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Security Contractor Services, Inc., has announced that it has chosen Series4000, an advanced asset management and depreciation system from Real Asset Management International. The automated system helps eliminate spreadsheets, while also helping to ensure accurate depreciation calculations, forecasting, lease requirements and insurance valuations.
SCS manufactures chain link and ornamental iron fence materials for supply to fencing contractors. The products are used at many school district sites such as athletic fields, as well as at commercial and industrial sites. SCS also manufactures and leases chain link fence panels for temporary use on construction sites. The company has a workforce of approximately 100 employees located at five locations, which include two offices in Sacramento, Calif., and offices in San Jose, Calif., Portland, Ore., and Seattle.
Like many other businesses, SCS had previously used extensive and complicated Microsoft Excel® spreadsheets to control the company’s fixed assets prior to implementing Series4000. SCS accountant Joe Huston said that, with more than 1,200 fixed assets (including leases) on the books, they eventually found that the spreadsheets could not effectively manage the company’s depreciation, forecasting and lease requirements.
“Our depreciation calculations were close to accurate, but not exact. We knew that in order to keep up with the growth of the company, we would have to implement an alternative solution,” Huston explained. He and his team reviewed three systems in addition to RAMI’s Series4000 suite.
“To put it simply, the decision came down to cost, functionality and references. Other companies were offering a lot less for considerably more money and it was worrisome that they were unable to provide quality references,” Huston said. “In terms of functionality, the other systems could not track changes by user. For example, if a change was made to a particular asset, I would have no way of telling who made the change or why it was made and that’s vital information to have.”
SCS purchased the entire Series4000 suite intending to eventually utilize each of the modules. The company is currently using Asset4000 to generate depreciation calculations, eliminating the need for manual number crunching. When budgeting time rolls around, Huston will use Forecast4000 to project depreciation expenses for future periods and future years – something particularly difficult to do in Excel. Eventually, the company plans to use the Forecast4000 module to project depreciation figures for acquisitions. Later this year, he will import operational leases into Lease4000 where he can keep track of lease expiration dates, an option not possible before. This should prove to be a huge benefit to him and the operations department. “Document4000 allows us to attach images to each lease in the system – which is really useful to both myself and the auditors,” Huston commented.
Series4000 also includes extensive reporting features that should benefit the company. “For our leases, I will be able to track how many units of a certain item we have on hand and how many are actually deployed. We have 80,000 individual panels all grouped into units of 200 or 300 – so it’s a lot to keep track of. These reports will save me a great deal of time and ultimately save the auditors time as well – eliminating a lot of extra work at their end.”
The Series4000 implementation took place at SCS’ corporate office in late September. “I was extremely impressed with the level of service received and in particular, was very happy with the expertise provided by our consultant, Carrie Arends, who was very calm and efficient and ensured a smooth process throughout,” Huston concluded.
About Security Contractor Services, Inc.
In 1977, Security Contractor Services, Inc. (scsfence.com) was created to handle the wholesale and temporary fence rental departments of San Jose Steel Co., Fence Deivision, one of the premier chainlink fence installation companies in the West Coast and Alaska. After the Fence Division was phased out in the mid 1980's, SCS took over the Manufacturing, Distribution and Temporary Rental Fence operations at all four branches and staffed them with Resource Personnel with the right technical expertise to resolve installation and specifications problems. Because it was originally a fence contractor, SCS understands its customers' needs and focuses on providing them with the fastest quote response time, exceptional and reliable service and the highest quality products.
About Real Asset Management International
Real Asset Management International, a leading provider of fixed asset management solutions, has implemented over 3,000 systems in more than 70 countries. RAMI’s solutions enable businesses to determine and implement optimal accounting strategies, maintain compliance with federal and state taxation and perform asset budgeting and forecasting. The company’s solutions also include lessee asset accounting, capital project control, document management, inventory control, asset tracking, helpdesk support and maintenance management.
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