Hexagon Software Integrates Dream Accounting With WPM Education’s Payment Platform
Hexagon Software, a leading independent provider of property and financial management software, has announced that it has successfully integrated the Dream accounting solution with WPM Education’s payment platform which handles around £2.6 billion in student fees every year. With more than 160 of the UK’s leading universities and colleges currently using its payment platform, this integration will enable users to automate and enhance workflow processes relating property management, financial collection and arrears management whilst streamlining online payments for rent, utilities, tuition and more.
Harper Adams University was one of the first higher education establishments to take advantage of the additional functionality provided by this integration which has significantly improved the online experience for students making payments for everything from tuition fees to library fines. This resulted in the university being named ‘best newcomer’ at the WPM Education Awards during the company’s Annual Conference which took place on in February at the Celtic Manor Resort, Newport.
The accolade was presented to Richard Heath, Harper Adams’ Head of Financial Performance and Systems for the way that the new platform was implemented, including working with the university’s web developers, to create a one-stop-shop payments page. This has resulted in securing a 23 per cent increase in instalment plans and now more than 76 per cent of payments are taken through the online gateway. In fact, since this new service started, the platform has automated over 16,800 cash transactions.
“Integrating the Dream and WPM platforms has made the processing and recording of payments much easier for the finance team, whilst also giving our students what they need: choice and flexibility, whether they are paying for tuition, accommodation, topping up their student cards or paying library fines,” commented Richard Heath. “There is more to come in the form of an online shop through which we will be able to take payment for events, field trips, course materials and so on.”
The Dream accounting solution automates the delivery of real-time data relating to every student account to the WPM payment platform detailing what is owed and what has been paid. According to Hexagon Software: “We are the only supplier with the proven expertise to deliver this level of automation which streamlines business processes and provides greater consistency and efficiency by eliminating the need for manual entries to be made from Excel-based spreadsheets.”