Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD) is a 501c nonprofit organization based in the United States and New Zealand, providing a plethora of services to the deaf.  They recently worked with JMT Consulting Group to enhance their financial management solution by implementing Sage Intacct and Nexonia.  We recently sat down with Brad Hermes, CFO and Thomas Means, Controller to gain some insight into their operation.

JMT:  Can you share a little about the kinds of services that CSD offers?

Brad:  CSD offers a variety of programs for the Deaf people.  These programs are designed to provide communication and access points such as job placement and training, adult basic education classes and domestic violence support.  We also provide telecommunication relay services, video relay services, and video remote interpreting for experienced deaf and interpreting users.

JMT:  Can you tell me why CSD decided to transition to Sage Intacct?

Brad:  CSD made a decision to become a virtual admin team and that required us to really rethink our financial process.  We needed a financial management system that would allow us to work from anywhere in the United States or New Zealand – from our homes or from a coffee shop.  As a true cloud financial management system, Sage Intacct allows us to log into the system from anywhere and be productive without being tethered to an office.

Thomas:  My responsibilities as comptroller are very challenging.  It’s to look for the gaps that we have within our financial processes. Before our implementation, all our data was in separate silos.  We also had a lot of manual processes using paper.  We wanted to find a way to streamline our operations.

JMT:  Can you share how you chose JMT Consulting Group?

Brad:  It started with us contacting Sage Intacct.  When we told them that we were a nonprofit, they recommended JMT because JMT works only with nonprofits.  JMT understood our business.  They were able to advise us in some areas and how to pull different reports for our 990 taxes, our board, our auditors and for federal tax purposes.

JMT:  What are a few of the benefits that you are seeing now that the financial management system is implemented?

Brad:  We were able to do a virtual overhaul of our entire fiscal system and now we are able to work 100% from home.  We were able to implement dimensions which we weren’t able to do on our old system.

Thomas:  Before we became virtual we were using paper, we had to review everything through paper and we had to process our transactions using papers and emails from different systems.  Everything is able to be done within one system and all transactions are posted at the same time.  We have reduced the time it takes to do reports from more than one week to less than one day.  Implementing Sage Intacct plus Nexonia has proven to be a great time saver.

JMT: Would you like to add anything else?

Brad:  The fact that JMT works only with nonprofits was very important to us.  They understood our business.  We are not a simple business because of the different types of services we offer within the United States and New Zealand.  JMT was able to make recommendations and adjustments for tax or board purposes.  With their help, we were able to categorize our restricted and unrestricted funds.

For the full interview, watch this 4-minute video.