Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport

Customer Profile

The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) is an independent, national, nonprofit organization. Their mission, to foster ethical sport for all Canadians, is carried out through research, promotion, education, detection and deterrence, as well as through programs and partnerships with other organizations.

The Challenge

As the demands on the organization grew, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports (CCES) struggled with providing transparency and accountability from their legacy DOS-based system. The software was too cumbersome to allow them to optimize fund management, provide budgetary control, or manage complex reporting requirements, and manual processes were slowing down their efficiencies. Because of this, they began to look for a system that was better-tailored towards their specific needs as a Nonprofit. 

Selecting Sparkrock

Sparkrocks Finance & Accounting solution is built specifically for non-profits, CCEES’ users found it easy to understand and navigate. Flexibility with reporting on project streams, ease of producing financial statements, and ability to quickly retrieve historical transactional information. Other advantages include: 

• Optimized fund management 
• Tighter budget controls due to automated accounting, budgeting and reporting
• Time savings due to efficient, real-time reporting
• Greater departmental integration due to the robust nature of the system
• Ease in producing financial statements
• Easier administration due to personalized, data-centric admin with access to AP, AR, and GL 
• Automated requesting, budget check, and approval processes

The Outcome

After a very rapid implementation – about one month – the staff at CCES noticed immediate time savings, as the retrieval of pertinent financial information became much easier to access. Integration across departments saved CCES an initial $25,000 in accounting costs, and even in the early stages, time savings of half an FTE allowed staff to move from manual clerical work to automated, analytical processes. Data access outside of administration office walls also allowed for more efficient, real-time reporting.

“Since the Sparkrock solution is built specifically for nonprofits, our users find it easy to understand and navigate, and they enjoy having quick access to data at their fingertips. The main strengths of the system include the flexibility to report on project streams, ease of producing financial statements, and retrieving historical transactional information.” 

Gary Laverdure

Manager of Financial Operations