Challenges:
- Needed a robust financial solution tailored to large and growing nonprofit organizations
- Wanted to automate numerous time-consuming manual processes and eliminate duplicate data entry
- Looking for reporting capabilities that provide better visibility into financial data
Previous Solution:
- ACS Financial
Results with Sage Intacct:
- Eliminated duplicate data entry and automated processes to significantly improve efficiency and increase accuracy of data
- Cloud financial management solution reduces strain on already limited IT team
- Rich reporting provides greater insight into financial operations and allows for better fund accounting
Based in Knoxville, Tennessee, Faith Promise Church is a contemporary church operating as an autonomous, self-governing group under no specific denominational control or influence. In addition to weekly services for nearly 3,500 members, the church runs an internet-based campus and supports numerous Tennessee-based ministries and global missions.
Faith Promise employs 45 full-time and part-time employees to oversee ministries and programs, manage finances, and support operational and administrative needs. Faith Promise had been using ACS Financial, but as the church grew it found the accounting system wasn't scaling at the same level. They struggled with manual and often duplicate data entry, paper-intensive processes and a lack of visibility into financial data.
Setting out to find a solution that would help automate processes and improve reporting, Faith Promise also wanted a cost-effective financial system that would not require a technical support team. After evaluating a number of offerings, including Blackbaud, Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains) and Sage MIP, Faith Promise chose Sage Intacct's nonprofit accounting software. With the help of Sage Intacct implementation partner Avankia, the church was up and running with Sage Intacct quickly - going live on the system in less than two months.
"Sage Intacct stood out from competitors because of its rich functionality and its on-demand delivery model," said Aaron Goin, finance director at Faith Promise Church. "As a not-for-profit organization, keeping costs down is critical - making a cloud-based solution appealing to us. We could gain all the process improvements and reporting capabilities we were seeking without worrying about the cost and hassle of installing, updating and maintaining any software or hardware."
Sage Intacct Enables Increased Access to Information and Greater Visibility into Financial Operations
Sage Intacct provides Faith Promise Church with a cloud financial management system that greatly simplifies and speeds processes both through automation and the ability for staff in any location to have a view into the Faith Promise Church's finances. For example, whenever a staff member enters a purchase requisition into Sage Intacct, automatic workflows route the request to appropriate approvers based on the amount of the purchase request. Sage Intacct provides the requestor with the ability to monitor the PO status and manage their budgets accordingly.
The church is also enjoying the rich reporting capabilities within Sage Intacct. Their previous accounting package had only limited, standard reporting which offered no choice in formatting. Any changes required involving IT resources which delayed the finance team in getting the information they wanted. The flexibility and easy customization capabilities of Sage Intacct enable Faith Promise to tailor reports to meet its particular needs - resulting in significant efficiencies. Reconciliation reports, for example, used to take 15 minutes or more every time and now can be created once and then repeated each future time with the touch of a button.
"We are thrilled with Sage Intacct's reporting and the added financial visibility it provides to us. There are many standard reports to choose from and we can easily customize them or create new reports for our specific needs," said Goin. "I don't have a technology background, but I have been able to create custom reports in just a short amount of time without the help of IT. Sage Intacct is that easy to use."
Streamlined Business Processes; Improved Fund Accounting
Since deploying Sage Intacct, Faith Promise has dramatically streamlined its financial processes and improved productivity - from automating workflow to the elimination of duplicate data entry. Goin and his assistant previously spent 40% or more of their time entering data; today he estimates they spend only 5% of their time inputting information.
"Most churches our size have four or more full-time staff working in their finance office," commented Goin. "With Sage Intacct, we are able to increase our operational efficiency and keep the required number of staff low. This saves the church $50,000 or more a year in salaries and benefits."
There were unexpected benefits Faith Promise gained as well. Like most nonprofits, the church needs to keep track of contributions received for a specific purpose. By allowing the church to track donations and how they are used to support various missions and ministries, Sage Intacct helps Faith Promise easily manage its fund accounting. Custom reports created by the church help showcase how contributions were dispersed to achieve the organization's goals.
"By giving us the ability to create different types of transactions and report on them individually, Sage Intacct enables us to more effectively manage our contributions," added Goin. "We're working to expand our reach throughout the state, so it's critical we maximize our financial resources. Sage Intacct is helping us to be more strategic with our finances, helping us pave the way to bigger and better things."
About Faith Promise Church
Industry: Nonprofit
Headquarters: Knoxville, TN
Faith Promise Church is a high-impact church based in Knoxville, Tennessee, that seeks to leverage technology to connect people to God. Faith Promise Church feature online broadcasts of their services each weekend, including streaming on the iPhone and deaf interpretation. For additional information about Faith Promise Church, please visit the church online at https://faithpromise.org/.