Soft Market Testing Exercise for the Provision of an Accounting and Finance Cloud Based Software Solution

CDS Co-operatives is a charitable community benefit society first established in 1975 to support the development of new housing co-ops. Our core purpose is to provide, support and promote co-op and community-led housing - so that more people can shape the things that matter to them; at home, in their neighbourhood or community.

CDS seeks to publish a soft market testing exercise for the provision of an Accounting and Finance Cloud Based Software Solution to manage its operations, comply with housing regulations, and deliver value for money.

The primary aim of the scoping exercise is to retain all existing organisational functionality, while also identifying opportunities to:

• Improve operational efficiency
• Increase the level of automation
• Strengthen financial and control frameworks

Any proposed enhancements must be deliverable in a cost‑effective and proportionate manner and integrate with Microsoft applications. Following implementation, CDS must be fully self-sufficient, with the internal capability to manage and administer the system independently, without requiring ongoing support or intervention from the supplier.

The overarching objective of any proposed upgrade is to enhance cross‑team collaboration, streamline financial processes, and improve overall operational efficiency across the organisation.

Essential core capabilities of future software - Functional requirement:

• Optical Character Recognition (OCR) as a core capability in future software system
• The ability to use alphanumeric characters for analysis codes must be supported to enhance flexibility in coding and classification.
• Support consolidated and hierarchical reporting and capability to logically group these codes.
• Standardised Chart of Accounts to ensure uniformity in general ledger coding across all areas of the business.
• Support data export to Microsoft Excel and other commonly used file formats and reporting tools to enable analysis, sharing, and integration with external systems.
• Facilitate import and export interfaces with other systems (BEACON and PLENTIFIC), using a structure that can be easily modified to meet future integration requirements.
• Support the closure of accounting periods by authorised personnel, in accordance with defined access controls and separately for CDS, the subsidiary and the individual clients.
• Support the ability to process future-dated transactions while allowing the current accounting period to be closed, ensuring continuity in operations and accurate period-end reporting (for example period '13' for post yearend adjustments).