The Pancake Parlour- Success Story
Efficiency and Innovation:
The Pancake Parlour’s Journey to the Cloud
The Pancake Parlour, a beloved Melbourne institution, has been delighting customers with its unique dining experience since its inception. With 13 company-owned stores across the city, the company is gearing up to celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2025. The Pancake Parlour has continually evolved to meet the changing needs of its customers and the market.
Founded in the 1960s, The Pancake Parlour quickly became a household name in Melbourne, known for its whimsical decor and delicious pancakes. Over the decades, the company expanded its footprint, opening new locations and introducing innovative menu items that kept customers coming back.

The Journey to Business Central
By 2010, The Pancake Parlour had adopted Navision (NAV) to manage its operations. The company chose Evolution Business Systems (EBS) as their Dynamics partner in 2013. Darren Cotton, Financial Controller at The Pancake Parlour said, “We’ve been partners for 11 years. Support has always been exceptional. EBS did a great job upgrading us from the original version to the latest version in 2013 and all aspects of our relationship have gone smoothly between then and upgrading to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (BC).”
“The decision to migrate to Business Central was driven by the necessity to move to a cloud-based platform, ensuring automatic updates and reducing the costs associated with periodic upgrades. The migration was completed in April 2023. The process was seamless, with no major issues, and completed on budget thanks to the expertise of EBS.”
Measuring Sweet Success
Time Savings
Two days per week saved on data entry at a cost saving of approximately $25,000 per year.
Job Satisfaction
Increased satisfaction among staff due to reduced manual tasks.
Cost Efficiency
Achieved savings by eliminating on-premises servers and software licensing, avoiding upgrade costs, and ensuring they have the latest version in the cloud.
Benefits of Continia Document Capture
The primary motivation for The Pancake Parlour migrating to Business Central was the ability to use Continia Document Capture. This feature allowed for automatic data entry for supplier invoices, significantly reducing manual data entry tasks.
The implementation of Continia Document Capture began in July 2023. The company attended an EBS User Group meeting and consulted with other businesses that had successfully implemented Document Capture. This provided valuable insights and confidence in the system’s effectiveness. “We were introduced to two or three other companies who had implemented Document Capture, and they were very positive about the implementation. They advised us to put the time and effort into the mapping process, which will then make for a smooth transition. That gave us confidence to go ahead,” said Mr Cotton.
The training provided by EBS was thorough, ensuring that staff could efficiently map the invoices and use the system. “Document Capture has been fantastic, once you’ve completed the mapping of each Vendor invoice, which is a bit of work, our staff members became expert in the mapping process to ensure we could handle new Vendor invoices without the intervention of EBS. It has made the Accounts Payable role a lot less manual and allowed us to divert the additional hours to other tasks.

Darren Cotton,
Financial Controller
The Pancake Parlour

We’ve been partners for 11 years. Support has always been exceptional. EBS did a great job upgrading us from the original version to the latest version in 2013 and all aspects of our relationship have gone smoothly between then and upgrading to BC.

Impact:
Efficiency:
The company processes 300 invoices a week across all of its stores. Continia Document Capture saved approximately two days of data entry work per week, allowing staff to focus on more value-added tasks.
Cost Savings:
The move to a cloud-based system eliminated the need for costly periodic upgrades, saving significant investment every three to four years.
User Satisfaction:
The system’s ease of use and the reduction in manual tasks increased job satisfaction among staff.

We had a staff member entering all those invoices manually and it’s saved us a couple of days a week in data entry. We’ve now been able to move him into other value add tasks and it’s more satisfying for him too. Everything that was promised, was delivered with Continia.

Business Central offers enhanced
functionalities of Navision.
The key benefits included:
- Cloud Migration: Moving off their own server to the cloud.
- Automated BAS Statements: Simplifying previously manual processes.
- User-Friendly Interface: Enhancing ease of use and navigation.

We were keen to remove Navision off our server and house it in the Cloud.. This enabled automatic upgrades, knowing we’re always going to be on the latest version, without extensive upgrade costs.

Partnership with EBS
The Pancake Parlour’s transition from NAV to Business Central, facilitated by EBS, and the implementation of Continia Document Capture, has resulted in significant efficiency gains, cost savings, and increased job satisfaction. The company’s experience underscores the importance of choosing the right partners and technologies to drive business success.

I wouldn’t hesitate recommending EBS, we’ve had a great relationship and everything they’ve promised they’ve delivered on. With BC and Continia they came up with a budget we signed off on it, the timing was good, and we came in right on budget. EBS are very professional. You can see the passion in the people that work there. Even dating back 11 years ago, when we first implemented NAV 13. It’s been a good journey.

Client Profile:
The Pancake Parlour, a family-owned business that serves sweet and savoury pancakes and crepes, celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2025.
Office Location
3/47 Burgundy St
Heidelberg VIC 3084
Postal Address
PO Box 1115
Camberwell VIC 3124
Phone
1300 303 973