Conwy County Borough Council is replacing its on-site legacy business management and finance systems with a cloud-based software as a service (SaaS) platform.

The Welsh unitary authority will switch to the integrated OneCouncil solution under a contract with SaaS provider TechnologyOne.

Moving the new software is expected to help Conwy, which employs more than 4,400 people and serves 118,000 residents, to improve real-time financial decision-making and business reporting.

Hundreds of managers and council executives should be equipped with fully integrated, financial and business management tools. These including general ledger, accounts payable, purchase to pay, expense management, procurement and financial reporting.

The new software also includes modules for budget forecasting and asset management, which are currently managed on spreadsheets.

Another aim is that the SaaS platform will bring greater business resilience, as it will be accessible for employees at any time, using any device, wherever they are, through an online portal.

In-house IT support costs are expected to fall, as maintenance, data storage and software upgrades will be carried out remotely by the council’s new contractor.

Sandra Forrest, head of accountancy and exchequer at Conwy, described the new system as a “modern, intuitive, cost-effective finance system”.

She added: “It’ll give us access to better management information and aid decision making.

“As employees can access it while they’re out and about, we’ll also see a lot of time savings, with teams being able to order new goods and sign-off their team's expenses on the move.”