CASE STUDY
Hawkes Bay Airport
Hawke’s Bay Airport has proudly served the community as the gateway to Hawke’s Bay for those coming from overseas or any of the major regions in New Zealand. Originally known as Beacons aerodrome in the 1930’s, it officially became Hawke’s Bay Airport in 1964.
Today Hawke’s Bay Airport is the third busiest airport in the North Island and provides an essential role in connecting the region’s people and produce with the wider national and international economy.
The Airport team is a dedicated group of just 16 employees (including the rescue fire team).
The accounts department is a fundamental part of any business, and Hawkes Bay Airport is no different. With a long list of accounts (both accounts payable and accounts receivable) as well as payroll processing, a great deal of responsibility was handled by a single team member.
Anyone who has experience with the accounts payable and receivable process in a business can tell you how challenging the month end process can be, and how much dedication it takes to adhere to all the deadlines. Bottlenecks at key points in the month presented a consistent challenge and is one of the main reasons the team decided to bring in additional support.
Without that additional support, any leave or absences are far more difficult to manage, and require significant scheduling in advance, especially around key dates in the monthly process. With resiliency being valued by the company, Hawkes Bay Airport found this to be one of their key challenges, and finding a solution became imperative.
“The team decided it was time to have a look at their options and decide what the best solution would be moving forward..”
In a post-Covid world, where remote working and outsourcing has become more and more common, they were open to outsourcing from the very beginning. They went to the market for quotes (as all good businesses should!), but also ensured the qualities they were after were kept front of mind.
Although value for money was a high priority, they were looking for a company that could offer:
Efficiency
Resilience
Professionalism
Dedicated Support
Enter Admin Army…
CHOOSING THE RIGHT BUSINESS TO HELP
From the beginning, Admin Army had been on the shortlist after being recommended by a local HR consultant who was an existing client of Admin Army’s.
When it came down to selection of which company to go with, the team really liked Irene’s approach. Irene gave them good comfort that they were going to get a hands-on, professional service and that they weren’t going to be ‘another number’ on the books.
The Admin Army troops hit the ground running at one of the busiest times in the finance world – the End of Financial Year! The Airport was also in the depths of recovering from the first Covid-19 lockdown here in New Zealand, which had presented a whole other challenge of its own.
“Admin Army’s team on the ground, Irene (CEO) and Moana (Business Support Manager) got straight to work on creating implementation and training plans to ensure a smooth transition from in-house to outsourced. The approach was staggered to allow time for each party to fully understand the tasks and, although there were a few niggles (as to be expected), the transition was seamless!!
”
CREATING A TEAM FOR HAWKES BAY AIRPORT
Having the detailed implementation and training plans allowed everyone full transparency and support in what could be seen as a daunting change of processes for any company. It all paid off and within that first month we had their Xero and bank interfaces set up and working seamlessly, and their 20th of the month payment went out on time – a win for everybody!
After having time to review their current setup, we also helped the Airport admin team create better efficiencies by helping to implement functionalities they weren’t aware of – including a new payroll system and improving their leave applications by bringing it online.
Sometimes, it can be a case of ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’, and simply bringing in a fresh set of eyes can open the door to new and improved programmes, software and opportunities, which in turn, lead to time and cost savings.
We have now been supporting the Hawkes Bay Airport for over 18-months and their team continues to see improvement in more than just one area of the business. We offer support to the team with their Payroll and general Bookkeeping (Accounts Receivables, Accounts Payable & debt recovery).
Payroll – they have seen an increase in internal service levels with their employees
The way the info is processed and flowing through the business is much better – it flows right through to cash flow/debt collections.
Accounts payable – with the expansion of the airport terminal came an increase of volume and complexity to their accounts in the last 15-months and having Admin Army on board has provided that extra level of support required.
Accounts receivable – the amount of bad debt has decreased dramatically, with this clearly shown in their End of Year reports.
RUNNING A BUSINESS TAKES AN ARMY
Running a business takes a village (some might say an army!), but sometimes it’s just not possible to get all the support you need in-house.
Calling in the experts when you need some backup, expert advice, or just an unbiased ear can make all the difference.
Accuracy and reliability are always at the top of any businesses priority list when it comes to hiring somebody. If you need some extra troops on the ground to help grow your business, get in touch with us at Admin Army today.
We can absolutely rely on you to get the job done. You are professional, have a high attention to detail and all the things you would be looking for when employing in house.
Would you like an army on your business team? Then get in touch with us here at Admin Army. We will wage war on your admin tasks so that you don’t have to. Drop us a line today.