15 September 2026

Swale Borough Council moves beyond 20 years of legacy finance with TechnologyOne

Swale Borough Council has turned the page on more than 20 years of legacy finance technology, going live with a new TechnologyOne SaaS-based system designed to give its finance teams a simpler, more flexible way of working.

For two decades, Swale relied on an ageing finance system and manual processes, leaving the Council increasingly constrained by software that was no longer keeping pace with its needs. Its move to TechnologyOne replaces that legacy environment with modern cloud technology and creates an opportunity to simplify and modernise finance processes across the Council.

Delivered over 12 months, the new system brings together core financial functions including general ledger, accounts payable, purchasing, debtors and billing, budgeting and forecasting, taxation, cash receipting and bank reconciliation. It supports the day-to-day work of around 13 finance staff, as well as budget managers and employees across the Council using the system for purchase orders, invoice coding and budget management.

As part of the transformation, Swale moved budget monitoring and forecasting away from spreadsheets and into the TechnologyOne platform. Previously, producing budget forecasts took several hours of manual work to collate. What once took hours of manual spreadsheet work can now be done in just a few clicks. The implementation has also expanded cross-training opportunities within Swale’s finance support team, helping staff build capability across accounts payable, debtors and income while giving the Council greater flexibility across its finance function.

Claire Stanbury, Head of Finance and Procurement at Swale BC, said, “This project was about much more than replacing our finance system. Many of our processes had been in place for more than 20 years, so we took the opportunity to look at how a modern system could help us work differently and more efficiently.

“Feedback from both finance and non-finance colleagues has been very positive and we are already seeing some early benefits, particularly around budget monitoring and forecasting, where we have moved away from spreadsheets and can now manage the process directly within the system. We are also seeing progress in cross-training across the finance team, which will give us greater flexibility in how we work.”

Emma Foy, Local Government Lead at TechnologyOne, said, “Swale Borough Council’s go-live demonstrates how technology modernisation can act as a catalyst for broader organisational change. It also marks an important milestone for TechnologyOne, with Swale becoming our 12th UK local government customer to go live in the past 12 months. This is a clear sign of the growing momentum among councils to modernise their critical technology infrastructure.”

Swale will continue to develop its use of the TechnologyOne platform through additional dashboards, reporting capabilities and functionality. The go-live also provides a strong digital foundation as Swale prepares for wider changes facing local government through Local Government Reorganisation.

This latest implementation further strengthens TechnologyOne’s growing presence across UK local government, supporting councils to replace legacy technology, simplify operations and build the digital foundations needed for long-term transformation.