How White Horse Federation Gained Full Spend Visibility and Saved 20% of Staff Time
- Company Overview
White Horse Federation (WHF) is a multi-academy trust operating more than 30 primary and secondary schools across Wiltshire and Swindon.
- Why PLANERGY
As the Trust expanded, it needed a scalable way to manage purchasing, approvals, and budgets across multiple locations—without increasing administrative burden. selected PLANERGY to unify procurement and finance processes into a single, intuitive platform while integrating seamlessly with Sage Intacct.
Key Challenges
- Disconnected procurement and accounts payable systems.
- Heavy reliance on manual data entry and external invoice scanning.
- School staff found purchasing requests cumbersome.
- Poor visibility into budgets and spend.
- Significant administrative burden chasing approvals and invoices.
Key Benefits
- Dedicated, unified procurement and accounts payable platform.
- Automated OCR and AI invoice capture, processing and workflows.
- PunchOut purchasing for faster, error-free ordering.
- Real-time budget tracking and dashboards
- Improved notifications and tracking of approvals.
The Story
Customer
The White Horse Federation
Key client
Commercial Director
Industry
Education
Company Size
1,500+ employees
Before PLANERGY
Before implementing PLANERGY, White Horse Federation faced significant challenges managing spend across its growing network of schools. Procurement and accounts payable processes were fragmented, relying on a mix of systems and manual workarounds.
Staff were burdened with time-consuming data entry and dependent on external invoice scanning, while thousands of complex approval rules slowed workflows and created bottlenecks.
This lack of integration resulted in poor visibility into budgets and spend, making it difficult to track financial commitments or ensure accuracy. Teams spent valuable time chasing approvals and missing invoices, and reporting was often delayed or unreliable.
As Rijk van der Merwe, Commercial Director, explains, “We had thousands of approval rules to maintain. The system was complicated, slow, and unfit for purpose. Invoices were sitting in queues, visibility was poor, and the team had no confidence that everything had posted correctly.”
Overall, the Trust lacked the control and confidence needed to effectively manage finances at scale.
After PLANERGY
With PLANERGY, White Horse Federation transformed its approach to spend management by introducing a single, centralized platform. Procurement, approvals, and accounts payable are now fully unified, supported by automated workflows that eliminate manual processing and reduce errors.
Staff across all schools benefit from real-time budget tracking and intuitive dashboards, giving them instant insight into spend and commitments. PunchOut purchasing has streamlined ordering by removing the need for manual data entry, while unlimited user access ensures that everyone—from teachers to finance teams—can participate in the process without added cost.
The simplicity of the platform made adoption easy across the Trust. As Rijk notes, “PLANERGY is so logical. It’s made by humans for humans! Everything just makes sense.”
Implementation was equally smooth, with rapid onboarding delivering immediate value. “We rolled out PLANERGY in just a few weeks. It was so easy, the staff just got it,” he adds.
The Results
The impact of PLANERGY was immediate and measurable across the Trust. More than 400 users were successfully onboarded, and over 30,000 invoices are now processed annually through an automated, streamlined system. By reducing manual tasks and improving workflows, WHF has saved at least 20% of staff time, freeing teams to focus on more strategic work.
Crucially, the Trust now benefits from complete visibility across all schools, with real-time insights into budgets, approvals, and spend. Seamless integration with Sage Intacct ensures data flows accurately and efficiently, strengthening financial control and reporting.
The shift has also elevated the role of finance teams. Instead of processing paperwork, they now focus on insights and exception management. As Rijk puts it, “They’re doing less grunt work and more valuable work now. Reporting is faster, cleaner, and more meaningful.”
Ultimately, the system delivers exactly what the Trust needed: “It just works, that’s the difference.”
As a result, White Horse Federation operates with greater efficiency, stronger oversight, and far more confidence in its financial management.
Testimonials
“PLANERGY is a no-brainer. Don’t even look anywhere else – it just works.”
Rijk van der Merwe
Commercial Director
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