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Ho-Chunk Tribe of Winnebago Nebraska

Audit-ready, all the time

%
faster purchase order processing

The new CFO of Ho-Chunk Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska realized his finance team didn’t have the right tools to help the Nation succeed. He turned to Wipfli to guide the needed digital and financial transformation.

The Challenge

Grant managers and department heads had limited access to information they needed to manage — and no access to real-time data on their budgets versus actual positions. Manual workflows caused bottlenecks in procurement and member payments. And financial controls weren’t tight enough. Too many people had access to data that wasn’t relevant for their role. Most serious, data had to be rekeyed many times and from multiple sources, so financials weren’t audit ready.

The Solution

Ho-Chunk WTN chose Sage Intacct as its new accounting solution. Wipfli led the tribe through a comprehensive review of its finance and business processes and held stakeholder interviews across the organization. Then, Wipfli configured Sage Intacct to eliminate manual efforts, migrated historical data and prepared staff for go-live. Ho-Chunk WTN also secured ongoing support from Wipfli to help ensure its staff had unlimited, hassle-free support.

A partner that knows tribal organizations inside and out is the key to immediate and continued success. Wipfli was that partner for us.
Alan Post, CFO at Ho-Chunk Tribe of Winnebago Nebraska

The results

The finance department has audit-ready financials all the time, with a single version of the truth. Accounting can see details and supporting documents in a click, and the system has airtight internal controls. Program directors gained real-time information on programs and funding sources they manage. And the entire procurement approval process can be managed on mobile devices — eliminating previous bottlenecks. In fact, Ho-Chunk WTN cut the time to process purchase orders by 90%. Using a common chart of accounts also enabled robust reporting, including side-by-side comparisons.