“Having access to relevant data in a timely manner has changed how we can run our business.”
As a large-scale corporate dairy farm, Maheno Farms’ 40+ shareholders understandably demand accountability. Reporting clear and detailed financial data on the farm’s performance to the Board of Corporate Rural Entity on a monthly basis was critical - but Maheno Farm’s existing system wasn’t making this easy, and they were becoming increasingly frustrated at the time, effort and financial commitment it was taking to regularly produce essential financial reports.
“We would have to manually input information into an Excel spreadsheet and email this to the accountant who then produced reports that allowed us to see how the farm was performing,” says one of the farm’s key stakeholders. “We would question whether the time and expense of constantly sending the information to the accountant to be processed into insightful information was really worth it.”
What Maheno Farms needed was a solution that allowed them to access, share and collaborate on up-to-date data easily with the farm management team.
A smarter way to manage financial data
Their farm accounting specialist from Diprose Miller, suggested Maheno Farms try the cloud software combo of Xero and Figured, which would give them a real-time view of the farm’s performance at hand whenever they needed. It would also mean that ongoing collaboration between key stakeholders, Diprose Miller and farm advisers, would become far more simple.
Understand performance at a glance
With this streamlined online solution, Maheno Farm’s real-time financial position could now be produced straight away.
“Having access to relevant data in a timely manner has changed how we can run our business."
"If we know what our financial position is three months into the year then our future decision-making can respond accordingly.”
“Xero and Figured provide real-time information that can be used to reconcile against the data provided from the farm consultant, contract milkers and banks."
"It provides us with the tools to be able to challenge these other stakeholders on performance and variable expenses.”
For Diprose Miller, Figured and Xero allow them to provide financial advisory services that deliver real value to their farming clients, and they’re now looking to a future where they can grow their practice through greater automation and integration with even more rural partners.