Achieve Greater Impact with ERP Solution Sage Intacct
A nonprofit client recently asked me to help move their accounting system “to the cloud.” But what does that mean? Depending on the circumstances, it can mean different things to different people. This client wanted to upgrade to a new accounting system they could access anytime, from anywhere with an internet connection. The client then asked if they should transition to Sage Intacct — a question we hear often at Marcum Technology.
Over the past decade, there has been tremendous demand for cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions. Within the accounting industry Sage Intacct has become the market leader in the not-for-profit sector, and nonprofit organizations represent Sage Intacct’s largest customer base. At Marcum Technology, we have transitioned many of our nonprofit clients from on-premised solutions to Sage Intacct.
Let’s take a moment to review what Sage Intacct is and why it is so popular. Sage Intacct is a true cloud-based SaaS solution, which means the application is accessed through a browser. Sage Intacct supports all major browsers. It is also a software as a service (SaaS) solution. With the traditional on-premise model, you purchase the software and usually pay an annual maintenance fee to the software publisher. With the SaaS model, you pay a subscription fee to “rent” the software either on a monthly or an annual basis. Some features unique to cloud-based solutions include:
Quick implementation process
Because the application is accessed via a browser, there is no installation required.
Lower upfront costs
Instead of paying for a license, annual maintenance, and hardware, you generally pay based on usage.
No hardware or maintenance tasks
The cloud-based solution provider maintains the software and servers. With no hardware requirements, your internal IT staff is not tied down with maintaining and supporting the accounting server.
Easier and more regular upgrades
Enhancements and upgrades are rolled out automatically in the background without disrupting your workflow.
Disaster recovery and backup capabilities
The software publisher manages all backups and assumes responsibility for disaster recovery. These services are critical but often an afterthought as many companies fail to properly back up their accounting system and/or test the restore of the backup file.
Security and reliability
With all the shared storage space in the cloud, it is critical to consider the safety of the data. Publishers should receive the service organization controls (SOC) compliance report to ensure their system is secure.
Remote work and the requirement for anytime, anywhere access to systems has made cloud-based solutions like Sage Intacct an undeniable necessity. In addition to accessing resources on-demand, organizations are demanding modernized ERP solutions to:
- Automate key processes.
- Manage complex systems while adhering to internal controls.
- Gain real-time visibility into their operations through better reporting.
- Save money through better use of technology.
Sage Intacct’s ability to meet these demands drives its popularity in the ERP world. The service offers strong capabilities and features that are appealing to many nonprofit organizations:
Ease of use
I have worked with many ERP solutions in my career, and I find that Sage Intacct is among the easiest to use. In many ways, Sage Intacct’s navigation and drill-down capabilities remind me of QuickBooks, which is a system most nonprofits know. When I describe Sage Intacct’s user experience, I sometimes call it QuickBooks on steroids.
Powerful dashboard
Sage Intacct offers users self-service capabilities to access reports and visualizations that are ready in real-time. Sage Intacct’s dimension-driven reporting allows users to deliver insights to meet different stakeholders’ needs.
Flexible general ledger structure
The general ledger is the body of the accounting system. Sage Intacct’s general ledger structure is based on dimensions that are integrated with the chart of accounts. Common dimensions are vendor, customer, department, location, project or grant, and class. With this flexible dimension structure, users can capture and report data by dimensions and slice and dice the data for reporting however they choose.
Grant management
Sage Intacct can manage your grant to track both financial and non-financial information for compliance reporting. This module enables many of our clients to step away from the traditional Microsoft Excel file to track grants.
COVID-19 was a game-changer in terms of how and where employees work. As a result, organizations used their ERP systems in a remote-work ecosystem for the first time. This challenged many organizations to rethink where their ERP system should reside and whether they could reduce risk by switching to a true cloud-based system.
At Marcum Technology, we have a long history of partnering with organizations to execute successful transitions from on-premise solutions to cloud-based solutions like Sage Intacct. The nonprofit and social sector is one of Marcum’s largest industry sectors, and we have a specialty group of professionals dedicated exclusively to it.
If you are interested in learning more about the best-in-class cloud-based accounting software Sage Intacct, register for our Sage Intacct CPE accredited webinars or contact us at [email protected] today.
