Revamping not-for-profit workflows with a holistic approach
Discover how Baker Tilly helped a not-for-profit organization automate financial workflows, reduce costs and improve flexibility.
Client background
Iris Global is a U.S.-based not-for-profit organization with partners in 37 countries. Through these partnerships, Iris Global delivers a wide range of faith-filled services to communities in need. Their work includes primary and secondary education, medical clinics, clean water initiatives and well-drilling, church planting, pastoral training, prison ministry, and feeding programs.
Business challenge
Along with growth, Iris Global was facing mounting operational challenges. They were using QuickBooks for accounting and Salesforce as their Client Relationship Management. However, the lack of integration between these systems was creating significant operational inefficiencies.
- Manual data entry led to duplication of efforts and increased the risk of errors.
- Employees were often working on the same transactions multiple times across systems.
- Internal controls were weak, and reporting capabilities were limited.
- Reporting was limited, making it difficult to gain timely insights or support audits.
- Server maintenance caused frequent downtime, locking employees out and disrupting workflows.
- The organization was overwhelmed, with every employee stretched thin and no capacity to scale without hiring more staff.
Strategy
Baker Tilly approached the engagement as a strategic ally, listening closely to Iris Global’s unique needs and designing a strategy that was both technically sound and economically viable.
- API integration between Salesforce and Sage Intacct to automate donation entries and financial data syncing.
- Custom integration between Stripe and the child sponsorship database, pushing data through APIs into Sage Intacct.
- Automation of online donation entries, enabling real-time or overnight syncing of donation batches.
- User-defined dimensions and non-traditional historical data migration to accommodate the organization’s tracking needs.
- Cloud-based access, eliminating the need for server logins and enabling seamless hybrid and remote work.
- Recommended Venn Technology for API-based automation of donation entries and online giving between Salesforce and Sage Intacct.
Outcome
Iris Global needed a solution that would streamline operations, reduce manual work and support their hybrid and remote workforce.
The implementation began in March 2020 and went live in August 2020, right in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating both teams’ resilience and adaptability. As a result, Iris Global saw:
- Significant time savings as employees no longer chase data or duplicate entries across systems.
- Streamlined not-for-profit workflows and role definitions helped reduce overlap in employee responsibilities and improved workload management.
- The automation of key processes reduced the need for additional hires, aiding in cost-cutting.
- Staff gained improved flexibility, as they could work remotely without facing technical barriers such as server logins or downtime.
- Real-time data availability enhanced accuracy, improved decision-making and audit readiness.
- Having transaction support accessible in the system for staff in multiple locations increased efficiency.
Iris Global continues today to continuously enhance its automation with Sage Intacct’s release enhancements and Venn Technology expertise.
Both the sales and implementation process were incredible because every step of the way, it was about what’s the best solution, not what solution we can sell. They looked at our needs and listened. They were a true partner throughout to achieve the right solution and get it to work for us and work well.Ben Chambers, Audit and reporting manager, Iris Global