Unlocking time for impact: how The Transition House supercharged reporting with Syft
About The Transition House
The Transition House is a US-based residential, non-profit organization dedicated to providing hope and healing to those who are struggling. They offer a wide array of services to assist residents preparing to re-enter society following prison, army service, substance abuse, or experiences of domestic violence.
Their team is committed to administering excellent care and making a positive impact in the lives of those they serve. They strive to empower residents to lead crime-free, stable lives by equipping them with career training, housing assistance, counseling, and support so they can build a brighter, dignified future.
In states where regulations permit, The Transition House helps residents find gainful employment and opens savings accounts for them so that, when they are released, they are unlikely to return to a life of crime. In addition, their Chief Financial Officer, Lisandra Gonzalez, coaches residents in financial literacy so that they are equipped to make sound financial decisions upon release.
I was fortunate enough to speak to Lisandra about her work at The Transition House and how using Syft has improved her reporting processes and has given her the time to invest in valuable activities, rather than spending nearly a week each month just compiling reports.
Getting the books in order, building a team, and finding an analytics app
When Lisandra was hired, three years ago, The Transition House was worried about having grants revoked due to inaccurate reporting. So, she established a system to examine their historical data, entered as much information as possible, and ensured that all the payroll records were reconciled.
Next, she began to recruit a team of accountants, starting with an accounts payable accountant, a payroll and NGO accountant, and then a trust accountant. However, Lisandra realized that a vital role was missing.
“I needed a financial analyst but I didn't have the budget for that. I knew that we didn't need a full-time person but I needed someone to pull my data together… And I didn't want to pay a $50,000 salary when I knew there had to be resources out there that could do what I was looking for. So, I started researching apps that could be synchronized with QuickBooks and I came across Syft.” - Lisandra Gonzalez, CFO at The Transition House
Lisandra made an appointment with one of Syft’s Account Executives to find out what Syft could do and she fell in love with the software. Her initial thought was:
“This is exactly what we need. I don't need to hire a full-time person, plus taxes, plus unemployment when I can use Syft.”
Saving four days a month on consolidations
One of the Syft features that impressed Lisandra most was being able to generate consolidated reports quickly and effectively. The consolidation feature empowered Lisandra to update her consolidated reporting in real-time, reducing errors and removing hassle.
“QuickBooks is not too friendly when it comes to reporting, even when you have only one company. We have six companies across 20 locations and I was looking for software that would help me consolidate all my numbers. Unfortunately, the only way that I was able to do that was by Excel exporting and then combining and creating formulas… This created a lot of work because any time I [needed to make] changes because of errors across the process, I would have to reprint everything and that was not productive.” - Lisandra Gonzalez, CFO at The Transition House
Before trying Syft, it took Lisandra almost a whole week to assemble reports every month. As she explains:
“Syft has saved me four whole days every month – which is a lot for me because I'm always so busy.”
Once Lisandra implemented Syft, creating consolidated reports became much more straightforward. Plus, making changes only took a few clicks and then she could watch her reports refresh right before her eyes.
Feature spotlight: Live View
Lisandra’s favorite feature is Syft’s interactive and collaborative Live View report, a report that can be shared online and updated in real-time, with the ability to add commentary in the margin.
“I'm obsessed with Live View, my gosh! It’s amazing because I can put my notes in there and explain everything per page, and if I make a change because of a mistake I find, I can refresh and add a note based on whatever new finding I have. I don't have to redo my work; it's already there.” - Lisandra Gonzalez, CFO at The Transition House
What’s more, having live data to work with means that vital decisions can be made proactively.
Making reports simple and understandable
The directors at The Transition House are great at running the daily operations of their facilities, but they’re not financial people. As such, Lisandra would often have to explain financial information to them. However, Syft has changed this dynamic. Now, Lisandra provides the directors with beautiful, visual reports that help them make sense of the numbers. She gives the example of a report that shows budgeted figures alongside actuals:
“That report is amazing. I love the fact that you have the green arrow versus the red arrow going down. That’s super cool because [the directors] know exactly where to look. I love the graphs and I love that you can build this specific report just for them and it highlights the variances. It makes it really easy for them to read and understand.”
The visual element provides clarity to the directors at The Transition House about how money is being spent so that they are able to work with the information to hand.
Getting a helping hand
A few months ago, Lisandra was tasked with compiling a report that she knew she would not have the time to produce manually. Initially, she thought she would need an extra member of staff to compose the report, but then she found out about Syft’s Implementation offering and asked for help.
The Implementation team answered all her questions and built the report exactly to her liking – “ and exactly to my deadline”. In the end, Lisandra didn’t need to hire another accountant or do any manual reporting, and, “Syft made [her] look good.” This stood in stark contrast to her previous experience of using reporting software.
Prior to trying Syft, Lisandra trialed another software, which she describes as “not very user-friendly”. To add insult to injury, when she had questions about how to use the software, she was met with automated chatbots rather than actual people. This turned getting to grips with the software into a tedious and frustrating exercise.
“I'm so busy. If I had to figure everything out by myself, that would take me a whole week to do… I thought, ‘No. You want my business. Help me, save me time, and then we'll do business together.’ And that's what I have with Syft. The team is very present and responsive… And I like being able to speak to a person instead of a machine or a chatbot online. That's very valuable.” - Lisandra Gonzalez, CFO at The Transition House
This just goes to show that even in the era of AI, nothing beats the human touch. At Syft, we recognize this and this is why we remain committed to having real people available to answer users’ queries over our live chat service.
Plans for the future
There is always a lot of work to be done at The Transition House, from securing funding to assisting residents as they prepare to return home. Lisandra has learned and grown immensely since she started working there and I’m sure she will continue to develop in her role in the years to come.
“Career-wise, it has been a huge challenge and an amazing learning experience. Being able to hold a job as a Financial Controller [and then CFO] of such a big company, which does such an amazing job for the community, by the time I'm 35… I'm very proud of that and of what we do and I'm glad I was able to find Syft when I did. I hope we can work together for a long time and Syft can help me more along the way.” - Lisandra Gonzalez, CFO at The Transition House
Lisandra is keen to “get super educated on Syft” so that she knows her way around the software and doesn’t need to ask too many questions. She loves the idea of Syft Campus and promises to take advantage of every course and article she can get her hands on.
We, at Syft Analytics, are proud to be able to partner with Lisandra and her team and to make a contribution towards the success of The Transition House. We look forward to many more years of partnership as The Transition House goes from strength to strength, reminding people that the past need not define them and there’s always the possibility of a better life.
