How a Not-for-Profit’s Accounting Team is Evolving with Sage Intacct

Children First, a not-for-profit organization in Ontario, Canada, serves families with young children who may experience mental health or developmental challenges. In 2020, their staff of approximately 90 people served more than 1,300 children, including providing nearly 17,000 hours of virtual services (in addition to in-person services) during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the organization moved from paper-based to electronic systems for its patient records, the administrative staff wanted to upgrade their existing paper- and server-based accounting software to a cloud financial software application that could help automate their workflows. And once the pandemic began and most of the office staff were working from home, paper-based workflows were no longer effective and the search for new accounting software became a priority.

A Partner with a Plan

So, Children First turned to Net at Work for guidance. A technology advisor to small-to-medium-sized businesses throughout North America, Net at Work provides extensive services to help support the ongoing initiatives of organizations – from software selection and implementation through managed IT and Fractional CIO & Advisory services. “They’ve been our partner for over a decade, and we trust Net at Work to provide us with the best advice and the best direction,” says Jane Patterson, Administration Manager at Children First. The not-for-profit experts at Net at Work worked with Children First to identify Sage Intacct as the financial hub that would meet their evolving accounting needs.

Handling an accounting system migration involving at least seven years of data while navigating strict data privacy and residency laws was a tall order for a small organization such as Children First, but they had strong support from Net at Work throughout the entire process. For example, Net at Work’s experienced team was there for every step of the system migration process, including using proprietary technology to improve the data conversion process for Children First’s substantial financial records.

Impacting the Mission Through Efficiency

Now that Children First has implemented the Sage Intacct-powered not-for-profit software, the administrative team can undertake proactive projects such as streamlining core financial processes, building operational efficiencies and saving staff time. Says Jane, “Those efficiencies, we believe, will ultimately lead to cost savings and productivity increases that positively impact our mission.” In fact, Net at Work projects the organization will realize a total cost of ownership savings in excess of $20,000 over five years.

Net at Work continues to be the organization’s first line of support for all things Sage Intacct. “I love their helpdesk team,” Jane says. “They are always very available, responsive, and quick. We feel like our account matters to them.”

Download the full Net at Work success story on Children First’s successful system migration to Sage Intacct to learn more about their approach and subsequent results.