Case Study
GORDON INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS SCIENCE
From Spreadsheets to Streamlined Success: GIBS Transforms Financial Reporting with IDU
ABOUT GIBS
The Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) affiliated with the University of Pretoria, is a business school situated in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The institution has received accreditation from the Council on Higher Education (CHE) in South Africa and the Association of MBAs (AMBA) internationally.
In May 2024, GIBS was ranked amongst the world's top 50 business schools by the renowned UK Financial Times Executive Education Rankings, placing 26th for open enrolment programmes - the highest-ranked African business school.
THE BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Before adopting IDU, GIBS relied heavily on Excel spreadsheets for budgeting and financial reporting. This manual approach was cumbersome, error‑prone, and inefficient, especially when large spreadsheets had to be disseminated across multiple departments. Broken formulas, version control issues, and user errors slowed down the budgeting cycle and made it difficult to maintain accuracy. For a leading business school with a global reputation, these inefficiencies posed a serious challenge to delivering timely, reliable financial insights to both finance professionals and non‑finance managers.
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THE SOLUTION
In 2019, GIBS transitioned to IDU, replacing spreadsheets with a streamlined, integrated system. IDU’s built‑in formulas and controlled user access eliminated common errors, while its intuitive interface made financial data accessible to non‑finance staff across the institution.
The platform significantly reduced budgeting cycles, improved accuracy, and provided instant access to monthly management reports and year‑to‑date numbers. With flexible reporting views and the ability to export data when needed, IDU empowered GIBS to save valuable time, enhance decision‑making, and focus on its core mission of delivering world‑class business education.
A PARTNER IN SUCCESS
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"The transition from manual processes to our integrated system has enabled GIBS to achieve greater accuracy and save valuable time. We appreciate their proactive engagement and the feedback that has helped us continuously improve our solutions. Supporting GIBS in their mission to deliver excellence in business education has been a privilege, and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership" – Margie Whitten, Director, IDU
“IDU has made a significant positive impact on our financial processes. It helped us move away from the cumbersome and error‑prone spreadsheet system to a more efficient and reliable solution. We highly recommend IDU to other organizations looking for an effective financial reporting and budgeting tool.”
Khatlhi Mopeli, Head of Finance, GIBS
THE RESULT
Budgeting cycle cut significantly: Transition from spreadsheets to IDU reduced time and errors.
Greater accuracy achieved: Built‑in formulas eliminated broken links and user mistakes.
Instant reporting access: Monthly management and year‑to‑date numbers available at a click.
Improved accessibility: Financial data presented in a user‑friendly way for both finance and non‑finance staff.
