Case study: Salvation Army

The Salvation Army’s fleet manager Peter Bonney knew exactly what he wanted to achieve with his organisation’s fleet management software.

In short, he wanted to ensure that the cars which the church’s ministers drive are linked to an automated online reporting system with P11D compliance.

This reporting system ensures that Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs (HMRC) receives the information it requires about expenses and benefits exactly when it’s needed.

The Salvation Army has a fleet of 730 non-premium brand cars which are supplied on three-year leases by either Venson Automotive or ALD.

Each leasing company ensures that those vehicles’ service, maintenance and repair (SMR) requirements are fully catered for as part of the contract.

After consulting the organisation’s IT department, Bonney realised that the most cost-effective way of implementing this system was by extending the use of its current personnel and payroll software which is provided by iTrent.

Bonney explains: “This proved to be the best solution for us on a number of levels.

“I’ve heard anecdotally that there used to be issues getting different software products which are designed by different companies to work together.

“By extending the use of iTrent’s software to include this fleet management component, we’ve not encountered any difficulties of this nature.

“Quite apart from achieving P11D compliance, because the system is also linked to personnel it means that details about driving licences are also included on the system.”

Bonney adds that an additional benefit of the enhanced fleet management component is that it is now much easier – and quicker – for his team to check which minister or employee is driving specific vehicles.

He adds: “It’s my impression that many fleet management software packages provide organisations with a plethora of information – much of which they simply don’t require.

“If it’s going to be successfully implemented within your organisation, I think that it’s important to know exactly what you need to achieve from it.

"To my mind, the main purpose of fleet management software is to provide you with the consolidated information you require when you need it.

“Our system has now been in place for five years and it is working well.

“The only slight issue that we sometimes encounter is when a minister who’s not registered on the system – possibly one who’s visiting from abroad – wants a vehicle.

"At the moment, the system that we have in place won’t allocate them with a car until they’ve been registered.

“But this slight inconvenience is a small price to pay for the reduction in admin.”