The Client
For more than 70 years, Easter Seals of Southeastern Pennsylvania has been helping people with disabilities gain greater independence. Their mission is to provide exceptional services to ensure that all people with disabilities or special needs and their families have equal opportunities to live, learn, work, and play in their communities.
The Challenge
As an “Approved Private School,” Easter Seals of Southeastern Pennsylvania (Easter Seals) is required to submit an audited financial statement to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Education by November 1st each year. In 2008, the Commonwealth communicated to all providers that it would no longer accept late submissions and indicated that each provider’s funding would be at jeopardy if the November 1st deadline was not met. Since losing funding would have a severe economic impact on Easter Seals’ operations, the deadline was a cause for concern for management, as the organization had difficulty completing the audit by November 1st in the past.
The Solution
Easter Seals turned to Kreischer Miller for help in completing its audit by the Commonwealth’s annual deadline. Through meetings and frequent communication, we took time to gain an understanding of the organization’s challenges, goals, and operations and we listened to their concerns. We also worked closely with management to keep them up-to-date on the progress of the audit and communicated any difficulties well in advance of the audit deadline. As Ivy Lewis, CFO, of Easter Seals, noted, “With Kreischer Miller, I feel like we’re all in this together, working to achieve the same goal. I would not have gotten all the work done without the audit team’s help.”
The Outcome
Since engaging Kreischer Miller, each year’s audit has been submitted to the Commonwealth by the November 1st deadline, thus preserving the organization’s funding. Ivy Lewis, CFO summed up the relationship by saying, “It has truly been a pleasure working with Kreischer Miller and we are pleased to have the same audit team each year. We feel that we’ve formed a lasting partnership and we appreciate all they do to support the Easter Seals of Southeastern Pennsylvania.”