TRAC Solutions For Higher Education

Account-Ability TRAC Solution

Account-Ability TRAC delivers a comprehensive, compliant, future-proof, easily configured solution to all institutions needing to complete TRAC.

Features include:

• Comprehensive in every respect of Teaching, Research and Other activity: full choice of drivers; all student types; all delivery mechanisms; all locations (campus, partner college, trans-national, etc).

• Complies fully with TRAC Guidance.

• Future-proof: a ‘living solution’ that is updated for changes in TRAC Guidance and user suggestions.

• Implemented in only 12 days, including data import and balancing, and user training.

• Easily configured to your institution’s organisational structure, and flexible when it changes.

• ‘Out-of-the-box’ solution, complete with all formulae and self-generating reports covering the complete and highly complex, TRAC process.

• Data sheets provide easy import from all sources of data.

• Robust, transparent, traceable, with drill-down. Database solution that is easily audited.

• Dynamically calculating – when a single figure is changed the solution automatically and ‘instantly’ updates ‘all dependent numbers’ without recourse to running any ‘update routines’.

• Version control, and comprehensive in-built checksums and warnings to alert to any missing drivers etc to ensure confidence in the outputs.

• Compatible with any TAS or Workload system. Easy transparent import and validation of data from the finance system, HR, student records, TAS/Workload, estates management etc.

• Full reporting in the format required for the TRAC Return, PLUS a vast range of additional reports and analyses on costs, income, key ratios etc by every activity and every level of organisational structure.

• All reports, including TRAC, and analyses automatically generate at every level of organisational detail you choose to include: e.g. Department, School, Faculty, College, Direct Unit, University etc.

• In-built ‘multi-version’ capability instantly enables to understand and to test the results to the sensitivity of driver choice and weightings etc.

• Holds multiple years of data, enabling you to report and analyse simultaneously across multiple years and multiple versions for time-series, trends and exception analysis reporting.

• VAT partial exemption reporting.

Why You should Use Account-Ability’s TRAC Solution

Account-Ability TRAC is trusted by over 40 HEI’s.  Here’s a list of some of the reasons why, and how your institution will benefit as well:

• Confidence in TRAC compliance: With widespread use across the sector for over 25 years and familiarity by auditors, Account-Ability’s TRAC solution delivers the compliance confidence you need. In contrast, we find many legacy Excel models contain significant non-compliances.

• Makes previously hard-to-explain figures clear and corrects previously questionable cost rates and contributions: It’s vital that TRAC results are understood and available at a fine level of detail.  Whilst TRAC reports ‘history’, it forms the basis for shaping the future.  Confidence in the cost rates ensures that research contracts are bid correctly and cost contributions and recovery is delivered.  Account-Ability’s solution delivers this confidence.

• Saves time and frequently direct cost in TRAC preparation: With Account-Ability TRAC, data can be uploaded, balanced, and reviewed in as little as 2-days, compared to ‘weeks’ with Excel and legacy models.  Account-Ability TRAC calculates dynamically; ‘what-if’ versions are instantly created and year-on-year changes always visible.

• Solves the problem of lost TRAC expertise and/or out-of-date TRAC model: Other systems take a lot of scarce resource to maintain, and are a problem when you lose TRAC expertise.  Account-Ability TRAC is easy to implement and future-proof.  Your TRAC Accountant can instead add-value in explaining the meaning behind the TRAC figures for the wider use and benefit within the institution – all the time, whilst spending less time overall on TRAC.

• Delivers Professional Reporting to your TRAC Steering Group, Executive and Key Managers: Account-Ability TRAC delivers comprehensive, professional quality reports to your TRAC Steering Group, Executive and other senior managers.  The reports contain every figure required for TRAC and a great deal more, by every activity and organisational level.  All reports automatically refresh, including when the model is updated.

• Benefit from 27 years’ of TRAC experience and expertise and regular updates to the solution: Our update service ensures that the solution is updated for changes in TRAC Guidance.  No one has more experience in TRAC than us.  We can advise you, and work with your Steering Group and guide the TRTAC submission process.  If you prefer, we can process and prepare your whole TRAC submission up to discussion and approval within your institution.

• Confidence in underlying software and platform: Account-Ability TRAC uses Corporate Planner software. This software is an advanced FP&A application used by 5,000 organisations. It has been developed continuously for over 35 years by CP Corporate Planning a leading FP&A software developer.  Cloud hosted (or if preferred, on-premise) it makes no demands and placing no footprint on your IT Services.

• Extension to other Account-Ability solutions: The benefits of Account-Ability TRAC are large and stand by themselves. You can accrue additional benefits from the software from our other solutions, including:

  • Account-Ability Student Numbers and Income planning
  • Account-Ability Budgeting and Forecasting
  • Account-Ability Financial Governance, Scenario & Strategic Planning
    
  • Account-Ability Staff Planning