Monthly Archives

July 2025

Jul 22
0

Choosing New Accounting Software? Tips to Find Great Software

By | Accounting, Accounting Software, Nonprofit | No Comments
person at desk using accounting software

What’s driving your need to choose new nonprofit accounting software? Some frequently cited reasons for shopping for a new system include legacy systems struggling to keep up with demand, the need to export data into spreadsheets to use it (or run reports), lack of integration, and lack of modern features, such as AI.

But if these are the reasons driving your software search, slow down. Shopping based on features is often a recipe for failure. Here, we share with you the best practices and tips to truly find the right nonprofit accounting software for your organization.

Don’t Shop Solely by Features

It’s tempting to make your wish list of features and go forth and shop. But it’s not the best idea. Although features are easy to understand, see, and experience, they aren’t always the best indicator of a good fit with your needs. Many packages come with more “bells and whistles” than the average accounting department needs. Such packages may be over-engineering for your organization, and over your budget, too. Although features are important – after all, you don’t want to be exploring spreadsheet data to run your reports anymore – there are more considerations than features alone.

Implementation Speed

One consideration is implementation speed. As you weigh your new software choices, ask the consultant or vendor how quickly the system can be up and running. Longer implementation times can be a sign of a system that’s more than you need or a vendor who can’t give your organization the personal attention it deserves.

How long is too long? Anything longer than six months is a sign of potential misalignment with your needs. And timelines stretching past a year are untenable for the average organization. Changing systems is disruptive, and lengthy timelines exacerbate the disruption. Look for reasonable timelines for weeks, not months, to help you transition efficiently to the new system.

Support and Training

Another important consideration for new software purchases is support and training. A good implementation team is critical, but so is the post-implementation support and service. No matter how tech-savvy your team is, there will be some level of customer support needed. Having local support is ideal, but if that’s not possible, a hotline that puts you immediately in touch with an expert who can walk you through troubleshooting or answer your questions is the next best thing. Read through the vendor’s materials carefully and ask clarifying questions to fully understand the support available to your team.

Training is also essential both to learn the new system and to maximize its use over time. Choosing a power user or super user, someone who will receive additional training, ensures that you have an expert in-house who understands advanced functions in the new system.

A single one-hour training session with the vendor probably won’t be enough. Discuss with the vendor or consultant providing the new software the length and type of training available as part of the implementation package. Different user groups may require varying levels of training, too, so consider that as part of the overall training approach.

Total Cost of Ownership

Lastly, the total cost of ownership (TCO) should be one of the deciding factors in your software choice. Software costs are only part of the equation. Factor into the costs any integrations or customizations required, as well as training and implementation time, and you’ll gain a much clearer picture of the TCO for the software.

Seek Expert Advice

Choosing the right nonprofit accounting software can be a daunting task. It helps to have an expert by your side who knows the right questions to ask and the often-overlooked aspects of software shopping that the average person doesn’t know. Welter Consulting is happy to assist you with your software choices and can guide you through the process from start to finish.

Welter Consulting

Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact us for more information.

Jul 16
0

The One Big, Beautiful Bill and Its Impact on Businesses

By | Accounting, Nonprofit, Tax | No Comments
One Big, Beautiful Bill

President Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill” Act passed through Congress and was signed by the President on July 4, 2025. The bill codifies many of the tax breaks from Trump’s first term in office that were considered temporary measures and adds new items to the list for both personal and business tax impacts.

For a detailed list of the many items in the bill, please refer to the Journal of Accountancy’s article, Tax Provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill.

Deductions for Charitable Contributions

The new bill offers taxpayers who do not elect to itemize the ability to claim a deduction of up to $1,000 for single filers ($2,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly) for certain charitable contributions. For those who itemize their deductions, there is a .5% floor on the charitable contribution deduction. This means that the charitable contributions for a tax year are reduced by .5% on the contribution base for the tax year. Corporations have a floor of 1% based on their taxable income. And, for corporations, charitable contributions cannot exceed the current 10% of taxable income limit.

Nonprofits can view this as a win. It may encourage more donations as it makes it easier for individuals to claim their donations as deductibles, even if they are non-itemizers.

No Tax on Tips

One of Trump’s campaign promises was to enact “No Tax on Tips,” and the One Big, Beautiful Bill includes this as a temporary provision. The bill offers a temporary tax deduction of up to $25,000 for individuals who earn tips in occupations where tipping is common. This deduction applies to both traditional employees who receive a W-2 form and independent contractors who receive a 1099-K, 1099-NEC, or report tips using Form 4317. Taxpayers can claim this deduction regardless of whether they take the standard deduction or itemize their expenses.

The benefit begins to phase out once a taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) exceeds $150,000 for individuals or $300,000 for those filing jointly. This deduction is valid for tax years 2025 through 2028. Additionally, for the year 2025, employers who are required to report tips may use any reasonable method to estimate tip amounts.

No Tax on Overtime

This is another temporary provision in the bill. It includes a temporary deduction of up to $12,500 per qualified individual, or $25,000 for a joint return, during a given tax year. If an individual’s MAGI exceeds $150,000, or the MAGI for a joint return exceeds $300,000, the deduction is phased out. The bill defines overtime as per Section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; this definition states that the pay must be over the individual’s regular rate. The no tax on overtime provision is only for non-itemizers and is effective from 2025 to 2028.

Trump Accounts

This is a new way to save a little nest egg for minors. A “Trump Account” refers to a tax-free savings account for minors. Individuals can save money in an individual retirement account (IRA) but not a Roth IRA for the benefit of minors under the age of 18. Contributions can only be made until the year the beneficiary turns 18, and distributions can only be made after the beneficiary turns 18. Eligible investments include indexed EFTs and mutual funds. Other than qualified rollover contributions, regular contributions are capped at $5,000 per year. Employers can contribute to a Trump account, and the contribution is not included in the employee’s income.

Another benefit: If you have a child born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, there is a tax credit of $1,000 for opening a Trump account for that child.

More Changes for Personal and Business Taxes

The One Big, Beautiful Bill contains many more changes, some permanent, some temporary. It is essential to consult with your accountant or CPA to find out which, if any, will impact you or your organization.

Welter Consulting

Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact us for more information.

Jul 15
0

The Ever-Evolving Role of the CFO

By | Corporate Culture, Nonprofit | No Comments
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) holding meeting.

Among all top-level jobs in an organization, none is quite as dynamic as that of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO). What was once a position defined by its role managing the company’s finances is now a job at the intersection of people, technology, plans, and yes, finance. Here’s what’s changing and why in the role of the CFO, and how many CFOs are responding to these challenges.

Addressing Talent Shortages

We’ve written at length in previous articles about the talent shortage in the accounting profession. Fewer college students are pursuing an accounting degree, and even fewer are obtaining their CPA.

To address this talent shortage, CFO are increasingly turning to AI to handle manual and repetitive tasks. According to one Deloitte report (cited in CFO Dive), 8 in 10 CFOs stated they plan to use AI to bridge the skills gap. This saves time for existing staff, who can then fill in some of the gaps caused by the talent shortage.

Consolidating Technology

As you can imagine, the scarcity of candidates to fill key accounting roles forces CFOs to do more with fewer people. In addition to AI platforms, CFOs are increasingly turning to technology to tackle more tasks and reduce stress.

Although adding platforms is possible, some find that separate platforms increase, rather than reduce stress. Task switching, or moving between different tasks or tech platforms, can lead to fragmented concentration and reduced attention spans, both of which can negatively impact performance and efficiency.

One way to fix this issue is to upgrade existing platforms so they are all-in-one. Another option is integration or ensuring that data flows seamlessly among platforms. If considering a technology upgrade, the CFO should estimate future needs and anticipate scaling up as needed over time. This may require consultation with an expert who can help you weigh the pros and cons of various finance platforms.

The Changing Role of the CFO

CFOs have traditionally been the financial managers of their companies. But today’s CFOs may be actively involved in technology purchases, recruiting and hiring, and revenue opportunities through sales and marketing collaborations. It’s not unusual for CFOs to be asked for advice on price setting, discounting, and similar tasks that were once delegated to others. CFOs are rapidly becoming the overall financial advisors for their companies, whether it involves revenue generation, price setting, marketing management, or technology purchases.

Consider the Present and Plan for the Future

When it comes to technology spending – either adding AI tools or upgrading existing financial management systems—it’s vital to consider the present but plan for the future. That’s often easier said than done. But for the CFO, it’s increasingly important to lead the technology discussions to ensure that finance has the support it needs to be productive.

It can be challenging to estimate technology needs in the future when no one is certain what may come next. AI is evolving so rapidly that it seems that if you blink, you’ll miss an update. But good leaders know that the time to act is before there’s a crisis. Acting now to address talent gaps, evolving roles, and technology needs is the smart way to go.

Welter Consulting

Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact us for more information. 

Jul 08
0

Responsible by Design: Building Guardrails for Safe Generative AI Use in the Workplace

By | cyber security, Data, Nonprofit | No Comments
Safe Generative AI Use

According to a McKinsey report, 8 in 10 companies report using GenAI. The question isn’t whether your organization uses GenAI, but how it will use it safely. And, if you are not in front of that question, leading and guiding your team in responsible generative AI use, they may inadvertently use it in ways that compromise data security.

Who Uses GenAI and Why?

Ask your team who is using GenAI and then dig into the reasons why they are using specific platforms. The answers will help guide you as you craft a GenAI use policy and consider paid versions of individual platforms.

Free platforms offer decent web searching, with some, like CoPilot, providing source links. If your team is using these tools to quickly find information, that’s fine. But be sure they understand the ramifications of uploading data or text into any of the “free” and public GenAI tools such as ChatGPT and CoPilot. Most, if not all, free tools ingest data for training purposes. This may or may not expose the data to others. It’s always best to err on the side of caution and limit the use of public, free AI tools to find or use publicly available data. For optimal data protection and security in AI platforms, the best recourse is to select paid, enterprise versions and ensure that security settings protect your organization. is.

The Basics of Business AI Use

Does your organization have a policy for using AI? If not, it’s time to draft one. Such a policy spells out for employees how generative AI may be used, under what circumstances, and which tools employees may use.

If you do not explicitly tell people which platforms they can and cannot use, they will use whatever tools they wish, including platforms that are not controlled as part of your company’s technology systems. These non-company-sanctioned platforms are referred to as “shadow IT.”  They can be problematic in that accidentally misusing them can expose your data to unwanted third parties.

Give Employees Access to Approved Platforms

Evaluate your company’s needs and examine workflows. Where might AI tools be helpful? The results of this evaluation can be used to select one or two AI tools to pilot.

Enterprise-level paid subscriptions to common AI platforms, such as paid Microsoft Copilot and Chat GPT, offer multiple benefits. They can be integrated with existing platforms, such as Copilot integration with SharePoint, to maximize efficiency and usage. They can also come with added privacy guardrails that ensure no sensitive data leaks from your company’s systems.

Be sure to read the fine print on any platforms you use. Some enterprise-level subscriptions still do not let users opt out of using data for training purposes, which means your data can be stored on the platform to train the LLM model (Large Language Model). If there is any chance of exposing sensitive data when using your GenAI tools, and it’s set to use them for training, you should skip that tool and find another.

Discuss with your IT team how to secure your data even further. Enterprise-level systems have multiple safeguards, too many to discuss in this article. And each tool differs in what is available and how it is used. The goal is to ensure privacy and security for all your data without compromising productivity.

Limit Access to Sensitive Files and Systems

Another step to maintain data confidentiality is to limit access to it. If users can’t download or view sensitive data, they can’t use it. And, if your AI tools are blocked from specific files, or the files are housed in a separate system that AI cannot access, you are protecting it from unauthorized use. Payroll and HR, for example, may be kept on entirely separate systems to ensure that no sensitive personal information is accidentally leaked through the AI.

Data Loss Prevention

Consider adding data loss prevention tools to your tech stack, too. Data loss prevention is a cybersecurity strategy that helps your company identify, monitor, and protect sensitive data. It helps prevent confidential information from being shared either accidentally or intentionally. It also prevents unauthorized users from accessing data. The tools can block, encrypt, or alert users when they sense risky behavior.

Depending on the data loss prevention platform chosen, they can protect laptops, cloud services, email, and more. These tools are great at helping companies maintain data compliance policies. They can reduce the risk of data breaches and improve overall security.

Employee Training

Lastly, employee training is vital to ensuring responsible AI usage. Just as you provide (or should provide) frequent cybersecurity training to make sure cybersecurity best practices remain top of mind, AI training helps employees understand all the ramifications of using these tools. It also ensures that you set the rules before employees become entrenched in their own way of accessing and using AI.

Responsible AI Usage

As companies continue to adopt AI, it’s vital to maintain safeguards to protect sensitive data. Choosing the right platforms, purchasing enterprise-level licenses, working with your IT department to safeguard data, and even housing sensitive systems and files separately are all possible ways to protect data. Never forget employee training, which is also a key element to keeping data safe.

Welter Consulting

Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact us for more information.