Modernizing Back-Office Operations for an Iconic Cultural Institution

The Client

Every summer, filmmakers, critics, industry professionals, and cinema lovers converge on Telluride, Colorado, for one of the world's most prestigious film festivals. The Telluride Film Festival (TFF) is a four-day celebration of cinema that previews many of the fall season's most anticipated releases. The nonprofit behind the festival is headquartered in Berkeley, California.

The Challenge

Running an annual festival in a mountain town takes massive coordination: major upfront costs, complex admin workflows, and a workforce that swells from a small full-time team (some remote) to roughly 300 seasonal employees during festival season.

TFF's bookkeeping had been handled by a single in-house person using paper-based processes and desktop software. When that bookkeeper retired in 2016, TFF saw the opening they needed. Hiring another solo bookkeeper meant repeating the same problems: fluctuating workload, zero coverage during time off, and outdated manual systems that created bottlenecks every peak season.

SPRCHRGR's team-based model was the fit they were looking for.

"We now have a vendor who can support us year-round," says Kirsten Laursen, TFF's Chief of Staff and Administration. "We don't need to worry about our Financial Operations Associate going on vacation because she can lean on her colleagues to cover for her. We don't experience a lag in services like we would if we were just relying on one person. It's nice having checks and balances in place as well."

How We Supported + Supercharged

SPRCHRGR modernized TFF's entire back-office operation in three phases:

• Phase 1: From Desktop to Cloud

  • Our first priority was getting TFF off desktop bookkeeping. With remote staff, a traveling Executive Director, and a Berkeley-based bookkeeper running offline systems, real-time financial collaboration was nearly impossible. SPRCHRGR deployed a suite of integrated cloud tools that gave the management team instant access to the books from anywhere. No more waiting. No more workarounds.

• Phase 2: Digitizing Accounts Payable

  • TFF had been receiving physical bills, writing checks, and chasing down the Executive Director's signature. That "old school" workflow became a bottleneck during festival season when vendor invoices spike dramatically. SPRCHRGR transitioned them to cloud-based electronic bill payment platform and integrated a new digital purchase order system for spending controls. The result: faster vendor payments, cleaner approvals, and no more chasing wet signatures.

• Phase 3: Modernize Payroll and Time Tracking

  • Seasonal onboarding and payroll had been a manual grind. New hires physically lined up on day one to fill out paper forms. Someone on the TFF team manually collected and processed paper timecards each week. SPRCHRGR replaced all of it. Seasonal employees now receive a digital onboarding package before their first day, get paid via direct deposit, and log hours through a mobile app or computer.

"Rather than completing a paper timesheet and faxing it, everyone just logs their hours through a mobile app or computer," says Laursen. "This has freed up our management team to focus on other things because we no longer spend so much time and effort gathering timesheets from everyone."

The Outcome

The transformation delivered measurable impact across TFF's operations:

• Audit process: compressed

  • Annual audits had historically been a heavy lift. Paper-based recordkeeping made assembling supporting materials so labor-intensive that auditors needed a full week on-site. SPRCHRGR's team-based workflow model drives accuracy, and the digital filing system means audit materials are organized, accessible, and reviewable online. Auditors now spend just two days on-site, down from a full week.

• Bookkeeping duties: realigned

  • "Plus, in the previous arrangement, the auditor ended up handling certain bookkeeping tasks and TFF would engage a consultant on an as-needed basis to support the bookkeeper," Laursen recalls. "With SPRCHRGR handling the bookkeeping, TFF has been able to delegate bookkeeping duties back into the bookkeeping realm."

• Year-round coverage: secured

  • TFF's team-based model means no single point of failure. Vacation, sick days, and peak season surges are all covered without service interruption.

The Bottom Line

TFF can't imagine handling their bookkeeping any other way.

"Our team at SPRCHRGR really cares about continuous improvement, doing a good job and making sure our organization succeeds," Laursen says. "I really hope it's a relationship that we'll have for years and years to come."