How Northern Arizona University’s budget department boosted operational efficiency by 150%

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Situation

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Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university that ranks in the top two hundred and fifty national universities by U.S. News, and market leader Niche deemed it one of the best public universities in the West. Founded in 1899, NAU is the oldest public university in the state. With its main campus in Flagstaff, Arizona, the university has more than twenty locations across the state and offers in-person and online programs.

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Though the university is high ranking, its budgeting software was lacking. The university’s leadership had been using the software for several years, but it was at capacity and never functioned at the level the leaders needed it to function.

“We frequently got bogged down because the software was really slow,” said Alisa Badenhorst, senior budget analyst. “It got so bad that we were at a point where our users were going to rebel against us unless we found a better solution.”

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In a desperate state, Alisa looked for a new budgeting solution. NAU issued a request for proposals, and TruEd and Anaplan answered with a “dynamic presentation.”

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“TruEd and Anaplan’s presentation made it clear to us that their solution answered everything we needed,” said Alisa.

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Solution

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With over three centuries of collective experience, the TruEd team possesses a deep understanding of the contemporary challenges within higher education institutions. Recognized for their expertise, they specialize in formulating advanced financial management solutions tailored for the academic sector. Moreover, they boast an unmatched record in executing higher education implementations of Anaplan, surpassing all other Anaplan partners.

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TruEd is dedicated to enhancing the autonomy of finance and budget departments, minimizing their reliance on IT by offering direct and comprehensive access to data, as well as mastery over their budgeting and planning instruments.Committed to delivering optimal outcomes,

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TruEd collaborates exclusively with Anaplan. This partnership is due to Anaplan’s superior real-time capabilities, adeptness at meeting higher education planning, budgeting, and forecasting requisites. Anaplan’s versatility is suitable for academic institutions of diverse scales, promoting effective and cohesive planning across all organizational tiers.

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“With TruEd and Anaplan, we saw the opportunity to grow and improve our current state,” said Alisa. “Also, they had forecasting solutions that we had never even thought about before, and the ease of use was far beyond the competitors.”

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Alisa characterizes the TruEd/Anaplan team as the smartest and most joyful people she’s ever worked with on a software implementation.

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“The TruEd/Anaplan team basically read my mind and delivered to us so much more than we ever thought we could have,” said Alisa.