Contact Information: Press Contact: Cynthia Sutton Sage North America (703) 793-2700 x 3032 cynthia.sutton@sage.com
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas Mentors More Children With Money Saved From New Sage Nonprofit Financial Management System
| Source: Sage North America
AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwire - September 8, 2009) - Sage North America helps more than 2.9 million
small and mid-sized businesses and nonprofits in the U.S. and Canada, like
Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of Central Texas in Austin, Texas, increase
efficiency and more easily manage their operations. Sage also knows that
every nonprofit organization aims to spend as few dollars as possible on
running the business, and as many dollars as possible on supporting its
mission.
BBBS of Central Texas in Austin, Texas, recently turned to Sage North
America for help in automating and streamlining its financial operations.
Switching from a combination of Intuit's QuickBooks® and spreadsheets to
Sage MIP Fund Accounting resulted in an annual cost savings of $30,000,
allowing the agency to serve an additional 30 young people each year.
In 2008, BBBS of Central Texas provided more than 82,000 hours of mentoring
to 1,662 children in Central Texas, as well as $48,000 in scholarship money
to 69 Little Brothers and Sisters pursuing higher education. For 37 years,
the agency has matched children, ages six to 16, with supportive adult
mentors, and is ranked in the top five nationally for match quality.
Insisting on Sage
When Angie Adams joined BBBS of Central Texas as its new vice president of
finance, she insisted on the switch to Sage MIP Fund Accounting. Although
the agency has a budget of $2 million; "we were still using QuickBooks®
and spreadsheets, which made tasks more labor-intensive and reporting more
difficult," said Adams.
"They first asked if I could just restructure QuickBooks to better meet
their needs," continued Adams. "I explained that you can't get blood out of
a turnip. I insisted on Sage MIP Fund Accounting, as I have at other
nonprofits where I've worked. Everyone here is very glad that I did."
Significant Improvements
BBBS of Central Texas now uses Sage MIP Fund Accounting to automate all of
its finances, including the general ledger (GL), budgeting, accounts
payable, and payroll. The software allocates expenses to grants whenever an
invoice is entered, and generates sophisticated reports, including
month-end and actual vs. budget reports.
Prior to Sage MIP Fund Accounting, the agency employed a full-time
accountant, office manager, and vice president of finance. Now, it is
operating comfortably with a VP and part-time office manager.
"The bottom-line improvements with Sage MIP Fund Accounting are
significant," said Adams. "We're saving at least $30,000 annually, which
allows us to serve an additional 30 young people each year. Sage MIP Fund
Accounting also plays a key role in helping our agency reach its aggressive
2015 goal of mentoring 5,000 kids."
Fast, Easy Reporting
Sage MIP Fund Accounting makes reporting fast and easy. Before, many
detailed reports were impossible or too time-consuming to create. "Instead
of spending a full day per month, per grant, preparing monthly reports, I
can create a report instantly, with absolutely no effort," explained Adams.
She added, "Our banker and board are very impressed at the way we can
analyze data. It's simple to compare actual to budget at many different
levels, including department, specific grants, or by function. Or, we can
view the big picture for the entire agency, all with up-to-the-minute
data."
Streamlined Operations, Clear Accountability
According to Adams, Sage MIP Fund Accounting's real beauty comes from
enhanced allocation capabilities. "Once you have the logic set up the way
you want it, the system assigns expenses and virtually takes care of
itself," she said. "I created distribution codes for each staff person
based on their workflow, and Sage MIP Fund Accounting allocates their
wages, taxes, and benefits according to preset percentages. We do the same
with other overhead costs. Electricity, for instance, is split between six
different funding entities. When it's time to reapply for grants, we can
demonstrate exactly where every penny went."
"One of my goals has been to streamline the agency's administrative and
fundraising operations," said BBBS of Central Texas CEO, Brent Fields "I'm
very happy with the positive results from Sage MIP Fund Accounting, because
the software makes us a leaner organization, which means we're better
stewards of our donors' resources."
For more information about Sage MIP Fund Accounting or other Sage North
America software for nonprofit organizations, please visit
http://www.sagenonprofit.com or call 800-647-3863.
About Sage MIP Fund Accounting
Available as licensed software or in a virtual server-hosted environment,
Sage MIP Fund Accounting is Sage North America's award-winning software for
nonprofit financial management. It is part of a broad portfolio of Sage
business management software and services that support accounting, ERP,
CRM, human resources and other operations. First introduced in 1982, Sage
MIP Fund Accounting has been honored with numerous industry awards,
including three consecutive Campbell Awards from Campbell Rinker for
exceptional ratings in the Nonprofit Accounting Software Survey, a
nationwide survey of accounting software users.
About Sage North America
Sage North America is part of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier
of business management software and services. Sage North America employs
more than 4,100 people and supports nearly 2.9 million small and
medium-size business customers. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was
floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs 14,500 people
and supports 5.8 million customers worldwide. For more information, please
visit the Web site at www.sagenorthamerica.com.
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