About Entrepreneurs’ Organization

The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is the world’s largest membership network exclusively by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs everywhere. Since 1987, EO has been supporting the world’s leading builders of business to realize more of their potential by fostering connections, applying leadership skills, and creating belonging across industries and borders.

The Challenge

The organization is growing, and wanted to transition to a modern, flexible, cloud-based financial management application that could support that growth.

The Solution

After reviewing both Sage Intacct and NetSuite, Entrepreneurs’ Organization decided Sage Intacct was the ideal next step. Its long-term successful partnership with Acumen was a significant factor in that decision.

The Result

By migrating from Sage 300 to Sage Intacct, the organization has created a future-proof solution that will serve its needs now, and for many years to come.

• Automation cut three days from monthly close cycle.
• Reduced natural chart of accounts to 50 from 5,000.
• Streamlined global multicurrency transactions eliminate the need to manual adjustments.
• Real-time visibility into cash holdings informs strategic decision making.

Full Sage Intacct Success Story:

Supporting the world’s business builders

The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) supports the world’s leading builders of business by fostering connections, applying leadership skills, and creating belonging across industries and borders. More than 19,000 entrepreneurs in 80+ countries comprise EO’s network of members, each belonging to the global EO organization and at least one of the more than 220 local chapters. It’s a dynamic organization that prides itself on promoting best business practices that lead to success. That commitment led EO to choose Sage Intacct as its financial management application, and Acumen as its business partner.

Investing in the future with Sage Intacct

Just as the organization encourages its members to take a critical look at their operations, EO’s finance team underwent its own business transformation. “We wanted to better equip EO for the future,” recalls Russell Garvey, VP of Finance for EO. “We’ve enjoyed steady growth throughout our history, and it is realistic to think we could double in size again.”

For years, EO relied on Sage 300 as its financial management solution, but the software lacked the agility, scalability, and flexibility that Russell knew EO would need to sustain its growth. “We wanted to move to a modern, scalable, and flexible cloud-based system,” he says.

EO reviewed several applications before narrowing its choices to Sage Intacct or Oracle NetSuite. “The two applications are similar in many ways,” Russell says. “Ultimately, we decided that Sage Intacct was the best solution for us. We had an established relationship with our Sage business partner, Acumen, whom we trust, and that definitely helped tip the scale toward Sage Intacct.”

Seamless transition to Sage Intacct from Sage 300

Russell describes the transition from Sage 300 to Sage Intacct as seamless. “Acumen is very knowledgeable and professional. They used export and import tools they’ve developed to speed up the data transfer between the two applications. It was a fast implementation, and we were able to be productive with the new system right away.”

The organization’s first win came quickly. “Using Sage Intacct dimensions, Acumen showed us how we could reduce our number of accounts from 5,000 to around 50,” Russell says. “Dimensions represent our departments, activities, and chapters now, so we just need a natural account number. It vastly simplifies every finance process and makes them all more intuitive.”

Supporting global operations

As a finance professional for a global organization, Russell travels extensively. Previously, accessing Sage 300 while away from the office required a clumsy process involving remote desktop logins. Now, thanks to the native cloud-based architecture of Sage Intacct, Russell can access the application easily from anywhere in the world. “We also have finance team members in Singapore and Taiwan, and the cloud accessibility is fast and secure from anywhere in the world,” he says.

EO’s global presence also means it operates in multiple currencies. Sage Intacct precisely translates and consolidates financial data across currencies. This means that EO can generate reports and initiate payments in the currency that best suits its needs. At the same time, live exchange rates eliminate the need for manual exchange rate management, saving the finance team time and reducing manual error.

With nearly half of its staff members accessing Sage Intacct from outside the US, the solution’s robust security and audit features give EO confidence. “And I like that we can configure new users quickly and assign them a security profile based on their role,” adds Russell.

Streamlining payment processing

To further simplify global ACH payments, Acumen introduced EO to a Sage Intacct integrated solution to securely initiate electronic payments to and from vendors, employees, and customers through any bank, anywhere in the world — without leaving the Sage Intacct. “This has been a real game-changer for us,” Russell says. “We now have a real-time picture of our cash holdings and expenses throughout the month — no more waiting until the bank statement arrives. Our department heads know exactly where they stand throughout the month, which allows them to make better decisions more quickly.”

The streamlined payables process is convenient and has led to significant time savings. “We’ve cut three to five days off our monthly close,” Russell notes.

Next on the automation list is employee expense reporting. “We are adding Concur to the mix,” Russell says. “It also integrates with Sage Intacct, and by automating expense management, our employees gain a simpler way to create accurate, detailed expense reports, and we’ll be able to speed up the approval and reimbursement processes. Plus, we’ll gain better visibility into spend — wherever and whenever it happens.”

Promoting collaboration across teams

Acumen created customized dashboards within Sage Intacct for the finance team and department heads that provide quick access to the data they need to do their jobs. “The dashboarding and reporting tools are strong,” notes Russell. “I can provide our board with up-to-date information at any point in the month. Plus, we’ve automated the generation of our chapter reporting, which saves our team time they can use on more strategic tasks.”

Optimizing budgeting and planning

Another integrated application that EO leverages in its operations is Workday Adaptive Planning, a best-of-breed budgeting and forecasting tool the organization uses to manage multiple funding sources more efficiently and accurately forecast future revenue streams and expenses.

The integration with Sage Intacct means that financial data flows seamlessly into Adaptive Planning, allowing for real-time reporting and analytics. This helps EO maintain up-to-date insights into its financial health, making it easier to share data with stakeholders and make informed financial decisions.

Embodying the entrepreneurial spirit

In the entrepreneurial spirit of innovation and excellence, EO has embraced Sage Intacct to modernize its financial landscape, making it as dynamic and forward-thinking as its members. With Sage Intacct and integrated best-of-breed solutions combined with strategic advice from business partner Acumen, EO has streamlined financial processes, enabled real-time decision-making, and enhanced global connectivity, effectively embodying the principles it champions.

“Based on our success with Sage Intacct, we’re now recommending it and Acumen to all of our chapter organizations,” concludes Russell.

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