NONPROFIT / HEALTHCARE CASE STUDY
Powering Finance Transformation Through Intelligent Automation
How Netsurit helped Operation Smile strengthen finance operations, improve efficiency and create more capacity for global impact.
About
Operation Smile is a global nonprofit organization that works to improve the lives of children and adults with cleft lip or palate and other facial differences. For more than 40 years, the organization has partnered with local health workers, medical leaders and ministries of health to deliver cleft surgery, comprehensive care and sustainable health system support.
With operations spanning more than 37 countries and more than $100 million in annual funding, efficient back-office operations are critical to helping Operation Smile direct more resources towards patient care, program delivery and long-term health impact.
Industry
Non Profit / Healthcare
Operating Footprint
More than 37 countries
Headquarters
Virginia, United States
Annual funding
$100 million
Services
- Intelligent automation
- AI and automation use-case identification
- Finance process mapping
- Finance workflow optimization
- Automation roadmap development
- Operational efficiency advisory
- Strategic automation implementation
- Innovate Build
Challenge
Operation Smile operates across a large, complex global environment where finance operations play a critical role in supporting patient care and program delivery.
As the organization continues to deliver work across more than 37 countries, the efficiency of back-office functions becomes a direct enabler of impact. Finance teams need processes that are accurate, scalable and well controlled, while also supporting the organization’s broader mission.
Operation Smile needed to strengthen its finance function in a way that could deliver both immediate support and longer-term operational efficiency. The organization required a practical approach that could identify high-impact finance processes, improve speed and accuracy, and create a stronger foundation for oversight and future automation.
- Finance operations needed to support a complex global nonprofit environment
- Back-office efficiency was directly linked to the organization’s ability to maximize impact
- The organization needed both skilled finance capacity and a roadmap for process improvement and automation
Solution
Netsurit and Southwestern Talent came together to support Operation Smile through a dual approach: intelligent automation and skilled accounting talent.
Netsurit worked with Operation Smile to identify high-impact finance processes and implement automation solutions designed to improve speed, accuracy and control. At the same time, Southwestern Talent helped strengthen finance capacity by placing experienced accountants into key roles.
The initiative began with a multi-day workshop at Operation Smile’s Virginia headquarters. During this workshop, the teams mapped core financial processes and prioritized the first candidates for AI and automation. The roadmap outlines a year-long evolution of finance operations, combining continuous process improvement with strategic automation.
- Netsurit helped identify finance processes suitable for intelligent automation
- Southwestern Talent placed experienced accountants into key finance roles
- A year-long roadmap was developed to streamline workflows and strengthen financial oversight
Operation Smile’s Story
The organization works across more than 37 countries, delivering cleft surgery, comprehensive care and health system support to patients and communities around the world. Behind that mission is a finance function that must manage complexity, funding, oversight and operational requirements across a global footprint.
As the organization continued to scale its impact, strengthening back-office operations became an important opportunity. Every improvement in finance efficiency, accuracy and throughput could help unlock more capacity for the work that matters most: patient care, program delivery and sustainable health systems.
Operation Smile needed a practical transformation model that could deliver immediate operational support while also preparing the finance function for longer-term automation and process improvement. This required more than technology alone. It needed the right combination of skilled people, process understanding and automation capability.
By working with Netsurit and Southwestern Talent, Operation Smile began building a finance transformation roadmap that brings together intelligent automation and experienced accounting talent. The result is a stronger operational foundation designed to help the organization modernize the way it works while keeping its mission at the center.
Before Netsurit
Before the initiative began, Operation Smile’s finance function was operating in a demanding global nonprofit environment.
The organization had to support work across more than 37 countries while managing significant annual funding and ensuring that back-office processes could keep pace with the needs of the mission. In this context, finance operations needed to be efficient, accurate and scalable.
The opportunity was to reduce administrative friction, strengthen financial oversight and identify where automation could improve speed, control and throughput. Without a structured roadmap, finance transformation could easily become a series of disconnected improvements rather than a coordinated operational evolution.
Operation Smile needed a clearer view of which finance processes should be prioritized, where automation could add the most value, and how to create capacity while maintaining control. The organization also needed additional finance expertise that could support the team while longer-term automation initiatives were being developed.
The work with Netsurit and Southwestern Talent created a practical path forward: map the processes, strengthen the team, prioritize high-impact automation opportunities and build a roadmap for ongoing improvement.
This collaboration allows us to modernize the way we work while keeping our mission at the center. By strengthening our finance operations, we’re creating the foundation to direct more resources where they matter most: toward patient care and sustainable health systems.
-Jim Siti, Chief Financial Officer, Operation Smile
Netsurit as a Partner
Netsurit approached the engagement by focusing first on the business process, not the technology.
The goal was to identify high-impact use cases and understand where intelligent automation could improve speed, accuracy and control across the finance lifecycle. This meant working with Operation Smile to map core financial processes, assess opportunities and prioritize the first candidates for automation.
The partnership model also recognized that automation and talent are strongest when they work together. While Netsurit focused on intelligent automation and process improvement, Southwestern Talent helped strengthen the finance team with experienced accounting professionals.
This combination gave Operation Smile both immediate operational support and a roadmap for longer-term efficiency. It also ensured that finance transformation stayed connected to the organization’s mission, with operational improvements designed to create more capacity for patient care and program delivery.
How Netsurit Helped Operation Smile
Netsurit helped Operation Smile begin a structured finance transformation journey built around intelligent automation and process improvement.
The work started with a multi-day workshop at Operation Smile’s Virginia headquarters. During this engagement, the teams mapped core financial processes and identified areas where AI and automation could deliver practical value. This process helped prioritize the first automation opportunities and create a roadmap for ongoing finance transformation.
Netsurit’s role focused on intelligent automation: identifying high-impact use cases, improving process efficiency and helping Operation Smile strengthen speed, accuracy and control across finance workflows.
The broader initiative also included Southwestern Talent, which placed experienced accountants into key finance roles. Two accountants had already joined the finance team, with plans to expand to three or four in the near term.
- Mapped core financial processes during a multi-day workshop
- Identified and prioritized finance processes suitable for AI and automation
- Developed a year-long roadmap for finance operations improvement
- Supported a dual model combining automation capability with skilled accounting talent
- Helped create a foundation for stronger oversight, throughput and efficiency
Scaling Up with Netsurit
With the roadmap in place, Operation Smile is positioned to evolve its finance operations over the next year.
The initiative combines immediate capacity-building with longer-term automation. This means the organization can strengthen day-to-day finance operations while also building toward more streamlined, automated workflows.
As automation opportunities are identified and implemented, Operation Smile can reduce administrative friction, improve accuracy and strengthen financial oversight. At the same time, the addition of experienced accounting talent supports the finance team with practical capacity and expertise.
The broader value lies in what this makes possible for the organization. For a global nonprofit, operational efficiency is not only about saving time. It is about creating more room for mission-focused work. Stronger finance operations can help Operation Smile direct more resources towards patient care, sustainable health systems and program delivery.
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