Case Study: New Zealand National Fieldays Society streamlines approvals and strengthens finance control with ApprovalMax

How ApprovalMax and Xero Combined to Help a Leading NFP

The New Zealand National Fieldays Society, a not-for-profit running the largest agribusiness event in the Southern Hemisphere, faced significant financial control challenges. Their outdated processes made it impossible to properly authorize spending and maintain accurate data, which was depleting cash reserves. To address this, CFO Anthony Burman sought a modern system and turned to the vendor ApprovalMax to complement their new accounting platform, Xero.

ApprovalMax provided a multi-dimensional approval workflow that integrated with Xero, allowing the Society to establish complex approval rules and delegate authority. This solution gave them complete control over procurement and spending approvals. The results were transformative: the finance team was streamlined from five staff to two, and the organization achieved its strongest cash surplus ever. ApprovalMax was a key component in helping them win the Financial Innovation Project of the Year award.

New Zealand National Fieldays Society

Anthony Burman

Chief Financial Officer