Drøbak and Frogn Parish Following Pilot Project with Aider: 70% Reduction in Manual Vouchers

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It became a new reality for Per Ørjan Aaslid, Church Warden in Drøbak and Frogn, when he moved payroll and accounting to the competence hub Aider. He now has modern financial systems and up-to-date accounting, but Aaslid is always looking for new ways to increase efficiency.


“In 2023, we launched a pilot project with Aider, aiming to reduce the number of manual vouchers. We are already seeing excellent results,” says the Church Warden.


Shared Interest


There is no doubt that manual voucher processing can be time-consuming. This issue is particularly relevant for parishes, councils, and congregations, which often involve extensive volunteer work, cash transactions, small purchases, and numerous donations.


“One thing is that this consumes a lot of time, but we have also received donations that cost more to process than they were worth in monetary terms. We knew we could avoid these types of inefficiencies by automating the process.”


This was the reason Aaslid wanted to participate in an automation pilot with Aider, which now provides payroll and accounting services to the parish.


 


“What Aider spends a lot of time on is also what we spend a lot of time on. These were savings we both had a shared interest in achieving. Together with Aider, we focused on the low-hanging fruit: What do we spend the most time on, and how can we solve it?”


 

After more than 20 years of strong organic growth, Atenti’s CEO and founder, Erik Torp Johannessen, has sensed that things are changing. The company has grown to a size where it is large enough to feel slightly constrained.


“Initially, we were not for sale, but we notice that regulatory demands are increasingly consuming our capacity. Changes in regulations require us to allocate resources differently, and we must dedicate resources to manage projects that are much larger than those of just five years ago. These are resources we could—and would prefer to—use to assist our clients,” Johannessen explains, adding:


“Of course, it was also important for us to find a partner where we felt comfortable. Aider shares our values, and we know and respect each other. In the end, there really wasn’t any other option.”


 

70 Percent Fewer Vouchers

The easiest target was the notorious vouchers—a significant burden for a staff already stretched in terms of both finances and capacity.


“Automating voucher processing is not just about technology; it’s about routines. Through this project, we have had to examine how we work locally so that the vouchers we generate can flow as efficiently as possible. This provides immediate benefits by reducing the local workload, and in addition, we get an even more up-to-date set of accounts.”


It wasn’t accomplished overnight. Step by step, Aaslid and Aider worked to establish new, more efficient processes. And the result? Today, the parish has reduced manual voucher processing by as much as 70 percent.


“For example, all donations up to NOK 1,000 are now automatically recorded as gifts. This means we no longer have to handle those vouchers at all,” says Aaslid, adding:


“Much of this is possible because Aider has extensive system expertise. We work with a forest of solutions, from Vipps to Solidus and Ecclesia. It’s crucial for us that Aider takes our needs seriously and ensures that these systems communicate effectively with each other.”

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Significant Savings for Parish Councils, Congregations, and Parishes


Many of these challenges are common across parish councils, congregations, and parishes nationwide. The Church Warden therefore plans to share his experiences in a user forum with other councils, hoping that their insights will eventually benefit the wider community.


“We would be very pleased if others can learn from what we have achieved here. This could lead to substantial savings nationwide.”


Moving forward, Aider will also offer courses and webinars highlighting lessons learned from the pilot project with Drøbak and Frogn. Stay tuned for dates and registration information!

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