CLIENT PROFILE
Seminole Nation Gaming Enterprise (SNGE) is an entity of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and operates three casinos within the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma territory.
THE SITUATION
The Nation came to Wipfli because they needed to make critical system and process improvements. They had been cited by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) for not meeting Tribal Internal Control Standards (TICS). Of greatest concern was how the violations compromised the integrity of the Nation’s operations, allowing for unacceptable threats against their assets. This led both Nation and casino leadership to realize that one of the biggest changes they needed to make to improve controls was in accounting.
The Wipfli team checked all of SNGE’s boxes with its proven CasinoEdge (powered by Sage Intacct) accounting software — plus its extensive experience implementing the solution for casinos across the country.
THE STRATEGY
After a thorough on-site assessment, the Wipfli team worked with SNGE stakeholders across all casino properties and departments to identify gaps in their processes and workflows. The goal of phase one was to eliminate inefficiencies and automate activities.
During phase two, Wipfli implemented CasinoEdge, migrated historical data and trained staff members to use CasinoEdge in the most efficient way (e.g., leveraging its full automation capabilities). Wipfli then replaced manual processes involving spreadsheets or physical paper with newly designed and automated workflows, controls, dashboards and reports specific to the gaming industry and SNGE’s unique needs.
The final phase — and most impactful from a business intelligence standpoint — was the daily automation of slot and CCT postings to CasinoEdge. With this transaction-level, department-specific data, SNGE has deep P&L insight that allows department managers to make quick and strategic decisions. This was a true gamechanger for the organization.
WHAT WERE THE RESULTS?
The overall results of all these improvements was extraordinary time savings for the SNGE team, greater financial controls across the entire enterprise, and easy, intuitive access to critical, real-time data that enables proactive decision-making.
What’s more, since the implementation of CasinoEdge, the SNGE finance team no longer has to request extra time to complete their month-end close and financial report consolidation. Powered by Sage Intacct’s award-winning technology, CasinoEdge saves the team over nine days in this monthly process. The SNGE team can run and share monthly financial reports within minutes and even schedule them for automatic distribution.
Last but not least, SNGE management has gained department-specific visibility into everything from their real-time budget numbers to actual reporting — a huge win for them.
