Nonprofit Upjohn Institute is ‘Productive from the Start’ After ERP Migration from Abila MIP to Sage Intacct with Net at Work

The W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research was founded in 1945 to study policy issues around employment and unemployment. Today, the Upjohn Institute continues funding extensive research while managing Michigan Works! Southwest, a four-county organization that prepares a qualified workforce to meet the current and emerging needs of business and industry.

Due to the Institute’s multifaceted projects—and its various funding sources and locations—modernizing its financial operations was a crucial factor in enabling the organization’s current and future success. So, when Kathy Breyfogle joined the Institute as CFO, her first order of business was to migrate from its 20-year-old server-based accounting system, Abila MIP Fund Accounting, to the best cloud-based financial management solution for the organization’s needs.

From Scanning, Storing and Routing Documents to Paperless Workflows

With the help of their trusted technology advisor Net at Work, Kathy and her team chose Sage Intacct as the Institute’s next-generation nonprofit Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution. “Sage Intacct has a more professional, consistent user interface, and the fact that it’s the only solution to be endorsed by the AICPA (Association of International Certified Professional Accountants) impressed us and gave our auditors confidence,” she explains.

“We see quality improvements across all of our processes,” says Kathy. “Overall, we’re able to react more quickly and spend more time on activities that help grow the organization’s impact and reach.”

Net at Work’s knowledge of the Institute’s operations as well was crucial for a smooth, swift upgrade.  “They know us, and they are experts in both products,” Kathy notes. “That allowed them to directly map our existing workflows into the new system and optimize those workflows simultaneously.” With Net at Work’s help, the Institute brought two years of transaction detail and an additional year of account balances from their previous solution into the cloud nonprofit ERP. This allowed their teams to be productive right from the start.

Leading from the Front

Now that the Institute uses Sage Intacct, they’re enjoying all the benefits that a next-generation nonprofit ERP can offer, including:

• Smart rules ensuring accuracy and improve internal controls
• Dedicated project management tool to boost collaboration and accountability
• Use of dimensions to shorten and simplify a complex chart of accounts
• A score of 100% granted to the finance team on a recent employee engagement and satisfaction survey

Read the full Net at Work success story on the Upjohn Institute’s implementation of cloud ERP Sage Intacct to learn more about the organization’s experience with this ERP migration process.