Metro Memorial Parks

Case study highlights

• Consolidated three outdated finance systems into a single, streamlined solution using SaaS+.
• Achieved substantial cost savings by reducing software licenses and automating manual processes.
• Enabled mobile accessibility, empowering field staff to manage procurement and financial workflows on the go.
• Delivered a fast and seamless implementation in just six months, exceeding industry benchmarks.

About Metropolitan Memorial Parks

Metropolitan Memorial Parks (MMP) is a Crown Land organisation responsible for Sydney’s largest cemeteries, including Rookwood, Northern Metropolitan and Southern Metropolitan.

Established in 2023, MMP aims to enhance the management of these culturally and historically significant green spaces while providing important services to the community.

Its mission is to operate sustainably, streamline operations and improve public access to these cherished landscapes.

The challenge

The creation of Metropolitan Memorial Parks (MMP) in 2023, amalgamating three major cemeteries in Sydney, was part of the New South Wales Government’s vision to improve operational efficiency and enhance public access to green spaces. However, the transition was not without hurdles.

As a newly formed organisation, MMP inherited multiple outdated systems from its predecessors: Rookwood General, Northern Metropolitan and Southern Metropolitan cemeteries. These systems were siloed, inconsistent and inefficient, spanning three separate platforms for financial management, procurement, budgeting and reporting.

“They were all operating on different platforms, none of which were current technology platforms,” recalls Simon Officer, MMP’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

“I also inherited three different teams using three different systems in three different ways.”

This fragmented approach created significant operational challenges, limiting transparency and scalability while increasing costs. Manual processes, such as stamping invoices and handling paper purchase orders, further slowed operations.

“The path forward was clear. I needed to go through the process of making a move to a single best practice finance system,” Officer said.

The solution

Drawing on his extensive experience in finance leadership roles at organisations such as Mission Australia and the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, Officer led MMP’s move to modernise its operations with TechnologyOne’s SaaS ERP solution.

Having worked with TechnologyOne in previous roles, he knew the solution was a strong contender, particularly their innovative SaaS+ model, which eliminates traditional project costs and simplifies implementation.

Harnessing our unique 'Power of One', SaaS+ enables fast, simple and low risk digital transformation by using one code-line, one plan, one price and one point of call.

“I was very insistent that we adopted basically no configuration changes unless they were absolutely critical,” he told The Australian.

“We wanted to lift it straight out of the box and use it as configured."

MMP selected TechnologyOne after a competitive tender process in late 2023. Implementation began in January 2024 and was completed by June, an extraordinary six-month timeline that minimised downtime and disruption.

Officer’s insistence on a standardised deployment with minimal configuration changes played a pivotal role in the project’s success.

“It’s like taking part in using a really complex finance system in a simple, pre-configured package,” he said.

“You don’t have to spend your life configuring it or keeping a team on staff to manage those configurations.”

Other key aspects of MMP’s decision to choose TechnologyOne included:

• Centralised financial systems: Replacing three separate platforms with a single integrated SaaS ERP solution.
• Mobile functionality: Enabling field staff to create purchase orders, receive goods, and manage financial tasks on their devices.
• Automated workflows: Scanning technologies and three-way invoice matching streamlined approval processes, reducing manual intervention.

Metropolitan Memorial Parks puts outdated technology to rest

Metropolitan Memorial Parks has transformed its technology systems in a record five months using TechnologyOne SaaS+.

Learn more

The outcome

The transition to TechnologyOne has revolutionised MMP’s operations, delivering measurable benefits across cost savings, efficiency and staff satisfaction.

Cost savings and simplified licensing

Consolidating financial, procurement, and budgeting systems into a single SaaS platform has driven significant savings for MMP.

“We’ve gone from having three different finance system licences, two procurement licences, and two budgeting licences, to having one agreement in place, which is a SaaS service,” Officer said.

“Overall, we are saving well in excess of the investment we made with TechnologyOne.”

Increased operational efficiency

Automating previously manual processes has freed up MMP staff to focus on higher-value tasks.

Purchase orders are now created at the time of procurement, reducing errors and delays.

“Most of their [MMP staff’s] purchase orders were previously made after the fact. In many situations, invoices would simply arrive and literally be stamped, coded and dated by someone the old-fashioned way,” Officer noted.

“We've now achieved a really great adoption rate of everyone doing their own requisitions and purchase orders, creating a self-service system. We've implemented scanning technologies with all of our supplier invoices [coming] to a central e-mail, where they are digitally processed into TechnologyOne and matched to its purchase order. There is no manual invoice approval process required.”

A more empowered workforce

The user-friendly nature of TechnologyOne’s SaaS system has improved staff satisfaction and productivity all-round.

“I literally have employees walk up and tell me how much they love it, whether it be the financial team or grounds staff who need to raise purchase orders. They can do it quickly and efficiently on their mobile phone,” Officer said.

“Our team members have embraced the system, and it’s great to see the difference it’s making in their daily tasks."

Future-ready platforms

With Phase 1 completed, MMP is now focusing on integrating its cemetery and cremation management systems with TechnologyOne, creating a single source of truth for all financial functions.

“We need to revisit the functionality of the applications to ensure duplication is eliminated and TechnologyOne is the source of truth for finance functionality,” Officer said.

“So going forward the cemetery management systems will focus on the management of cemeteries, not the management of finance functions.”