Oxford GlycoSciences latest discoveryA specialist fixed asset management solution which caters for apportionment Oxford GlycoSciences (UK) Ltd (OGS), recognised as one of the world's leading proteomics-based drug discovery companies, has selected RAM’s Fixed Asset Management system to provide a comprehensive solution capable of reporting apportionment accurately across all capital items. OGS, established in 1989, specialises in translating genes, proteins and disease processes into innovative new therapies. The company has developed and integrated a series of proprietary technologies for the identification of proteins directly associated with particular diseases. OGS conducts over 50 separately accountable projects each year. Specialist laboratory equipment, such as the Q-TOF Tandem Mass Spectrometer, is used extensively throughout the organisation and its costs are apportioned with other capital items against the throughput on projects.
Anticipating future expansion and increased capital expenditure, the finance team looked for a specialist package that could replace its existing series of complex spreadsheets and provide an effective method of apportioning the depreciation of assets. As Karen MacMillan, financial accountant at Oxford GlycoSciences, recalls, “Managing the process of costing individual projects on a spreadsheet was extremely time consuming. We needed a faster and more reliable method of separating costs and analysing depreciation details. What we were looking for was a sophisticated package to manage the apportionment element that was both simple and easy to maintain.” “We conducted a very detailed evaluation and several products were reviewed in depth,” added Karen. “RAM stood out as the specialists - the level of functionality in the product was far superior and it was the only product which could cope with project cost accounting and allocation of depreciation in this way.” “The only product which could cope with project cost accounting and allocation of depreciation in this way”
The RAM solution went live this month. Management reports, which used to take many hours to complete for each project on a spreadsheet, are now available instantly. “Our own research shows,” said Karen Conneely, RAM’s marketing manager, “that more and more companies are adopting some form of 'asset based charge-back'. To achieve this, depreciation charges on communal assets and on asset utilisation need to be apportioned. “The ability to treat depreciation in this way, saving valuable accounting resources, is a fundamental part of any specialist system,” added Conneely. “For project based organisations wishing to present accurate invoicing, the specialist solution is becoming a favoured option.” “There are a number of reasons why organisations are moving away from spreadsheets,” suggested Conneely. “Firstly, the on-going effort and expense needed to maintain and update spreadsheets, which are typically built around a series of macros and hidden formulae, require a high level of expertise. Secondly, as spreadsheets grow they become increasing difficult to integrate with other business applications. This quickly leads to data becoming too costly to retrieve and to some becoming redundant.”
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