A Guide to the Best Accounting Software for Nonprofits

The company offers accounting, fundraising, and payroll services specific to nonprofits or small governmental agencies. Araize also offers a fund accounting https://accounting-services.net/ course that you can take to improve your financial knowledge. One of the many NetSuite ERP features is an accounting module that is designed for nonprofits.

  1. If you are a grantor you may need additional tools to handle the application, award, and post-award processes.
  2. Consider which integrations are important to your organization, and whether or not you would need an all-in-one software or you’re willing to piece several separate systems together.
  3. It offers comprehensive accounting, fundraising, and payroll services and can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
  4. Customizable software that’s either made for nonprofits or for small businesses in general could be exactly what you need to forecast effectively.
  5. The solution effectively mimics the functions of business accounting systems; all it takes is some tweaking.
  6. This form allows the IRS to gather information about the organiation and also educates organizations about tax law requirements and compliance.

Many nonprofit organizations rely on volunteers to help with their accounting. Create unique user IDs for volunteers and assign access levels for each. Donors, grantors, and foundations look to these watchdogs to help them make informed choices about their donations and ensure they’re supporting an organization that is fiscally responsible. All nonprofit organizations that receive contributions totalling $250 or more, OR provide goods and services to donors to make contributions of more than $75, must send donation receipt letters for tax purposes. The government regulates end-of-year donation letters to any business with legal nonprofit status. Bloomerang is a donor management system designed for small to medium-sized organizations.

Quickbook Desktop Pro

The authority (IRS or CRA) then decides whether your organization qualifies as charitable. Once you are officially tax-exempt, you don’t have to pay federal income taxes and even property and sales taxes. This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.

Whatever the size of your organization and your specific needs, there’s an accounting software that can solve your accounting and bookkeeping headaches. It can be a nonprofit organization’s valuable asset, as it is a robust platform that has numerous capabilities. Its main use is for accounts payable automation, which can assist nonprofit entities in keeping track of their dues. This can also assist them in sending payments to their vendors or suppliers on time to maintain profitable relationships.

Zoho Books (Financial Management Software for Nonprofits on a Budget)

However, these basic packages generally allow a limited number of users and don’t include all of the functionality. If multiple members of your team need to be using it or if you want elevated functionality, be ready to pay for a higher-tier option. For reconciliation, expense and financial reporting best accounting software for nonprofits and other core functions, we found Sage’s tools to be simple. If you have a payroll system you like, Sage will likely integrate well with it, particularly if you use Gusto. If your organization needs baseline accounting software and is on a tight budget, Wave Financial may be right for you.

Donor and Grant Management

You can pay employees through direct deposit or check, allocate money for taxes, and file quarterly payroll taxes. Financial Edge also integrates with Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge, the gold-standard program for donor management and fundraising, so you can make sure your organization’s efforts are cohesive. QuickBooks integrates with several apps used by nonprofits including Kindful. If you use these apps as part of your fundraising campaigns, you can sync the data and import transaction details to streamline your reporting. The exact software your organization needs depends on several factors, such as what exactly your NPO does. MemberLeap is another nonprofit membership software that has tools for member management and events.

Blackaud created the popular Raiser’s Edge NXT donor management platform, which you can combine with its Financial Edge NXT accounting software. There’s also an array of other tools like grant management, fundraising, and payment services within the same platform. From basic to advanced features, accounting software for nonprofits is designed to streamline financial management, enhance transparency, and support the specific reporting requirements of nonprofits. Whether you’re looking to upgrade from a simple accounting tool or seeking a more sophisticated system, our article will help you find the perfect fit for your organization’s needs.

They’d be happy to provide a list of
free the best nonprofit software recommendations
that meet your exact requirements. MemberClicks starts at $275 per month (when billed annually), and has a one-time setup fee starting at $1,495. MemberClicks states that most products start with a minimum $3,000 investment.

There are nonprofit solutions that offer single applications for nonprofit accounting, donations management, and membership management. There are also all-in-one, fully integrated options with a suite of functionality to manage your nonprofit inside and out. It’s a simple and easy-to-use cloud-based accounting solution designed for volunteer-led organizations whose members are not so adept at or thoroughly committed to bookkeeping. With many fund accounting software options, you can also link your bank account to allow for automatic credit card and bank reconciliations. That’s where our review of the best accounting software for nonprofits comes in!

Doing this the right way ensures transparency and accountability when demonstrating how resources are used. Nonprofits receive donations that have specific restrictions on how the funds can be appropriated. This requires careful tracking and reporting to ensure compliance with all donor requirements. Recent reports show there are 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States, with $2.62 trillion in nonprofit revenue.

QuickBooks makes it easy to tag expenditures to fundraising, programs, or general admin so that you can report exactly how each dollar was spent for each program or fund across your organization. At the end of the year, all of your data is organized in one location to save you time when preparing IRS Form 990. Track budgets by fund or program with donor and grant management, financial reporting, and bank reconciliations. The financial manager of a nonprofit must acknowledge the regulatory and compliance environments in which their organization operates. Nonprofit organizations must deliver clear statements to their key stakeholders including donors, board members, auditors, and watchdog groups.

It does have a vast suite of modules that can be pretty complicated, but it has user-friendly features like intuitive dashboards and one-click functionality to compensate. With flexible communication tools and a superb fundraising integration, the platform is a great cloud-based accounting solution for large nonprofits that need massive funding. The QuickBooks Tipalti integration also enables nonprofits to strengthen financial controls, take control of credit card spend, and close the books faster. Advanced features like grant tracking and membership management may require additional integrations. Tipalti is a comprehensive global payables solution that offers a variety of features and services for nonprofits.

Companies can track the time spent on various activities, manage deadlines, and generate reports for more accurate billing. Sage Intacct works best for global nonprofits and larger organizations that must work across currencies and tax codes to better manage financials. Once everything is consolidated, a business can track inter-entity transactions which will improve reporting and donor-dollar traceability.

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