GEMS - Government Employee Medical Scheme
Improving tracking of investments using Microsoft Dynamics AXGEMS implemented Microsoft Dynamics Axapta together with the Axnosis TMS 365 module to closely track cash and non-cash investments. The TMS 365 module provided specialised treasury management functionality not found in the standard Microsoft Dynamics 365 product.
Government Employee Medical Scheme improves tracking of investments using Microsoft Dynamics AX
ABOUT GEMS
GEMS (Government Employee Medical Scheme,) was registered in 2005 specifically to meet the healthcare needs of South African Government employees. GEMS goal is to help public service employees and their families to get the best possible healthcare at the most affordable rate. GEMS offers five excellent healthcare benefit plans to help members get personalized healthcare at the most affordable rate.
The scheme is governed by a Board of Trustees and seven Committees of the Board. The Finance and Investment Committee is responsible to assist the Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities of the Scheme’s investment activities, and consider any issues arising from investment decisions and activities.
Contact: Morne White,
Senior Manager, Finance.
We are very pleased with the benefits being realized from the TMS 365 solution at GEMS. The TMS 365 system within the Dynamics AX solution marks a major step forward from the disparate manual systems that were previously in use. This improves accuracy of reporting and enhances the overall governance of investments by GEMS. By working closely with GEMS during the project we were able to further enhance the solution to exactly meet the customers’ requirements, and that is what I think differentiates Axnosis in the market
TMS365 ADVANTAGE
An advantage of the Axnosis TMS 365 product is that it is fully integrated to and built within Microsoft Dynamics. TMS 365 looks and behaves exactly as the rest of the Dynamics system and does not require users to work with a separate interface.
The willingness of Axnosis to further customize and enhance the TMS 365 solution to exactly fit GEMS requirements was an additional benefit.
Products implemented
- Microsoft Dynamics AX (Axapta)
- TMS 365 Treasury Management System by Axnosis
Site
GEMS Head Office, Pretoria, South Africa
Project Duration
6 months
Implementation Partner
Axnosis
“It is essential that GEMS closely track all our cash and non-cash investments. This specific functionality is not available in the standard Microsoft Dynamics Axapta system and we therefore decided to implement the Axnosis TMS 365 module to close the gap. The result is that we can successfully track all our investments and returns as part of the daily financial processing function and produce the necessary investment performance reports as well as reliable cash forecasts”
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Prior to 2016 the GEMS finance function was outsourced to third parties and a decision was taken to bring all these functions in-house. At the time there were several disparate and manual business systems in use. GEMS needed a single integrated system for financial processing and reporting and having explored several alternatives ultimately selected Microsoft Dynamics AX. The TMS 365 module (developed by Axnosis) addressed the specific investment tracking functionality not available in the standard Dynamics 365 product. The project to implement TMS 365 took approximately 6 months and was completed in 2017.
ABOUT TMS 365
The TMS 365 solution developed by Axnosis enables an organisation to effectively administer and optimise its financial assets and holdings. The aim is to improve the organisations liquidity, help make sound financial investment decisions for the future, limit excess cash and reduce financial risks through hedging strategies.
The core processes supported by the TMS 365 solution include cash and banking, portfolio management, cash and non-cash investments, derivatives, loans, facilities register, guarantee register, credit ratings and a hedge register. The processes are managed within the Dynamics AX solution allowing integrated and consolidated information to be easily extracted for decision making.
TMS 365 HIGHLIGHTS
The TMS 365 module has a rich set of features that track both cash and non-cash investments.
At GEMS TMS calculates interest on all cash investments on a daily basis. This has proven very useful to check the investment statements. In addition, the TMS 365 cash investment functionality includes tracking by bank account, institution, account type and sub-type. Interest can be re-invested or paid out. The system can track cash investments in the original currency. Variable interest rates are supported. Contracts can be open-ended or set to close on a specified date. Ad-hoc transactions are supported, as well as automated journals.
Non-cash investments can be tracked by asset manager, asset class and sub-class, institution, country and region. Current market values can be captured and tracked against each investment. Each non-cash investment can also be set up with unique posting profiles into the ledger.
With all this information available in the system, investment statements can be closely checked, and reliable cash flow forecasts can be automatically generated.
LESSONS LEARNED
It is important to use a proven methodology for implementation of a business system and the Sure-Step implementation methodology by Microsoft proved to be the right approach.
A number of enhancements to cater for all investment scenarios and interest calculations were required by GEMS. These requirements were specified at the start of the project. A formal software development process was used that involved developing the requirements specification, development of software enhancements using the Dynamics 365 standards, followed by rigorous product testing ahead of deployment.
The result of a proven methodology and collaborative approach resulted in excellent adoption across the whole Department by all staff members.
“As with all business system projects, it is very important to involve end-users as early as possible at the planning stage. This is part of the change management process and ensures there is proper buy in from the people who will be using the system on a daily basis”
About Axnosis
Axnosis (incorporated in 2004) is a specialised solution provider that develops, implements and supports business applications built inside the Microsoft Dynamics 365 product. We help asset intensive organisations of all sizes in both the public and private sector get the best value out of their investment in Microsoft Dynamics 365, so that they operate more efficiently, increase performance, improve governance and can confidently take advantage of new opportunities while simultaneously managing risk.