Founded in 2008 as an offshoot of a similar Montana-based organization, Rise Above Colorado (RAC) is a statewide substance misuse prevention organization that empowers youth to make healthy connections, decisions, and change. Its vision is youth who realize their full potential and lead lives free of substance misuse.
Plante Moran has been RAC’s outsourced accounting provider since its inception. Here’s how we’ve helped the organization mature, maintain continuity, and establish financial reporting processes that support management decision-making, board oversight, and funder requirements.
From “pen and paper” to “point-and-click”
When we first started working with RAC, its accounting function relied heavily on manual, document-driven processes. Financial information was gathered through paper records, emailed documentation, and direct communication with leadership, with transactions coded and classified by hand. Grant activity, donor restrictions, and program expenses were tracked through schedules and reconciliations that required significant hands-on effort to maintain. As the organization grew and its needs became more complex, we helped evolve these manual processes into a technology-enabled approach.
First, we created a more structured accounting environment built on QuickBooks. We designed a chart of accounts customized to the organization’s nonprofit reporting needs, including grant, donor, programmatic, and functional expense tracking. As RAC’s funding mix and programming expanded, these structures provided a clearer, more consistent framework for capturing activity and producing meaningful financial reporting.
Over time, we layered in additional tools and workflows — such as Bill.com — to streamline payables, strengthen controls, and create clearer audit trails. When QuickBooks moved to the cloud, we helped complete the migration. In addition to timely and accurate reporting, keeping accounting platforms and processes modern, intuitive, and compliant has been a hallmark of our services.
Demonstrating the value of consistency, quality, and judgment
Throughout the relationship, RAC has faced shifts common to many nonprofits, like changes in funding sources, economic uncertainty, evolving mission focus, and the need for greater visibility into cash flow and financial position. At one point, cost pressures led the organization to explore an alternative arrangement with a second accounting provider. The transition proved challenging, leading to difficulties during the audit that created significant strain on leadership. RAC asked us to help resolve these issues. We quickly and efficiently returned reporting to an audit-ready condition, demonstrating the value of our support and how our expertise can eliminate unnecessary expenses.
Then during COVID-19, funding reductions forced RAC to make difficult choices to remain operational and preserve its mission. We scaled back in response, reducing billable hours while still ensuring its reporting was reconciled, accurate, and uncompromised. By adapting to the moment, we were able to provide RAC with peace of mind and continuity in a challenging environment.
An enduring relationship beyond the numbers
As RAC Executive Director Kent MacLennan sees it, “Plante Moran really feels like an extension of our internal team rather than just another external service provider. Because they’ve been with us for so long, they bring deep institutional knowledge and context to every conversation — not just about our numbers, but about the importance of our work for the communities we serve. That consistency and shared commitment have allowed us to focus on our mission, knowing our financial reporting and compliance are in trusted hands.”
As the organization looks to the future — funding shifts, leadership succession planning, and evolving compliance needs — we remain positioned to support RAC’s next phase of growth, with the same consistency and care that has defined the relationship for nearly 20 years.
