example, when the Local Authorities Pension Plan (LAPP) dropped by 1%, affecting the city’s 15,000 FTEs, Edmonton used Euna Budget Professional to calculate how they could save approximately $7 million—a calculation that would have taken far longer in their previous system.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the City of Edmonton to quickly adjust budgets to fund emergency resources. The city leveraged Euna Budget Professional’s cloud-based solution to conduct corporate-wide financial analyses, allowing for scenario planning and budget comparisons. The finance team also created new reports to reflect adjustments made for the pandemic and shared revised budgets with the Council, ensuring that Edmonton’s financial strategy remained sound in a time of crisis.
Benefits
Centralized Budgeting Platform
Euna Budget Professional centralized Edmonton’s budgeting processes, providing a single source of truth for all budget data. This eliminated the reliance on Excel spreadsheets and outdated systems, allowing users to access real-time information, collaborate across departments, and meet deadlines with ease.
Seamless Integration with ERP Systems
The integration of Euna Budget Professional with Edmonton’s SAP and PeopleSoft systems enabled seamless data flow and ensured that the finance team could easily access and analyze financial data. This integration improved efficiency, allowing Edmonton to track budgets more effectively and produce reports without relying on manual processes.
Enhanced Reporting and Analysis
Edmonton gained the ability to produce numerous types of reports, providing insights into critical financial data. Euna Budget Professional allowed the city to analyze and manipulate budget data more easily, empowering them to make informed decisions. The system’s flexibility helped the city adjust to changing circumstances, such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and provide timely updates to key stakeholders.
Improved Data Accuracy and Confidence
With all budget data housed in one secure system, Edmonton has greater confidence in the accuracy of their financial information. The city can now upload actuals more efficiently and calculate key financial metrics in a fraction of the time. This newfound data accuracy has helped Edmonton improve its financial planning and decision-making.
Collaborative Environment
Euna Budget Professional’s role-based security enabled hundreds of users to access and contribute to the budgeting process. This collaborative environment connected finance with departments across the city, ensuring that Edmonton’s budgeting process was streamlined and efficient.
“Needless to say, no one was prepared for COVID-19, so it’s been hectic to come up with a new process to capture information and create new reports to display information. But I believe Euna Budget Professional has helped us a lot with that.”
— Camilo Ramirez, CMA, Budget Officer, City of Edmonton
Ready to Streamline Your Budgeting Process?
Euna Budget Professional has helped the City of Edmonton revolutionize its budgeting process by providing a powerful, centralized, and flexible solution. If your organization is looking to streamline budgeting, improve data accuracy, and enable collaboration across departments, request a demo today to learn how Euna Budget Professional can help you achieve your goals.
