CLIENT PROFILE
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) is the leading trade association for global investment bankers, broker dealers and asset managers. The organization advocates on legislation, regulation and business policy on behalf of the industry’s nearly one million employees. SIFMA has merged with multiple advocacy organizations during its rich 100-year history and is based in New York and Washington D.C.
THE SITUATION
SIFMA’s finance team relied on an outdated, on-premises version of Microsoft Dynamics SL to manage the organization’s complex financial processes. Reporting was clunky and difficult, the software offered poor remote capabilities and information could not be released until the books were completely closed out. This created a long lag before managers could get actionable financial information, by which time it was often outdated and unreliable for decision-making purposes. SIFMA wanted to move to a modern, multi-entity cloud-based software solution. Impressed by its innovation, growth potential and flexibility, the group chose Sage Intacct and selected Wipfli to help make the transition.
THE STRATEGY
Wipfli brought profound knowledge of both nonprofit organizations and technology to the project. The team implemented Sage Intacct while helping SIFMA’s finance team successfully overhaul its manual workflows. The many changes and improvements included:
- The integration of Sage Intacct with other best-in-class tools, including Stampli for accounts payable automation, Concur for employee expenses and Vena Solutions for financial reporting.
- Creating a “one-stop shop” whereby all SIFMA’s financial processes flow through Sage Intacct.
- Process automation and intuitive workflows that allow managers to see approvals via dashboards and view vendor payments and other key transactions.
- A paperless environment with backup documentation for auditors.
- Remote access and the ability to hire on-the-ground resources anywhere.
WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?
Eliminating antiquated financial processes has created big efficiency gains while freeing up the organization’s resources — in fact, SIFMA has cut accounts payable processing by 50 percent. That valuable time is now spent building real-time dashboards, expanding reporting and improving month-end close, resulting in improved budget management and faster decision-making to enhance the overall organization. Stakeholders throughout SIFMA are now harnessing the power of real-time information to drive the organization’s long-term strategy and growth.
