Client background

The Urban Resource Institute (URI) is the nation’s largest provider of domestic violence shelters and services. URI focuses on the underserved needs of vulnerable populations, providing life-changing services to the New York City metroplex. The work of URI focuses on domestic violence, homelessness, poverty and trauma with the goal of increasing safety, family security and supportive communities.

The business challenge

Not-for-profits often rely on grants to sustain vital services and to finance specific projects or initiatives. In order to continue receiving funding from federal, state and city resources, URI needed to ensure their reporting was timely and accurate. URI’s accounting system was outdated and many of the processes were manual, resulting in time-consuming workloads that were prone to error.

Strategy and solution

Baker Tilly has a strong history of aiding not-for-profit organizations by offering distinctive services that make a significant difference in the community. With this deep knowledge, the Baker Tilly team designed an accounting system to meet the needs of URI. Baker Tilly worked with URI’s finance team to implement Sage Intacct, a cloud-based financial solution. Through collaboration, we created new processes and workflows that not only made reporting more efficient, but also tracked inventory that was not easily quantifiable before.

Results achieved

The URI team now has the confidence in their financial information to make critical decisions on projects and growth trajectory that were not available in the past.

As a result of this project, a purchase request can now be initiated by program team members and approvals can be electronically processed. The system has saved time by eliminating the need to physically track down team members or communicate via email for document approvals. All approvals have been streamlined and can be reviewed via the system’s audit trail.

To uphold excellence, URI continues to update its work processes and has established a service subscription agreement with Baker Tilly. This agreement grants URI unlimited access to consulting services and support for their strategic road map initiatives and operational processes.

For more information about Baker Tilly’s cloud-based solutions, or to learn how we can help your organization transform accounting processes, contact our team.