Innovation for Impact SCIO’s Cloud Migration Unlocks New Efficiencies

Spinal Cord Injury Ontario (SCIO) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals living with spinal cord injuries. With a mission to support independence, self-reliance, and inclusion, SCIO provides a wide range of services, including service navigation, peer support, advocacy, and community reintegration programs. The organization serves thousands of individuals across Ontario, helping them navigate the complexities of living with a spinal cord injury and providing crucial resources for both physical and emotional well-being.

To continue offering these vital services efficiently, SCIO needs to ensure its internal operations, including financial management, are just as strong as its frontline services. That’s why the organization partners with BAASS and Sage Intacct.

Planning for a Vibrant Future

The organization is committed to providing essential services to its clients, and having the right financial tools is critical to its success. When Director of Finance Arie Kojokaro, a 26-year veteran of the organization, decided it was time to migrate from their legacy Sage 300 system to a modern, cloud-based solution, he knew it was a pivotal moment for SCIO. He had considered the move for years but delayed it, assuming the costs and disruptions would be too significant.

The turning point came when SCIO completed a broader IT overhaul, migrating its internal data to SharePoint and Azure, positioning itself for a more digital future. This shift made it the ideal time for Arie to evaluate Sage Intacct, a product he had been eyeing for years. Confident in both Sage and their trusted business partner, BAASS, SCIO never considered any other solution.

A Smooth and Collaborative Migration Process

Arie credits BAASS’s expert guidance and meticulous planning for making the migration process smooth and straightforward. "It was an amazing experience," he says, reflecting on the collaboration and strategic exploration that BAASS facilitated throughout the process. “From planning to go-live, BAASS exceeded all our expectations. The switch was seamless, and the results were immediately tangible.”

SCIO's old reporting process was labour-intensive and time-consuming, particularly for generating profit and loss statements across 45-50 departments. In fact, reporting was one of the organization's biggest pain points with Sage 300. BAASS introduced Arie to Sage Enterprise Intelligence, an integrated business intelligence tool revolutionizing SCIO’s reporting. "The value of the reporting tool is priceless," Arie shares. Government-required reports, once a tedious chore, are now easy to build. With Sage Intacct’s dimensions functionality, SCIO can quickly produce individual reports for various funders, drastically cutting down the time spent on administrative tasks.

Streamlining Workflows and Improving Compliance

In addition to reporting improvements, SCIO saw immediate gains in its procurement and payment workflows. Previously, initiating a purchase order (PO) was a manual, multi-step process requiring multiple email approvals. With Sage Intacct, the organization has automated the entire process, sending PO requests directly to approvers who can sign off with a few clicks. The staff now has complete visibility into the process, and the system retains a full audit trail. As a result, SCIO not only saves staff time but also improves adherence to its internal, best-practice purchasing policies.

Similarly, payment approval workflows — once reliant on a separate application with a hefty annual licensing fee — are now fully integrated into Sage Intacct. The unified workflow system further streamlines SCIO’s operations and frees time for more strategic tasks.

SCIO also wanted to retain key processes that were working well, such as their SAP Concur expense workflow. With BAASS Bridge, a seamless integration now imports reports directly into Sage Intacct. "I'm amazed at how BAASS listened to our vision and built a solution where expense reports flow effortlessly into Sage Intacct accounts payable," says Arie.

Removing Bottlenecks in Fundraising and Month-End Reporting

For years, processing fundraising deposit batches was a time-consuming task requiring manual data entry into Excel, followed by an import into Sage 300. BAASS addressed this by building a direct import process, eliminating the manual steps, and making the task almost effortless. “I can’t say enough about BAASS,” Arie notes. “Their strategic thinking and solutions have proven invaluable.”

One of the most significant time-savings has come during month-end reporting. In the past, running financial reports during the month-end close could take anywhere from 45 minutes to over an hour — per report. Now, the same reports run in a fraction of the time, saving SCIO up to two hours per day during the critical close period. What once took up to three weeks can now be completed in just four or five days.

The Right Partner Makes All the Difference

While Sage Intacct is a powerful tool, Arie is quick to emphasize that having the right partner for the journey is equally important. “Sage Intacct is amazing, but finding the right implementation partner is invaluable. For us, that’s BAASS. They always make themselves available and never say ‘no.’” SCIO’s trust in BAASS — built over years of working collaboratively together — was reinforced throughout this process, as the BAASS team continually went above and beyond to ensure a smooth transition.

The results have been transformative. SCIO’s finance and frontline staff spend less time bogged down by administrative tasks, freeing them up to focus on more strategic tasks. “The time savings is significant,” Arie says. “It allows us all to interact more with our mission instead of being mired in paperwork.”

Return on Investment Is a Clear Win

For SCIO, the move to Sage Intacct saves the organization an estimated 20% of staff time each month, particularly surrounding month-end reporting. The organization’s finance team can now run critical reports two to three times faster, reducing the frustration of waiting for data and allowing managers to make timely decisions.

The impact has been so profound that Arie encourages other organizations to think critically about the hidden costs of on-premises systems before dismissing the cloud as too expensive. "Be sure to consider what you're spending now on support and infrastructure before deciding against the cloud," he advises. "And make sure you work with an experienced partner like BAASS to guide the process."

Maximizing Impact

For nonprofit organizations like SCIO, investing in modern technology is about maximizing impact. Every dollar and every hour saved through improved efficiency can be redirected toward the organization's mission, ensuring that more resources go directly to serving the community rather than being tied up in administrative overhead. Cloud-based solutions like Sage Intacct enable nonprofits to automate routine tasks, streamline reporting, and gain real-time insights into their financials, empowering staff to focus on what matters most. For SCIO, the migration to Sage Intacct was a game-changing step in ensuring their financial operations are as dynamic and mission-focused as the people they serve.