Client Success Story
How one nonprofit addressed their unique financial challenges
Project for Pride in Living (PPL) is a nonprofit specializing in creating stability through affordable housing and skills training to encourage long-term employment in the Twin Cities area.
Implementing life-changing programs of this caliber requires systems that can handle shifting and changing circumstances in every area of the organization.
Click to hear from PPL CFO & Senior VP of Operations, Scott Cordes
Nonprofits like PPL need specialized accounting software capable of addressing the distinctive challenges of their industry.
Problem
“It was an open question: ‘When will we transition to a more robust financial system for our operations?’” That was one of the first things that Scott Cordes, the CFO and VP of Operations for Project for Pride in Living, heard when he arrived at the nonprofit five years ago.
PPL came from a system called Sage 100. It worked for a while but was built for a smaller, less complex organization than they had become. PPL needed an accounting platform that met the needs of its organization and the people they serve. Scott says, “We have to make sense of it for ourselves, but also for our stakeholders, developers, our supporters, the community, and other partners.”
Getting a cloud-based accounting platform was the highest priority.
In 2020, the pandemic burst upon the scene and accelerated the decision to change their accounting software. Sage 100 couldn’t support remote employees, so some people had to return to work onsite.
Scott remarked, “In transitioning to an entirely remote virtual workforce for over two years, we needed something that was going to be web-based so our staff could access the tools they needed from anywhere. That was the big driver when we went to the remote environment, and Sage 100 wasn’t built for that.”
"We needed something that was going to be web-based so our staff could access the tools they needed from anywhere."
—Scott Cordes
CFO and Senior VP of Operations, PPL
Solution
Scott Cordes and his team searched for an overall accounting solution that would meet the needs of their organization. But just as important, they wanted to work with a provider that would support them with the software implementation and beyond.
“The implementation program is extraordinarily important, and we wanted to make sure that the company we chose had our best interest in mind and would work with us in a holistic way and not get the system to go live and disappear. We were looking for a partner for the long haul.”
During their discussion with PPL, Abdo showed that they were the company that would provide the long-term support they expected and chose Abdo to administer the implementation of Sage Intacct and assist PPL’s accounting team in taking the software live.
Electronic routing through accounts payable
The ability to report more effectively
Increase in efficiency and accuracy of data entry
Implementation
Asked about the implementation process, Scott replied, “For us, picking the implementation program was just as important as picking the software.”
Scott and his team wanted to take ownership of the software and decision-making. He said, “PPL needed to own everything we were doing, but rely on our implementation partner for guidance and advice. Abdo understood that which was really important in getting reinforcement from both directions. They got us to the finish line on time and ensured we were ready without any hiccups.”
Results
Scott has been pleased with the implementation already. With Abdo’s technical support and the Sage Intacct financial management platform, the Project for Pride in Living organization can produce custom financial and operational reports and grant reports and conduct budgeting and forecasting within Sage Intacct without outside products or relying on manual spreadsheets.
The cloud allows for real-time information access reducing errors, increasing efficiency, and freeing valuable time for PPL to concentrate on what they do best—serve their community with affordable housing and job skills training.
"If a problem comes up, we know Abdo is here to support us as we continue to move forward ."
Scott Cordes
CFO & Senior VP
of Operations, PPL
Download the Case Study
How one nonprofit addressed their unique financial challenges
Read Abdo's case study to learn more about how Project for Pride in Living's choice to upgrade from Sage 100 to Sage Intacct has positively impacted their mission, vision, and community impact. View, print, or share the PDF below.
Meet our Sage Intacct Leader
Guiding you through implementation & beyond
Geniene Scherer, CPA | Senior Manager, Consulting & Advisory
Geniene provides leadership to her clients as they navigate process assessment, software evaluation, and strategic data and technology initiatives.
Lighting the path forward
GRANT MANAGEMENT
Before Abdo and Sage Intacct, PPL manually tracked 20-40 grants. Now, grant information such as type, status, and key dates can be tracked along with all financial information—revenue and expenditures.
SAGE INTACCT PLANNING
PPL can eliminate budgeting and forecasting on Excel spreadsheets. With the Sage Intacct Planning module, PPL can accomplish its budgeting and planning within the system itself.
APPROVALS
The Abdo team took PPL from a manual approval process and developed a solution to provide automated approval workflows with key approvers.