Case Studies / Perry and Associates

About the company

For over 50 years, Perry & Associates has served its clients, with the past 20 years marking its rise as a cornerstone in government and nonprofit auditing. With six offices spread across three states and a team of 60 dedicated professionals, they've built a reputation for excellence. As Brett Burns, Director of Assurance at Perry & Associates, proudly shares, "We cycle between being the biggest or second biggest volume auditor of governments in the state of Ohio, as well as being very prominent in West Virginia. We take a lot of pride in our work and the communities we serve."

But pride and expertise alone weren't enough to tackle the complex and impending changes happening to the lease accounting standards; the firm needed an efficient and scalable solution to serve their GASB clients.

Challenges Before LeaseCrunch

Before adopting LeaseCrunch, Perry & Associates was bracing for the impact of GASB 87 and GASB 96. As the date to implement the standard approached, it became clear that their internal template wasn’t equipped to handle the increasing demands of lease accounting, particularly for clients with large volumes of leases.

“LeaseCrunch was a big savior,” says Brett Burns. “The lease standard was this inevitable wall coming toward us that we were trying to prepare for. We had a template built, but not really many controls around it.”  When a specific client reached out regarding their 70 leases, he knew their current process could not scale to fit those needs.

Faced with this challenge, Burns turned to his network for solutions. He reached out to fellow experts on the Ohio Society of CPAs Audit and Accounting Committee, and the response was unanimous and emphatic. "Everybody immediately said LeaseCrunch, a thousand times over, was the way to go," Burns remembers.

Discovering LeaseCrunch

Perry & Associates' decision to implement LeaseCrunch was driven by two key factors: functionality and affordability. “The lease standard had been delayed for a few years, so when we finally decided to tackle it, we needed a solution that wasn’t just effective but also cost-efficient,” Burns explains. “We don’t serve clients with enormous budgets for software. LeaseCrunch fit perfectly—it scaled with the size of the client, without imposing monumental fees.”

This affordability, combined with LeaseCrunch’s robust functionality, made it an ideal choice for the firm’s governmental and nonprofit clients. 

LeaseCrunch was the first lease accounting software I found that didn’t come with a massive upfront cost. It was scalable based on the needs of the organization, and the price was always in line with the value it provided.” Brett Burns, Director of Assurance

Implementation Without the Burden

Transitioning to LeaseCrunch was seamless for Perry & Associates. They found that the user-friendly nature of LeaseCrunch meant minimal training was required. “I’ve done group trainings inside of the firm to get our accountants exposed to it. But after showing them one time, I rarely have to hold their hands. It's very user-friendly,” Burns shared. The firm also made extensive use of LeaseCrunch’s knowledge base, ensuring that employees could self-educate through research or videos.

The implementation process is extremely easy. Honestly, it felt like there wasn’t an implementation “process” at all. If you have any accounting background, you can just jump right in and start using it.”

Key Features and Functionality

Among the features that stood out to Perry & Associates, LeaseCrunch’s ability to track compliance and create clear audit trails was particularly valuable. For governmental and nonprofit clients, meticulous documentation is critical. LeaseCrunch provides the firm with the clarity and precision needed for both the preparation and auditing sides of the business.

“The documentation is so clear and self-explanatory that when we send it to external parties—whether that’s an auditor, a CPA firm, or internally within our firm—we can easily export any report and provide a clear paper trail,” says Burns. “The ability to house all the documentation inside the lease itself simplifies everything.”

Time Savings and Improved Client Service

LeaseCrunch’s biggest advantage, however, came in the form of time savings. By automating lease accounting, Perry & Associates significantly reduced the hours spent manually calculating leases, which in turn lowered costs for their clients.

For a complex client with 50 or more leases using a manual spreadsheet would have taken me days. With LeaseCrunch, I can complete the same work in just a few hours. That’s a massive time savings, which translates into cost savings for the client. We’re able to pass those savings along, making it far more affordable for our clients.”

The firm estimates that LeaseCrunch reduced the time spent on lease accounting by more than 50%, resulting in significant cost reductions for clients. For example, what would have previously cost a client $2,000 now only costs about $700, thanks to the efficiencies LeaseCrunch delivers.