William-O-Gordon

William-O-Gordon (Bindal) are a reputable agricultural organisation which has been established over 70 years. It owns 1,550 acres of prime agricultural land in Scotland where its core business is growing cereals, seeds and potatoes. Although Gordons is best known as a potato merchant, it also has a significant business in breeding cattle and sheep, with 160 Limousin cows and 180 North Country Cheviot ewes.

The company had a manual system for all procedures from book-keeping to tracking cattle whilst the potato operations used basic DOS-run software to keep simple records of potatoes bought and sold. In 1995, Bindal Farm recognised the business need to streamline accounting and farming procedures. This led to its decision to invest in the Access Accounts system by British accounting software authors Access Accounting.
Ross-shire farmers William-O-Gordon (Bindal) are pleased to confirm their investment and successful installation of Access computer software to run their 1,550 acre estate. The investment has enabled the business management to streamline the whole of its farm administration, reporting and accounting procedures.

The Access computer software was initially installed as a single user system in January 1995. It was extended in April 1995 to include computerised payroll at a cost of £200. The system proved so effective that in February 1996 it was extended again to allow multiple users to get access to the data at the same time (at a cost of £450 per user). This means that all managers are now able to obtain their own computer-generated reports in minutes that previously took days with a paper-based system.

Partner James Gordon said: “We have saved a considerable amount of time and costs in financial administration since installing Access. We are able to allocate resources more efficiently because we have integrated livestock, crop and field records all into one easy-to-use computer network to form a complete farm management system.”

IT Strategy

William-O-Gordon was looking for software which would give it instant access to accurate financial information beyond what most standard accounts packages provide, such as profitability by crop variety. It was also essential that the software offered as painless a move as possible from its previous paper-intensive manual cash book and invoice preparation system to a fully featured integrated system.<br>
Before opting for Access, three other solutions including software from Sage and Pegasus, were considered. “We selected Access because we felt that both they and their Scottish authorised systems consultants understood our business objectives very clearly. They took the time to discuss with us our specific needs and impressed us with their grasp of our industry,” said joint partner, Douglas Gordon.

Access Accounting identified early on that one of Gordon’s primary decision factors was ensuring that the process of switching to a computerised accounting system would not adversely effect daily business.

Windows compatibility was an important issue for the company as the software would be used by non-computer-literate staff within a relatively short time span. James Gordon expressed surprise to discover that, apart from Access, a high number of farm software packages were not even Windows orientated. Therefore, its Windows interface also tipped the balance in favour of Access because it proved so easy to learn. Entry level users soon prefer the automation and convenience that their computers offer and quickly gather confidence in entrusting vital business information to a computerised system.

Integrated Solution

Efficient Stock Control was particularly essential for Gordon’s Potato Merchants business. The decision making involved in efficient stock control demands increasingly detailed information. For example, the number of tonnes sent to each different customer, how many still need to be sent, and which varieties need to be sent or bought presented a complex problem for the old DOS system. This level of detail is now provided easily by Access.<br>
Vet and medical records for each head of livestock, as well as movements such as date purchased and source, and date sold and who purchased are all tracked by the system. Additionally, the production of timely reports to show the due date of the two premium claims permitted per animal has been made easy because the system holds data on both ear tag number and date of birth. Contra monies such as sales commissions, levies and VAT are properly recorded and tracked. The need for lengthy manual calculations has been removed since Access gives cropping valuation and gross margins on cropping years are retained even after financial year end.

Financial analysis, one of the key benefits for the future of the farm, means that Bindal Farm is able to monitor crop performance and compare it with previous years. On screen analysis allows for 39 months of history to be displayed instantly, with the option to show more if required. James Gordon said that Access has revolutionised their traditional administration and he endorses the software with enthusiasm. He added: “We have saved a considerable amount of time and costs in financial administration since installing Access. We are now able to allocate our resources much more efficiently.”

Today, from their Windows PC desktop, users only enter information once for the whole set of relevant records to be automatically updated. The cost of fertiliser, for example, is transferred to the Purchase Ledger function to process payment and other accounting documents. This information can then be accessed to produce an instant balance sheet or profit & loss report at any time. “Before installing this system, it used to take a number of days just to get a glance at our financial status.” said James Gordon.