case study
A Salesforce-backed AMS transformation for a growing professional association
CPB Canada, the national professional association for certified bookkeepers, grew from approximately 1,500 to over 2,500 members following the pandemic. Its proprietary AMS and website, launched in 2019, could no longer support the organization’s growth. Staff relied on manual workarounds for member communications, routine website updates were cumbersome, and even small changes risked disrupting other parts of the system.
These limitations constrained CPB Canada’s ability to expand member engagement, promote events, reach prospective members, and manage its certification program efficiently. CEO Rick Johal began preparing years in advance by hiring a Manager of Technology and building internal capabilities before launching a formal RFP. After extensive research, including industry webinars, CSAE and ASAE events, and conversations with peer associations, the organization narrowed six proposals to two finalists.
108 ideaspace stood out for three reasons:
CPB Canada’s seven-person team was involved throughout the project, from user story development and business process mapping to go-live, ensuring staff understood the new system before launch. Around 90% of the validated functionality transitioned seamlessly to production, with no major disruption to members.
The project was extended by three to four months after CPB Canada chose to delay go-live until after its annual conference. Johal credited 108ideaspace’s project management team for adapting smoothly and keeping the project on track. Effective change management ensured the transition resulted in only a handful of routine login issues across 2,500 members.
With its Manager of Technology now building Salesforce expertise post-implementation, CPB Canada is developing a multi-year roadmap to assess its business processes against the platform’s untapped capabilities, with the goal, in Johal’s words, of becoming “one of the more progressive associations in the country.”
“It’s a game changer for us because it’s created a new reality for how we, exiting our teenage years as an association, can grow for the next five to ten years.”
— Rick Johal, CEO, CPB Canada, who called it the smoothest AMS transition of his career.
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