Signs You’re Ready for Cloud Financial Management

Change can be daunting. It can also be transformative.

Finance teams that are embracing the future have found out that the fear of the former is far outweighed by the benefits of the latter — thanks to technology that is integrated, customizable and intuitive.

Technology is the key to a seamless and painless process of digital transformation. When harnessed to full effect, technology can help propel an organization to the next level.

In a recent webcast, Signs You’re Ready for Cloud Financial Management, we discussed how one organization navigated this transformation — to great success — moving from Sage 50 to Sage Intacct, a cloud-based financial management solution.

More importantly, the webcast discussion examines how to determine that your organization is ready to move to the next step and embrace an integrated and efficient financial management system.

In the webcast, Les Horenfeldt describes how he joined the non-profit Responsible Gaming Council (RGC) in 2020 as Chief Financial Officer and immediately recognized that outdated processes and technologies were holding the organization back.

RGC has been a leader in the prevention of problem gambling in Canada and globally for more than 35 years, with multiple stakeholders, global clients, and government partners. What’s interesting about this story is that the finance leader at this non-profit has never shied away from technology — it’s just that he’d never found a fully integrated solution that met the needs of this organization.

Horenfeldt’s journey — or RGC’s journey, more accurately — holds a wealth of knowledge that is applicable to any organization that finds themselves hamstrung by outmoded technologies and processes that are sapping valuable energy from their organizations.

On the webcast, Horenfeldt is joined by Marija Temelkovski, who leads a brief demonstration of the Sage Intacct system, highlighting the capabilities and outcomes that the team at RGC are now enjoying.

Horenfeldt’s experience bringing Sage Intacct to RGC highlights the tremendous efficiencies that are achievable with modern cloud-based financial management technologies. What’s more, removing the tedious and error-prone processes — such as manual keying data into multiple spreadsheets — not only makes for a happier work force, it also makes for an empowered workforce. Freedom from drudgery creates a whole new space for strategic planning, growth, and looking to the future.

Transformation at the Responsible Gaming Council

The Responsible Gaming Council was already a customer of Sage 50 and was also using other disparate systems. After implementing Sage Intacct’s cloud-based solutions, they were able to reduce four different databases down to just one.

Read on for Horenfeldt’s invaluable advice on successfully leading a digital transformation that reaps true benefits for all involved. 

What are the benefits of embracing technology?

1. Automation — mundane and inefficient tasks, such as keying data into Excel spreadsheets, are eliminated.
2. Reporting — quickly and easily turn your data into useable and actionable information, customizable to deliver the exact information required for various stakeholders in your organization.
3. Visibility — real-time access to information specific to key stakeholders allows them to enact proactive (rather than reactive) decisions and strategies.
4. Connectivity — integration across all systems, along with remote web access.
5. Collaboration — a one-stop dashboard allows multiple — and remote — staff to share comments, task lists, and action points.

Sage customers who have modernized their finance approach with Sage Intacct immediately enjoy the benefits of a modern financial management solution that enables growth and agility, drives efficiencies by automating financial processes and workflows, and provides analytical tools to drive deep insight and the ability to effectively forecast for the future.

How to plan for (and execute) digital transformation

Horenfeldt knows from experience that planning is key: a realistic timeline with articulated goals keeps everyone on track. Knowing where you are and where you want to be, allows everyone to take ownership. Ongoing communication is of vital importance.

Analyze the pain points

“I began a deep-dive analysis of our existing financial software, being Sage 50, and I came upon a number of limitations — including the fact we had to work with multiple databases,” says Horenfeldt. “The extensive amount of Excel manipulation that was needed to properly analyze the data against budgets following the export of the data from the platform, along with challenges of accessing the data through a remote desktop environment…just to name a few.”

Consult your entire organization

“I spoke with all members of our executive management team to find out what challenges they were having with the current financial data, along with the information they were receiving. I asked them what information they’d like to be able to have in a new financial platform. I also heard from our audit committee and our respective boards on what information they’d like to have for purposes of being able to make timely decisions and ask the right questions going forward.”

Determine your needs

Horenfeldt articulated exactly what his team needed in order to achieve success. Three key elements rose to the surface — the system he would choose needed to incorporate:

1. Multidimensional reporting: “We needed a multidimensional reporting environment with robust and flexible build-out capabilities,” he explained. “This would include multiple entities under one database, unique departments and product codes, along with standard GL accounts that could be used across all entities for purposes of running consolidated data in a consistent manner.”

2. Customization: Horenfeldt goes on to say, “When you have this type of flexible structure, you can set up customized reporting to meet an individual department reporting requirements. The need to clean up a historic GL account structure that was single based and move to multidimensional reporting where we could track at all these different levels was my vision.”

3. Full integration: His last requirement was to be able to see the full financial picture across multiple departments … combining department reporting, unique government funding reporting, along with a host of other capabilities.

Conclusions

For Horenfeldt and RGC, Sage Intacct was the right solution at the right time — and with continual updates performed automatically, it will remain the right solution well into the future.

“It really stands alone in a league of its own because it’s fully customizable with significant functionality. It’s a true cloud solution, using a web-based browser with security protocols, and all you require is an internet connection,” he says.

Every company’s journey will be different, but the broad goal, however, is the same. RGC’s transformation offers a valuable roadmap for any organization that is ready for change.

Discover how Sage Intacct can empower your organization.