Edinburgh University's £20.4M finance system delayed pay to students, staff and suppliers

BBC Scotland reported in November 2022 that the University of Edinburgh had apologised after payments to students, staff and suppliers were delayed by its new People and Money (P&M) system. P&M is a centralised HR, payroll and finance system introduced in 2020, with the rollout completed in 2022. Problems in the final phase left thousands of invoices outstanding, which finance staff were processing manually.

Academics said they had warned repeatedly. The senate members' letter expressed 'urgent and profound' concern, and the heads of 23 schools wrote with concerns. A February 2021 report from professional services directors raised dozens of problems in the earlier HR phase, including 'please can you start work without a contract'. The local branch of the University and College Union said the system was overly complicated, with numerous unnecessary manual checks, and that managers 'chose not to listen'. A senior academic said questions over cost and complexity were asked from the outset.

The estimated cost was initially about £10M, advertised as a £14M contract in 2017, then agreed at £20.4M in 2019. A PhD student said it took seven weeks to be reimbursed £3,000 he had paid up front for fieldwork in Tanzania, forcing him to borrow from his partner. The university said it was 'sincerely sorry' and had added finance staff.

Thousands of invoices outstanding; the contract rose from about £10M to £20.4M; a PhD student waited seven weeks for £3,000 in expenses.

The system was complex and included manual checks, according to the university's UCU branch.

Senior managers were repeatedly warned by senate members, school heads and professional services directors but, per the union, did not listen.

Problems in the HR phase were reported in February 2021 but the final finance phase still went live with outstanding issues.

Stipend and student payments, and supplier invoices, depended on the new system.

A centralised system that adds manual checks and ignores internal warnings pushes cash delays onto the people least able to carry them.

The principal, Peter Mathieson, was due to hold meetings with staff and PhD students to hear their concerns. The university said it had escalated stipend and student payment issues to the highest level and would process the backlog of invoices as quickly as possible.