How Hiline Took Vera House From Financial Chaos to Board Clarity
“Hiline’s values match with not-for-profits and everything Hiline does is an improvement for Vera House and our board. I don’t think any other company could have turned things around like Hiline did for us. Life before and after Hiline — totally different. No question.”
Finances Before
No Financial Statements
Board had never seen income statement or balance sheet.
Audit Gap
No completed audit since 2021; years of data missing.
Untracked Grant Expenses
Costs not tied to grants; vouchering process broken.
No Operating Budget
Organization ran with no budget or financial plan.
Finances With Hiline
Monthly Financial Reporting
Board receives regular income statements and balance sheet.
Audit Readiness
Clean books in place; first clean audit set for 2026.
Organized Grant Tracking
Expenses properly coded and tied to correct grants.
First Approved Budget
2026 budget built and ready for board approval.
About Vera House
Vera House is a certified rape crisis center in Syracuse, New York. Founded in honor of Sister Mary Vera, the organization has served Onondaga County for decades, running a 24/7 crisis line, an emergency shelter, legal advocacy, and social services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse.
David Pataki joined the Vera House board in early 2025, bringing nearly 40 years experience in Catholic healthcare. He came in as part of a newly seated executive committee at a pivotal moment for the organization.
The Challenge
When David joined the Vera House board in early 2025, the last completed audit was from 2021. Nothing had been entered into the general ledger for at least two years. The board — newly seated just months earlier — had never once seen a financial statement. No income statement. No balance sheet. No budget. The answer to every basic financial question was the same: we don’t have it.
A supporting foundation had quietly funded operations for years without audit or accountability. But when the new board went back to that foundation for bridge funding, the answer was no. Meanwhile, accounts payable sat at roughly half a million dollars — some invoices so old that the vendors had likely written them off years earlier.
With 31 active grants requiring precise expense tracking and state agencies still expecting accountability, Vera House needed someone who could reconstruct years of financial history from boxes of physical receipts and build a working system from nothing.
The Solution
A community member familiar with the local nonprofit space pointed Vera House toward Hiline. From the first conversation, Hiline got it. They understood what was actually being asked for — a working set of books, financial reporting the board could use, and a path to a clean audit.
Hiline’s first task was reconstruction. Vera House CEO, Tricia Matthews and her husband spent a full weekend digging through boxes of receipts and scanning documents so Hiline had something to work with. From there, the work expanded:
1. Financial Reconstruction & General Ledger Build
Deng and his team worked through years of incomplete records to piece together a functioning general ledger, starting from 2022. That meant categorizing physical documentation, establishing a chart of accounts, and building the reporting structure from the ground up.
2. Grant Coding & Expense Tracking
With 31 active grants, every dollar spent needed to be tied to a specific funding source in real time. Before, employees would submit a $1,000 expense with no grant attached. Hiline redesigned how directors and staff submitted and tagged expenses, getting specific about which grant every given cost actually fell under.
3. Board-Level Financial Reporting
For the first time, the Vera House board started receiving monthly financial reports. Members could read an income statement and a balance sheet before a meeting, ask informed questions, and actually govern with current information. Hiline also built Vera House’s first annual operating budget.
4. Audit Preparation & State Compliance
Working with contacts in New York State, Vera House secured a waiver on audits for 2023, 2024, and 2025 — the state recognized the situation was genuinely dire and waived the requirement rather than shut down an organization providing essential services. The first clean audit covers 2026 and Hiline started preparing for it immediately at the start of the year. In exchange, the state monitors Vera House monthly and quarterly, and Hiline’s reporting makes that oversight manageable.
The Results
In roughly a year, Vera House went from having no usable financial records to a functioning general ledger, monthly board reporting, a first annual budget, and a clear path to a clean audit. The New York State Attorney General’s office — which now monitors the organization monthly — extended leniency specifically because Vera House could show it was taking accountability seriously.
Board members who had never seen a financial statement now receive them every month. They can ask informed questions. They can approve a budget. The governance that was missing for years is in place. Most importantly, the organization avoided bankruptcy and remains operational after facing potential closure.
How Hiline Can Support Your Nonprofit's Mission
If your board has never seen a balance sheet, or you’re managing a stack of grants with no reliable way to track which dollar went where, you’re not alone. A lot of nonprofits run this way longer than they should, usually until a funder asks a question no one can answer.
Hiline works with nonprofits to build the entire financial infrastructure that keeps you accountable to your funders, your board, and the people you serve.
Talk to our team at hiline.co/get-started
Vera House
Vera House, Inc. prevents, responds to and partners to end domestic and sexual violence and other forms of abuse while envisioning a world free of violence and abuse.
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