From Tedious Reporting to Strategic Insight: A Multi-Entity Accounting Transformation with Sage Intacct
Gibault Children's Services is a residential treatment facility headquartered in Terre Haute, Indiana, serving vulnerable youth and families. Under the financial leadership of CFO Amy Ashley — who joined the organization in 2006 — the organization has grown significantly in scope and complexity, recently merging with Campania Academy to expand into a second location. What makes Gibault's financial operations particularly challenging is its organizational diversity. In addition to its core children's services mission, Gibault operates a nursing home, a used car lot, and a foundation — spanning both for-profit and nonprofit structures. Managing intercompany transactions across four distinct entities, each with different accounting needs, created a level of complexity that their legacy software was simply not built to handle.
The Challenge
A Legacy System That Created More Work Than It Solved For years, Gibault relied on Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains as its primary accounting platform. While functional in its early years, the system had become a source of daily frustration by the time Amy Ashley began evaluating alternatives. The reporting experience was particularly burdensome — formatting financial statements required navigating cumbersome report writers, and Amy was the only person in her office with access to run reports due to network routing limitations. The problem wasn't just efficiency — it was strategic. Amy found herself so consumed by the mechanics of producing numbers that the data itself lost its value. Reports were completed, reviewed, and filed away without the deeper analysis that could actually drive organizational decisions.
"I just didn't have time to focus on actually analyzing the data. It was just: check off this box, yes I got that done, yes I got that done. But I didn't really get time to do what I really should be doing — analyze the numbers. How do I help our company grow? How is that data useful to us?" — Amy Atchley , CFO, Gibault Children's Services Multi-Entity Complexity Without a Unified Solution Compounding the reporting challenge was the fragmentation of software tools across Gibault's various business lines. Because the organization operates entities as different as a children's treatment facility, a nursing home, and a car dealership — under both for-profit and nonprofit structures — no single platform had previously been able to serve all of them. Intercompany transactions were difficult to reconcile, and the lack of a unified system made accurate, consolidated reporting a time-consuming manual effort.
Selecting a Partner
Confidence in Sage Intacct — and in Leaf Amy Ashley came to the evaluation process with a clear sense of what she needed. Having worked with Microsoft Dynamics and other platforms throughout her career, she had developed an informed perspective on what a robust accounting system looks like. When she saw what Sage Intacct could offer, her confidence was immediate. Equally important to the software itself was the implementation partner. Leaf Software's team made a strong impression from their very first interaction — not through high-pressure sales tactics, but through genuine product knowledge and a low-key, consultative approach. "They just did such a good job. It was very low pressure — no pressure at all. It was just like: we know we've got a great product, let us show you what it can do." — Amy Atchley , CFO
During the initial demo, conducted on Gibault's campus, the Leaf team presented not just what the software could do — but what Gibault didn't yet know it needed. That ability to anticipate needs and proactively surface capabilities gave Amy confidence that Leaf understood her business, not just the technology. Amy also took comfort in knowing that if challenges arose after go-live, she would have knowledgeable, accessible support. Having worked through enough software transitions to know things can go wrong, she valued Leaf's responsiveness as a key factor in her decision. "The Leaf Software staff are top notch. I felt like any problem I brought to the table, they were going to find a solution for me. I was not concerned about choosing Sage Intacct at all." — Amy Atchley , CFO
The Implementation
A Smooth Transition — Remarkably So After committing to Sage Intacct, the Gibault team was invited to the Leaf Software offices for a full-day onboarding session. The day was spent aligning on expectations — what Gibault needed from the system, and what Leaf would deliver. Amy's entire finance team was included from the beginning, ensuring broad buy-in and a shared understanding of the platform. For an experienced CFO who has lived through difficult software transitions, the smoothness of this implementation stood out. The rollout avoided the surprises and scope creep that often derail enterprise software deployments. Clear communication, a well-structured process, and a team that delivered on its commitments made the transition as smooth as any Amy had experienced in her career. "Anyone in my position has been through enough software transitions to know that things can happen that you might not anticipate. That did not happen with this. That was a big sigh of relief." — Amy Atchley , CFO
Results
From Data Entry to Strategic Analysis With Sage Intacct in place, Amy Ashley has reclaimed the time and mental space needed to do what a CFO is actually supposed to do: analyze the numbers, identify trends, and help leadership make informed decisions. The days of spending hours navigating clunky report writers just to produce a formatted financial statement are behind her. Sage Intacct's interface was a marked improvement over Great Plains — most tasks can be completed directly on the screen where the user is already working, rather than navigating through multiple separate modules. The system's ability to sort and filter by client number, department, location, and other dimensions gives Amy the flexibility to slice data exactly as she needs it. Reporting That Serves Every Audience One of the most meaningful improvements has been in how Gibault communicates financial information to its stakeholders. Amy can now produce polished, board-ready reports that convey information clearly and accessibly — without sacrificing the depth of detail available when she needs it.
"I want to respond to my stakeholders — my board — and they want to see reports they can understand. I can get the fancy reports if I need them, but I can also give them the information they need. I just feel like it's positioned us for growth." — Amy Atchley , CFO A Platform Built for What Comes Next Beyond solving today's problems, Sage Intacct has given Gibault a foundation for future growth. As the organization continues to expand — most recently through its merger with Campania Academy — having a scalable, multi-entity platform means the financial infrastructure can grow alongside the mission.
Amy notes that the system is, in some ways, more robust than her current needs require. But that headroom is by design: it means Gibault won't outgrow its tools as the organization evolves.
The Ongoing Relationship
Amy Ashley's confidence in Leaf Software extends well beyond the implementation phase. She describes the Leaf team as professional, knowledgeable, and reliably accessible — exactly the kind of partner a CFO needs when an unexpected issue arises. Having seen how other software vendors operate, she appreciates the consistency Leaf has demonstrated. Whether it's a technical question, a new reporting requirement, or a process change driven by organizational growth, Amy knows exactly who to call and trusts that the answer will be forthcoming. "They're very professional, very knowledgeable, and I am very confident that if I have any additional problems, I know exactly who to call and who's going to help walk me through it." — Amy Atchley , CFO
Conclusion
For Gibault Children's Services, the move to Sage Intacct represented far more than a software upgrade. It was a shift from reactive number-crunching to proactive financial leadership — giving Amy Ashley the tools and time to contribute strategically to the organization's growth. With a trusted implementation partner in Leaf Software and a platform capable of growing with the organization's expanding multi-entity structure, Gibault is better positioned than ever to fulfill its mission of serving children and families across Indiana.
Watch the full Success Story
FROM TEDIOUS REPORTING TO STRATEGIC INSIGHT: A MULTI-ENTITY ACCOUNTING TRANSFORMATION WITH SAGE INTACCT
Client
Gibault Children's Services — Terre Haute, Indiana
Industry
Nonprofit / Human Services (Residential Treatment, Nursing Home, Foundation, Auto) Amy Ashley, CFO
Key Contact Previous System New Solution Entity Structure
Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains
Sage Intacct, implemented by Leaf Software One for-profit and three nonprofit corporations
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