The Salvation Army has apologised to suppliers after the implementation of a new accounting system led to delays in processing invoices.
In a statement on its website, the charity said it wanted to “unreservedly apologise” and said it was taking necessary steps to improve the situation.
The charity said that it had implemented a new accounting system earlier this year because it had “witnessed an increase in the demand of the services we provide to support the social changes in society” and this meant it needed to “increase our capacity”.
It said the new system was “designed to relieve the burden of heavy financial administration from our frontline centres to further help them focus on helping the most vulnerable people”, but that “as with any major system implementation which includes significant changes in business processes, there have been some challenges”.
The statement adds: “We want to take this opportunity to unreservedly apologise for the delay in some of our suppliers receiving payment for invoices and the added pressure this has had on some of our officers and staff.
“We recognise that as we strive for stringent accounting processes across the country, there have been issues that have slowed us down, but we remain committed to accountability and fair business and we want to reassure people that we are taking all actions necessary, to ensure smooth operations going forward.”
‘Operational not technology issue’
The charity has not said what software it is using, and told Civil Society News that the issues “were to do with operations, not software”.
In a further explanation on its website, the charity said that transitioning from paying accounts at a “local level” to “bringing it in centrally” has increased pressures on staff and led to payment delays for suppliers.
The charity has temporarily increased staffing levels at its London headquarters to handle the “backlog of payments and ensure that urgent payments are dealt with swiftly”.
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