The Judge Rainbow Memorial Fund is an incorporated association that operates as a halfway house called ‘Rainbow Lodge’.
Their service provides support for men exiting custody who have a high risk of reoffending and homelessness.
They have been operating for 45 years in the Sydney area, with the last 25 years being in the inner-city suburb of Glebe.
They are a not for profit organisation funded by NSW Corrective Services and NSW Community Services.
Brook Friedman, Manager of The Rainbow Lodge Program, says the organisation was ‘technologically underdeveloped’ when they met Accounting For Good. Their accounts were messy and did not give a clear picture of their financial position.
They struggled to ensure that their grant acquittal obligations were being met consistently. And it was important to ensure that their credit cards and petty cash were being managed with accountability.
“Rainbow Lodge is a very small organisation but we have the same due diligence and financial accountability as larger organisations.
Being able to outsource our financials and accounting has made managing these responsibilities easier,” explains Brook.
AFG advises them on when they need to report and submit documentation, which means the team can spend more time working on what matters to them.
Technology has helped Rainbow Lodge improve their financial processes.
“When AFG came on board, the transition from paper to digital was key in alleviating a number of our financial pain points. Xero and Receipt Bank have been fantastic for our organisation.”
Accounting For Good have a range of financial intelligence skills and expertise in streamlining accounts systems and processes from top to bottom. But sometimes it’s the help with a little bugbear that makes the biggest difference.
Brook says, “Whilst it may seem small, AFG really helped us to streamline collecting receipts. A lot of our staff members purchase things for the business, whether it be consumables or activity materials, and documentation used to be really patchy.
First, the team at AFG helped us with face to face bookkeeper support … then with processing digital receipts … and now using Receipt Bank.
AFG has always inspired us to raise the standards of our everyday financial dealings and they are constantly advancing in their use of technology.”
Helping organisations like Rainbow Lodge to get their accounts in order is an ongoing mission for Accounting For Good. Because it frees up advocates like Brook to do what he’s good at – providing exceptional services to those who need a helping hand in the community.
“Whilst we started out primarily supporting just residential clients, we are working towards giving equal focus to both outreach and residential groups. We are excited to increase this support for outreach clients over the next year.”