The challenge
CHESS (Churches Homeless Emergency Support Scheme), a charity providing high-quality accommodation for the homeless, had grown considerably, more than doubling its income to over £2 million this year.
The CEO and Board became increasingly aware that reports they received needed to cover much more than were currently being received.
“The reports we needed weren’t coming in — this meant that changes needed to happen,” says CEO Rob Saggs. “And we were concerned about some of the projections we were receiving, making it difficult to understand what our projections were.”
Approaching Insight
The incumbent accountant was leaving so it was an ideal time to make some improvements.
“Contingency planning was important to us,” says Rob. “With just one person in the team, we’d have to cover annual leave and sickness, potentially leaving us with gaps.”
That’s when a mutual trusted contact introduced them to Insight Associates and the idea of outsourcing their financial management to a team like ours.
Chess Homeless
“Contingency planning was important to us”
Working with Insight
We started by deeply understanding their organisation — how it was structured and what financial support it needed.
At the same time, we began onboarding them, which took a little longer than usual because their previous accountant had worked solo for years, with systems and files structured in a way that was difficult for outsiders to navigate. This is one of the risks of relying on a single in-house accountant.
Over several months, we built a clear and accurate picture of their finances, working closely with the in-house financial assistant who remained on board.
Making changes for the better
We migrated them to iplicit, our world-class accounting platform, because their previous system could no longer meet their needs. Now, CHESS has unprecedented visibility into its finances, from tracking each property’s financial performance to giving every tenant their own account.
With this in place, we provide CHESS’s Board with monthly management accounts, delivering the financial insights they need to run the charity efficiently and plan for the future. We’ve refined these reports each month based on the Board’s requests, such as breaking down different income streams.
The ultimate test
For Rob and his directors, the transformation has been game-changing.
“We finally have factual, quality financial data that we can rely on,” Rob says. “It’s helped usforecast where we’re going and have a lot more confidence in our decisions as we grow.”
He particularly values our reports that show how the organisation is performing against its budget: “This enables us to keep aligned with our mission.”
“We knew we were in a huge growth phase and we needed a finance function working with us that could take us to the next level.”
CHESS Homeless
“This enables us to keep aligned with our mission.”
TEDI-London
“Insight understood immediately that we wanted a finance department that would seamlessly integrate into our organisation”
“Our finances are run so smoothly, it’s practically under my radar!”
A few months into our partnership, Lesley gave the Insight team what we consider the ultimate compliment. She said that she didn’t really think about how TEDI-London’s finances were being run, because she knew it was being taken care of efficiently.
“It’s the kind of thing that’s high on your agenda when there are problems,” she said. “In the past, I’ve had cases where there were big financial to-do lists, issues that weren’t getting resolved, or simply lots of inefficiencies. But at TEDI-London, our finances are run so smoothly, it’s practically under my radar.”
She added, “The Insight team also does so much work behind the scenes I’m hardly aware of! They’re like swans gliding over the water elegantly, but underneath the surface they’re churning away. Just last week, I discovered that they were setting up something complicated to do with becoming a supplier for someone in the US. I didn’t even know they were doing it – and I didn’t need to, because I trust them so implicitly.”
It was music to our ears, because making our clients’ financial management so smooth and painless that it’s practically unnoticeable is a large part of our raison d’être. We always say that when your finances are a mess, everything in your business feels messy, too!
Peace of mind
For the first time, Rob isn’t dreading the next audit. The auditors will receive pre-prepared financial packs and direct access to the system, making the process far smoother.
“When we were audited last year, every time the auditors needed something, we had to search all over for it because it wasn’t clear where information was stored…”
The transition from in-house to an outsourced finance team could have been difficult, but Rob says our team’s accessibility has made all the difference:
“Everyone is very personable. I’m not an accountant — there are times when I need to ring Cara and ask what something means. She has all the time in the world for us and always explains everything in a way that makes sense and doesn’t make me feel bad for asking. They are very thorough.”
All set up in just three months
And you know the best indication out of everything that their new finance department is working well?
“I’m an interim FD who was drafted in to set up the finance team,” Lesley comments. “I expected it to take me a year. It actually took me three months, and I can now move on knowing that I’m leaving behind a highly efficient finance function for my successors.”
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