How one nonprofit addressed their unique financial challenges

Implementing life-changing programs requires systems that can handle shifting and changing circumstances in every area of the organization

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.

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.”

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.

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.

“Abdo brought a really robust team to us. We were often surprised at how many resources were at our disposal from the Abdo team throughout the process: Different types of expertise we could draw on and multiple people supporting our work; quick responsiveness and the trainings were clear.”

SCOTT CORDES

CFO & VP of Operations

See for yourself

Listen in as Scott Cordes of Project for Pride in Living (PPL) discusses the success of Sage Intacct: