Three years after going online with an Oracle ERP system designed to handle the task, the largest local government in Europe won't have a completely functional cash system until April of next year.

The budget for Birmingham City Council's plan to move from SAP to software from Big Red has increased from £20 million ($26 million) to maybe £131 million ($170 million). Oracle co-founder and CTO Larry Ellison once praised the project as an example of the company's competitive victories.

Even though the new system was implemented in April 2022—already about eighteen months behind schedule—the mid-England council has encountered severe issues with cash management and bank reconciliation with the Oracle system, making it impossible for it to generate auditable accounting. The authority was almost insolvent in September of last year due to a combination of chronic IT issues and an equal pay claim.

The council had reportedly gone against its original intentions when it adopted Oracle with a great deal of modification, but after the 2022 calamity, it intends to re-implement Oracle Fusion "out of the box."

The Council, which oversees an annual budget of just under £3.2 billion ($4.1 billion), has stated in a new report from external auditors Grant Thornton that it will not have a fully functional cash system until April 2025 and that the reimplementation of the ERP system will occur around September 2025. The council won't have a fully operational financial system until after that.

According to Grant Thornton, the council examined the normal Oracle procedures and determined that they would function well, even though the new software will necessitate a substantial shift in personnel, procedures, and technology, as well as in the governance of the council.