Butlers Chocolates

Company Background

Butlers Chocolates was established in 1932 and has been owned by the Sorensen family since 1959. Butlers Chocolates is Ireland’s leading luxury chocolate producer and operates from a custom built production facility in North Dublin. Butlers Chocolates produce a wide range of delicious confectionery products including chocolate assortments, truffles, fudge, toffee, chocolate bars and seasonal novelties. The company has created a very successful concept - Butlers Chocolate Cafe’s - of which there are now 8. There is a flagship cafe at Dublin Airport and another one at Dundrum Town Centre. The most recent cafe opening has been in Oliver Plunkett Street in cork last December. The Cafe’s are a unique concept and offer the consumer the ultimate chocolate treat. This treat is delivered by way of chocolate drinks, chocolate cakes and pastries and hot beverages, including the award winning Butlers Hot Chocolate. Their Hot chocolate Sauce has won a gold medal at the London Great Taste Awards. The company has won a number of awards in recent years including the Bord Bia Brand Marketing Award and the Crest Retail Excellence Award for Butlers Chocolate Cafe, Henry Street. Butlers Chocolates are available through selected retailers throughout Ireland and can be shipped worldwide via their website - www.butlerschocolates.com

The Solution

The previous accounts system that Butlers Chocolates had been using was very manual and therefore very time consuming and restrictive. Butlers Chocolates now have a multi cost centre manufacturing unit and a growing number of shops. Managing Director Colm Sorensen states that “Access Accounts has the flexibility and functionality to adapt to this type of growth seamlessly.” Before we had Access, we had to do manual bank statements, this facility is excellent now and it saves so much time as we have a huge amount of transactions going through this account. According to Susan Power they find that “Access is very user friendly and the reports are very good. It’s easy to find transactions and the allocation facility is very useful.” The speed and accuracy of the Access system has really transformed their accounting ways. The multi-user function has meant that the accounts department can now work concurrently at a much faster speed, thereby greatly increasing staff productivity. Although the day to day working of the accounts department has been greatly improved, it is the yearly and periodically comparable reports that are proving invaluable; it enables management to see trends and inclinations and to make informed decisions about them. “Also the nominal ledger features ...all the reports are at your fingertips. Being able to compare your annual figures is a great help.”

The Future

It is the intention of the company to continue growing the number of Butlers Chocolates Cafes as well as it’s range of chocolate products. According to Colm Sorensen, “We are confident that Access Accounts will help us with this in terms of supporting our accounts function and enabling efficient reporting.”