Challenge:
Agency could not break out costs the way it needed to enhance profitability; obtaining data for funding sources was laborious and time-consuming.
Solution:
Sage MIP fund Accounting, with complete suite of financial modules.
Results:
Remained financially stable despite funding cuts of up to 15 percent in many areas.
Like many nonprofit agencies, Harbor Behavioral Healthcare focused more on providing services to the community than on its business systems. Then Mary Pat Gebers joined the team as CFO, from a background in private industry. She wasn't satisfied with the accounting package she encountered at the counseling service agency.
"The existing software didn't allow me to determine costs," Gebers says. "Off-the-shelf systems lacked the ability to classify data the way we needed. Fortunately we found Sage MIP Fund Accounting, which integrates with Psych Consult software for our client transactions."
Clinical information such as client data, procedure type, and date of counseling session is entered into Psych Consult, a software solution for behavioral healthcare practices. Harbor imports data into Sage MIP Fund Accounting for analysis. Psych Consult performs client invoicing, while Sage MIP Fund Accounting does all non-healthcare billing such as corporate consultations and grants.
Plenty of Subsets for Data
"Two important features really distinguish sage nonprofit solutions from other products," says Gebers. "One is the ability to set a multitude of cost segments. Most other systems only let you set two or three segments. With Sage MIP Fund Accounting, I can create an almost infinite number. This allows me to classify data and then combine it in a myriad of ways."
Robust Reporting
The second key benefit is the software's reporting tool, according to Gebers. "Sage MIP Fund Accounting's built-in report writer is very straightforward and easy to learn," she says. "It doesn't require the user to be a programmer, and it eliminates the need for an expensive outsourcing company. It gives me the power to tailor reports exactly the way I want, analyze the data, and then pass it along to others in a usable format. I can break out data by employee, department, location, product line, type of service, or basically any of the criteria we establish with the cost codes."
Having a clear understanding of costs has been a big help when Harbor applies for grants and responds to requests for proposals (RFPs). They are more competitive because they can estimate anticipated expenditures based on actual data.
"Sage MIP Fund Accounting is the best solution I've found for running a nonprofit," Gebers says. "Most agencies face increasingly difficult times. Thanks to Sage MIP Fund Accounting, we've been able to remain financially stable, even in the face of significantly decreased reimbursement." |