The Challenge
Prior to implementing EDGE for financial management, our research finance processes were fragmented, inconsistent, and heavily reliant on manual systems. Although EDGE was already embedded for research management, study finances were managed independently by research nurses and Clinical Trial Assistants using a mixture of spreadsheets, paper records, and email trails. Some staff assumed sponsor payments happened automatically and therefore kept no financial records at all.
As our commercial research portfolio continued to grow, it became increasingly difficult to maintain oversight of study income and invoicing. Invoice requests were submitted through a central Excel tracker, but this was inconsistently used, making it almost impossible to reconcile completed research activity against invoices raised. The finance team had very limited visibility of study activity, while delivery teams had little oversight of outstanding payments or missed costs.
The result was duplicated effort, invoicing errors, missed income opportunities and no single source of truth for research finances. It became clear that we needed a standardised, transparent process that linked research activity directly to financial recovery while improving collaboration between delivery teams, Research Management & Support and Finance.
User Profile
Name: Victoria Douglas
Job Title: Research Governance Manager – Business & Finance (EDGE Lead Administrator)
Organisation: Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust
EDGE user since: 2016
The Solution
As Trust EDGE Lead Administrator and Chair of our local EDGE Working Group, I regularly attended national EDGE Lead Administrator meetings and National TLA meetings, where I became aware of the finance functionality being developed by the EDGE community. Discussions with Stevie Barre (EDGE) and Mat Davis (UHDFT), introduced me to the EDGE Import Tools, which demonstrated the potential to automate the import of Interactive Costing Templates (ICTs) and significantly simplify financial recording.
Recognising the opportunity, our EDGE Working Group explored how the functionality could solve many of the challenges we were experiencing locally. Rather than attempting a Trust-wide rollout immediately, we decided to undertake a small pilot using a newly opening commercial study. An enthusiastic research nurse volunteered to trial the process, allowing us to refine workflows, identify practical issues and develop local Standard Operating Procedures before wider implementation.
The success of this pilot demonstrated that EDGE could become the single system for recording research finances. It provided the confidence to move forward with a structured implementation programme across the whole research department, supported by collaboration between delivery teams, Finance, Research Management & Support and the national EDGE community.
The Process
Implementation was delivered over approximately 18 months through our multidisciplinary EDGE Working Group. Rather than simply introducing a new process, we focused on redesigning the entire financial management process. A detailed implementation plan and Gantt chart were developed, setting out key milestones including creation of finance templates, development of Standard Operating Procedures, reconciliation of existing studies, staff training and staged rollout.
Initially, finances were recorded on a small number of studies before gradually expanding across the portfolio. As confidence increased, finance templates were created for all active studies with income, including both commercial and non-commercial research. Alongside this, two new SOPs and supporting guidance documents were produced covering both financial recording and invoicing processes.
Staff engagement proved to be the biggest challenge. Varying IT confidence and understandable resistance to changing established ways of working required regular communication, one-to-one support, group training sessions and our ongoing Learn@Lunch programme. Throughout implementation we worked closely with our Finance team to ensure EDGE aligned with local invoicing processes, creating a fully integrated workflow from research activity through to invoice generation and payment tracking.
The Results
The implementation has fundamentally transformed financial management across our research service. All research finances are now recorded consistently within EDGE, providing a single source of truth for delivery teams, Research Management & Support and Finance. Financial tracking is now centralised, improving oversight across almost 200 active studies while significantly reducing reliance on spreadsheets and manual records.
The improved visibility has enabled us to identify previously missed activity and recover over £42,000 from just seven reconciled studies, with further reconciliation work continuing. Invoice requests recorded within the research team increased from approximately £147,000 using the previous Excel tracker to over £415,000 following implementation, demonstrating far more complete capture of research activity.
The new process has reduced invoicing errors, improved payment monitoring and strengthened relationships with sponsor finance representatives through clearer financial breakdowns and faster query resolution. It has also increased financial knowledge across our Research Management & Support team and established one consistent way of working across all delivery teams. The project has since been recognised nationally through presentation at EDGE Together and receiving the EDGE Advocate of the Year award, highlighting the impact collaborative implementation can have across an organisation.
What’s Next
Implementation is only the beginning. Our focus is now on continuous improvement and making full use of the financial data we have captured within EDGE. We are developing structured training packages so future staff can be onboarded consistently using standardised materials, recorded demonstrations and Learn@Lunch sessions.
We also plan to further develop our use of EDGE Finance reporting and apportionment tools to improve attribution of research income across departments and simplify internal financial processes. Additional work is underway to review user access, improve governance around financial administration and continue refining our SOPs as new functionality becomes available.
The success of this project has demonstrated the value of bringing together operational, governance, and finance colleagues through a dedicated EDGE Working Group. We intend to continue using this collaborative approach to identify further opportunities for improvement, ensuring EDGE remains central to how we manage research across the Trust.
Ultimately, our ambition is not simply to use more EDGE functionality, but to continue building efficient, transparent, and sustainable research processes that maximise income recovery, improve oversight, and allow our research teams to focus more time on delivering high-quality clinical research.
“EDGE has enabled us to identify previously missed activity and recover over £42,000 from just seven reconciled studies, with further reconciliation work continuing. Invoice requests recorded within the team increased from approximately £147,000 using the previous Excel tracker to over £415,000 following implementation, demonstrating far more complete capture of research activity.”