Financial harmony for a world-class orchestra

Client background

A cultural icon with complex operations
The New York Philharmonic (NY Phil) is one of the world’s most celebrated orchestras. Founded in 1842, it is America’s oldest symphony orchestra and a global cultural institution. Each year, the NY Phil presents over 100 subscription concerts, commissions new works, supports community education programming and tours internationally.

Behind the scenes, the NY Phil operates with significant complexity. The finance team manages a not-for-profit budget spanning performances, endowment funds and pension obligations, while supporting decision-making at every level of the organization. To deliver on that mission, they needed a system flexible enough to handle nuance and powerful enough to drive insight. With Sage Intacct and Baker Tilly, they found both.

The business challenge

Manual processes and an outdated system
As the NY Phil’s programs and obligations expanded, its legacy financial system — an outdated Blackbaud implementation — began to show serious limitations. Monthly reporting was manual and time-consuming, with budget managers receiving static PDFs that were often outdated by the time they were reviewed. Core functions like accounts receivable were managed outside the system in spreadsheets, creating version control problems, audit risk and delays in decision-making.

“We were losing track of things,” says Ashley Peña, interim CFO. “We didn’t have an accounts receivable module. Certain receivables were just floating in spreadsheets.”

That fragmentation limited visibility and slowed strategic planning. Program-level financials were difficult to produce. Tracking the NY Phil’s complex pension plans required spreadsheet gymnastics. The finance team spent much of its time gathering data, correcting errors and manually distributing reports — rather than providing strategic insight.

Strategy and solution

A purpose-built system with flexibility at its core
Ashley knew exactly what Sage Intacct could do, and exactly who she wanted to work with. At a previous performing arts organization, she led a highly successful implementation of Sage Intacct in collaboration with Baker Tilly. That experience stuck with her. “We weren’t handed a template,” she says. “Baker Tilly guided us through decisions that made sense for how we work — and that made all the difference.”

Though the orchestra had already gone live with Sage Intacct through another partner, Ashley leaned heavily on the materials and training she’d received from Baker Tilly — and ultimately brought them in to advise on enhancements. Baker Tilly provides deep not-for-profit finance expertise and a collaborative, decision-focused approach that helps the team gain even more value from the platform.

“Sage Intacct is a powerful system,” Ashley says. “But it’s the combination of product and strategic ally that really makes the difference.”

More trust, more insight, more impact
Since going live with Sage Intacct in Nov. 2021, the NY Phil has dramatically improved financial visibility across its programs and operations. Each concert series, tour or education initiative can be tracked like its own income statement — an essential capability for analyzing cost, revenue and sustainability

Day-to-day financial management has also improved. With intuitive dashboards, budget managers can now track expenses, check on prepaids and address missing invoices on their own — reducing the volume of internal requests to the finance team and accelerating decision-making. “I don’t hear from them nearly as often,” Ashley says. “They have what they need.”

The NY Phil successfully integrated its two pension plans into the system, consolidating records that had previously been maintained in spreadsheets. These transactions are now clearly segmented and reported alongside operating and endowment accounts, all within Sage Intacct’s internal controls and audit-ready framework.

“We no longer have to do gymnastics to show where the money is,” Ashley notes. “It’s right there in the system, clearly labeled and accurate.”

The results are visible at every level of the organization. Monthly reporting is faster and more meaningful. Stakeholders trust the data. Board and committee conversations are more productive, and leadership can evaluate new initiatives — like international tours — based on reliable historical data. Ashley and her team also provide real-time insights to development officers about grant performance, allowing them to respond to opportunities without waiting for the books to close.

Looking ahead, the NY Phil plans to expand its reporting capabilities further and integrate additional systems. As it embarks on a bold new era under incoming music director Gustavo Dudamel, Ashley is confident that the finance team is ready to support innovation. “The initiatives Mr. Dudamel is talking about are unlike anything we’ve done before,” she says. “It’s exciting — and a huge relief knowing our accounting system can adapt to whatever comes next.”

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