Streamlining the Association’s Financial Operations

Inside AASA

When David Schuler became AASA’s executive director in February 2023, he studied financial reports for a detailed look at the association’s budgetary health and to learn the association’s current financial processes and procedures. The discoveries would shape his plans and priorities.

AASA’s future, he found, was looking bright thanks to the careful stewardship of Daniel Domenech and Chuck Woodruff, who had served as AASA’s executive director and chief operating officer, respectively, before they retired in early 2023. Reserve funds are healthy and revenues are strong.

One priority was clear. Two critical staff openings in finance needed to be fast-tracked. Tony Schlorff came aboard in July as associate executive director for finance and operations, and Brandon Glotfelty was promoted to finance director. They and their teams are rebuilding capacity following four retirements and departures over the past two years that left the finance department shorthanded.

When Glotfelty reflects on the hectic pace of work when he joined AASA in 2021 as a senior accountant, he admits it was an “intense” introduction to a new organization, with just eight weeks before two key finance staff retired. But it was a pace he was accustomed to.

An interview of Glotfelty was conducted by managing editor Liz Griffin. His responses have been edited for clarity and length.

What was it like to move from a large company to a small nonprofit?

Glotfelty: I was a senior auditor at KPMG, which is one of the “Big 4” accounting firms. It was certainly a change of pace going from a company of 40,000 employees to an organization of 40 employees, but I have very much enjoyed the transition and getting to know my co-workers and our members.

Additionally, I have found myself very motivated by the mission of AASA and want to play my part to ensure that our financial operations run smoothly. I am hopeful that my corporate background and experience with AASA will enable me to update our financial technologies to be more efficient and provide additional support to our staff and members.

How would you describe your role as director of finance?

Glotfelty: I oversee the day-to-day operation of the finance department. We recently restructured the department and I now oversee two senior accountants, one staff accountant and an intern.

We right-sized the department to better meet the needs of staff, management and members. As part of the restructuring, I will be training our finance team on new processes and reallocating the workload for the department.

What are your priorities?

Glotfelty: Catching up! AASA’s financial processes need to be brought up-to-date. We’ve made inroads on creating a paperless workflow for payments. We’ve digitized pay stubs and implemented direct deposit functionality to pay our vendors.

Additionally, we have encouraged additional use of our company credit card to minimize the need for vendor paperwork and to reduce the number of paper checks processed.

All of these changes increase our operational efficiency so our forward-facing staff can focus on the mission at hand.

What do you enjoy about your work?

Glotfelty: I really love it here. Finance isn’t just about paying the bills. It’s prioritizing the work of the organization for a larger purpose. I enjoy working closely with Dave (Schuler) and Tony (Schlorff) because their focus is on improvement holistically — throughout the whole organization.

The most enlightening experience this year was attending a focus group where I listened to what members wanted and where they look to AASA for support. I learned they loved coming together to collaborate and that being a superintendent can be a lonely position.

AASA’s vision is a great thing and I want to ensure our operations are efficient so that we can offer best-in-class service and support to our superintendents.

Describe how you plan to approach new opportunities in the next year.

Glotfelty: As a senior auditor at KPMG and a senior accountant for AASA, I have always had ideas on how processes can be updated to make everyone’s work life better. I am excited to dig deeper into AASA operations by listening to our new leadership, staff, members, etc. to help AASA become the best version of itself.

Inside AASA is an occasional column about principal employees and priorities of the association.