Ellucian and Kaufman Hall Technology Partnership Provides Powerful Financial Performance and Planning Insights to Higher Education Institutions

Key takeaways

• Ellucian and Kaufman Hall offer college and university financial professionals deeper, more actionable insights to strengthen financial performance and planning.
• Tools can expand data sharing, improve analysis, and increase access to intelligence that helps monitor financial performance and plan for the future.
• Upcoming webinar will share new strategies for using data analytics and integrations to shorten budget cycles, boost reporting efficiency and expedite data-driven financial decisions.

RESTON, VA – Ellucian, the leading provider of software and services built to power higher education and Kaufman Hall, a leading provider of enterprise performance management software, data, and management consulting services, announced today they now offer college and university financial professionals deeper, more actionable insights to strengthen financial performance and planning.

Colleges and universities using solutions from both vendors now have more efficient tools to expand data sharing, improve analysis, and increase access to intelligence that helps monitor financial performance and plan for the future.

“Deriving reliable and actionable financial insight from a complex array of data is an essential competency for colleges and universities to succeed in a highly competitive and changing higher education market,” said Ellucian President and CEO Laura Ipsen. “That is why we continue to offer these capabilities to our customers through Ethos integration and the Axiom Higher Education Suite. Not only can financial professionals efficiently gauge their historical and current performance, but they also can create forecasts to guide strategic planning and budgets.”

“We are excited to take the next step with Ellucian to deliver the data and insights higher education institutions need to succeed,” said Kaufman Hall Software CEO Kermit S. Randa. “This expanding partnership further demonstrates how innovation, collaboration, and choosing the right partners can help colleges and universities drive cost savings and increase contribution margins. We look forward to further opportunities to work with Ellucian to serve our shared clients.”

Partnership details

The connection between Kaufman Hall’s Axiom Higher Education Suite and Ellucian Banner and Ellucian Colleague helps institutions tie general ledger, human resources, and student information with financial data to improve efficiency, expand data sharing and analysis, and increase access to intelligence that enables data-driven decision making and course correction when necessary. It removes the need for reliance on time-intensive, inefficient, manual processes and data input and empowers institutions to focus on strategic goals and long-term financial stability.

This powerful combination of industry expertise and innovative technology is exactly what colleges and universities need to tackle day-to-day challenges like budgeting and reporting, and big challenges, such as strategic planning and labor planning. Ellucian formally recognized this promising partnership while presenting the Rising Star Award to Kaufman Hall at its annual Technology Partner Forum, in conjunction with the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference, in October 2019.

Webinar: putting insights into action

Ellucian and Kaufman Hall will offer university financial professionals a webinar on March 19, 2020, to share new strategies for using data analytics and integrations to shorten budget cycles, boost reporting efficiency and expedite data-driven financial decisions.

According to Kaufman Hall’s 2020 Higher Education Financial Trends Report, 76 percent of finance leaders feel higher education lags other industries in adoption of modern tools and processes. Efficiency is a significant challenge for colleges and universities, as long budget cycles, a key indicator of inadequate tools, continue to increase steadily. Based on the research, budget cycles lasting for more than six months are up from 34 percent in 2018 to 43 percent in 2020.

During this webinar, Kristen Albritton, VP of finance and strategy at Community College of Rhode Island, will share her plans to streamline the budget cycle with Axiom software, which includes Ellucian integration. She will also share how the solution can help other institutions move away from spreadsheets, simplify labor planning, and streamline reporting to increase financial transparency across the institution.

Webinar details:

• Date: March 19, 2020 at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT)
• Topic: Enterprise planning and budgeting
• Speakers:
  • Kristen Albritton – VP of finance and strategy at Community College of Rhode Island
  • Demiko Groom – director of partnerships at Ellucian
  • Stephanie Bartlett – director of product management, higher education at Kaufman Hall
  • Jennifer Mulvaney – senior solutions engineer at Kaufman Hall
• Registration: Work Smarter, Not Harder: Integrate Financial Data with Ellucian Data to Reclaim Your Time

About Kaufman Hall

Kaufman Hall provides a unique combination of software, management consulting and data solutions to help society’s foundational institutions to realize sustained success amid changing market conditions. Since 1985, Kaufman Hall has been a trusted advisor to boards and executive management teams, helping them incorporate proven methods, rigorous analytics and industry-leading solutions into their strategic planning and financial management processes, with a focus on achieving their most challenging goals.

Kaufman Hall services use a rigorous, disciplined, and structured approach that is based on the principles of corporate finance. The breadth and integration of Kaufman Hall advisory services are unparalleled, encompassing strategy; financial and capital planning; cost transformation; treasury and capital markets management; and mergers, acquisitions, partnerships, and joint ventures.

Kaufman Hall software includes the Axiom Software Suite, providing sophisticated, flexible performance management solutions that empower finance professionals to analyze results, model the future, and optimize organizational decision making. Solutions for long-range planning, budgeting and forecasting, performance reporting, capital planning, and cost accounting deliver decision support, reporting, and analytics within an integrated software platform.