A true family run business, Medical Research Network had outgrown their Sage 200 Professional system and began looking for a modern alternative that could keep up with their rate of growth.
A true family run business, Medical Research Network (MRN) has been operational since 2006 with a mission to provide a gold standard platform of clinical trial services designed bring trials closer to patients, make them faster, more efficient, more inclusive and more accessible for research sites and patients alike.
Starting as a small business in Milton Keynes, Medical Research Network can deliver services in in 99+ countries and have offices in the US, Spain, Germany, France, Japan and a global head count of around 230 employees.
After becoming a global business, MRN began “needing more from a finance system”, states Alex Prentice, Head of Transactional Finance. When using their previous system, Sage 200 Professional, Alex and the team realised their needs had evolved and things “such as consolidated reporting, better multi-currency capabilities, cloud hosted systems and generally higher capability ceilings became more important”. They also hit limitations when it came to tackling some of their “key business requirements, such as Project Accounting, [Sage 200 Professional] was either very limited or needed third party additions”.
As such the business decided to implement a modern, cloud-based finance platform that will better support the company as it continues to thrive.
Having used Sage in the past, Alex and the team wanted to stay with Sage for the next system. He “quickly found that Sage Intacct handled multi-entities, multi-currency, and more dynamic reporting a lot better, and as requirements from the rest of the business also grew so that Finance as a function could deliver more value, it was clear why the change in system was required”.
Some of the key drivers for the project :
MRN decided to go out to tender for this system change so they could get a real-world view of what was on offer. During the process they spoke with prospective partners as well as their existing Sage partner. Throughout the process “PKF Smith Cooper System’s team […] impressed with their knowledge, attentiveness and ability to find solutions”. Additional to the system requirements, a strong partnership between MRN and the system provider was central to the project; “It wasn’t just about finding someone to purchase the system from, it was finding someone to work with on an ongoing basis going forward, so ensuring it was the right fit both ways was important”.
Alongside the RFP document, the PKF SCS team conducted three demo sessions to address the capability of Sage Intacct for the business now and in the future. Between the teams, it was agreed that the project would take a phased approach for many reasons:
During the RFP, MRN made it clear that they would need a system that could easily integrate with systems provided by other suppliers. These systems were available on the Sage Intacct Marketplace which meant a simple deployment and integration.
Throughout the project “Ian, Philippa, Haris and the team were always on hand and incredibly helpful to assist with the process, whether it was just offering advice, or taking our data and harvesting it for us to be ready for the new system…We had regular touch points with the team and were never waiting an unreasonable time for resolutions or turnarounds on queries/projects. I think it made a big difference too with Ian/Philippa willing to travel to Milton Keynes to deliver some aspects in person, just to start building that relationship between us and PKF Smith Cooper Systems.”
When asked about the migration experience Alex said “It went well, we didn’t make it easy on ourselves by moving mid-year and in the lead up to year end, but we migrated on time and with no major hurdles or compromises, we were able to bring in the additional modules we wanted at the same time and are in the process of delivering our year end to normal timelines still.”
The implementation of a new financial system is a major undertaking, but sometimes the simple aspects are where you notice the differences. When asked what he and the team like about Sage Intacct, Alex said “it’s nice being able to log on to the system just from a web browser wherever you are, instead of having to think about server locations, VPNs [and] remote desktops.” Alex also notes how he no longer must arrange for manual updates delivered by support teams and “on top of that, having a user-friendly interface that even non-financial personnel can interact with and access, taking Financial systems from a back-office function to something that is visible across the organisation.”
The biggest benefit that MRN has experienced so far is Sage Intacct’s “powerful capabilities, such as the planning module, allowing us to put our budgeting and forecasting process into a system rather than working [from] countless spreadsheets and having that version control and data migration issue. The other big benefit is being able to shed unnecessary server costs, and the risk that those servers present. [W]e was once in a situation on Sage 200 where we couldn’t access the system for two weeks due to a leak in the roof of our office, and that was in 2025!”
Going forwards Medical Research Network now has access to the PKF Smith Cooper Systems support team and plan to engage further with our consultants to continue enhancing their system as they grow.
If you like what you’ve read and are interested in how we could help you migrate over to Sage Intacct, contact our team or visit our migrations page to discover more about your options, whether you currently use Sage or not.
Ian, Philippa, Haris, and the team, were always on hand and incredibly helpful to assist with the process, whether it was just offering advice, or taking our data and harvesting it for us to be ready for the new system.
Alex Prentice
at Medical Research Network
Sometimes it was a little bit complicated how we were trying to set our structure up and what we wanted to get out of [Sage] Intacct, but Ian and Sam were full of ideas and came up with really good suggestions for everything. We had a lot of troubleshooting sessions and they were able to find resolutions. Haris has given a lot of support all the way through the process as well. He’s very confident and very capable.
We felt very supported – if you contacted somebody, you got a response very quickly. You never felt like you’d been left out on a limb.
Amy Knights-Allen
Accountant at Maydencroft
We had regular touch points with the team and were never waiting an unreasonable time for resolutions or turnarounds on queries/projects.
Alex Prentice
at Medical Research Network
I use PKF [SCS] support and can honestly say they are very good, very helpful, quick in responding and helping resolve my issues or queries I have sent over to them. The day has been very informative and a good catch up with Craig and Vanessa. Thank you all for a great event.
Diane Scott
Finance Manager at Dalrod UK Ltd
PKF Smith Cooper System’s team impressed throughout the process with their knowledge, attentiveness and ability to find solutions for us.
Alex Prentice
at Medical Research Network
Using PKF [SCS] made our transition to Sage as streamlined as we could have hoped. The bespoke integration between our traffic management system has made Sage the perfect solution for us. I would also like to say the aftercare has been second to none. Nothing is too much trouble. Thank you.
Lauren Marshall
at B.J Waters Transport Limited
