Category

Accounting Software

Nov 26
0

Plan for Growth with Dedicated Nonprofit Accounting Software

By | Accounting, Accounting Software, Nonprofit | No Comments
person using nonprofit accounting software on laptop

Over 23 million companies use QuickBooks, the standard small business accounting software. Approximately 8.6% of users are nonprofit organizations. For nonprofits growing beyond the startup phase, QuickBooks offers a better way of managing financial and accounting data than spreadsheets alone; however, it has many limitations. If your organization currently uses QuickBooks and has begun to feel frustrated with these limitations, we will explore alternatives and next steps to move beyond simple accounting software and into nonprofit-specific accounting software.

QuickBooks for Nonprofits

QuickBooks has become the de facto alternative to spreadsheets for many businesses, including nonprofit organizations. The nonprofit version includes donation tracking, fund accounting, and specialized reports.

Many nonprofits struggle with several limitations within this version. It is not especially helpful for houses of worship, for example, which often spend considerable time, money, and effort customizing income, expenses, and reports. It does not scale easily so, if your organization is growing rapidly, you may find the system hinders more than helps your productivity.

Lastly, it is not made to integrate with other platforms, which results in siloed data. Organizations find themselves extracting data from QuickBooks and uploading it into Excel to run reports and data visualization, both of which defeat the purpose of moving from spreadsheets in the first place.

A QuickBooks Alternative for Nonprofits: Sage Intacct

If your organization encounters these limitations, Sage Intacct is an alternative to QuickBooks for Nonprofits.

There are many reasons why Sage Intacct provides an excellent alternative to QuickBooks. Here are our top three.

  1. Automation
  2. Integration
  3. Enhanced reports

1. The Benefits of Accounting Automation

If you have ever had to copy and paste data, upload data into your accounting system, or generate PDF invoices and email them to customers or clients, you know how time-consuming manual processes can be. Consider how long it takes to run end-of-month or end-of-quarter reports, prepare invoices, and email them. Think about how long it takes to follow up on invoices, create data visualizations, and conduct other vital accounting tasks.

Many of these routine tasks can be automated with nonprofit accounting platforms like Sage Intacct. Sage designed the platform with automation in mind, which means you do not need an IT person to program the automation—you can do it yourself.

One good example for nonprofits is expense approvals. In many organizations, approving expenses is a manual process. A staff member must email an approval form and receipt to a manager who approves it in writing. Then, the documentation is sent to accounting to reimburse the employee. This process requires several emails and often several days to complete.

Sage Intacct automated the process from start to finish. Once employees enter expense information into the system, it automatically routes it for approval. This single automation can save minutes for several employees, adding up to hours of potential time savings in a year. And that’s just one automation!

2. Integration with Other Software

QuickBooks is notoriously finicky to integrate into other software. This results in siloed data and a stand-alone accounting system. This may be acceptable for small organizations, but as your organization grows, you will want to generate comprehensive reports encompassing multiple management departments. The best way to accomplish this is through integrated platforms that share data seamlessly.

Sage Intacct offers excellent integration within the Sage suite of products and other platforms. Whether your organization sells memberships, workshops, or other online activities and needs e-commerce integration or wants to improve communications with a customer relationship management (CRM) platform, Sage Intacct offers seamless integration. Users can choose from 350 integrations in the Sage marketplace or use APIs (application programming interface) to integrate with their chosen platforms. This makes Sage Intacct an excellent choice for organizations that require their accounting systems to integrate with multiple software platforms.

3. Enhanced Reports

Most accounting software comes with standard, out-of-the-box reports. These include profit and loss statements, balance sheets, income statements, sales reports, and similar standard financial reports. Nonprofits, however, often need additional reports and added depth to the information to report to boards, auditors, constituents, and donors the effectiveness of their programs and how their money is spent. Standard accounting packages rarely include these reports or require extensive customizations to create them.

With Sage Intacct, you will have access to many reports that accommodate numerous nonprofit financial accounting needs. It even accommodates FASB-required financial reporting requirements.

Ready to Step Up? Learn More About Sage Intacct

As your organization grows, you will need a comprehensive accounting system that accommodates nonprofits’ unique financial reporting and accounting needs. Consider Sage Intacct as you plan for future growth.

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.

Nov 19
0

Integration, the Key to Donor Management Automation

By | Accounting, Accounting Software, Donations, Nonprofit | No Comments
person at computer using integration management software

Donor management encompasses all marketing and communication steps necessary to attract new donors and nurture existing donor relationships. Tasks included as part of the donor relationship management process include attracting new donors through marketing campaigns, events, advertising, and more; follow-up communications with new donors, such as thanking them for their gift and sending required information for tax purposes, and continual marketing to them through newsletters, advertisements, personalized emails, direct mail, and more. Lastly, data from donor campaigns must be analyzed and interpreted to build on successes and retire unsuccessful campaigns.

This mostly manual process benefits from automation. Automation in the donor management process reduces manual tasks, streamlines data and reporting, and can enhance donations. However, to automate the donor management process, nonprofits must ensure that their donor marketing or customer relationship management (CRM) and nonprofit accounting platforms are fully integrated.

Why Is Integration Vital to Donor Management Automation?

Integration of critical platforms, such as donor management software and nonprofit accounting systems,  ensures that all data is up-to-date and accessible in one place, reducing the risk of errors and data duplication.

Enhanced efficiency is another significant benefit. Automation through integrated systems streamlines administrative tasks like data entry, donation tracking, and reporting. This frees up staff time to focus on strategic activities like donor engagement and fundraising campaigns.

Improved donor relationships are also a key advantage. With integrated systems, nonprofits can personalize communications and interactions based on comprehensive donor profiles. This helps build stronger relationships and increase donor retention by ensuring timely and relevant outreach.

Finally, integration ensures seamless communications. All channels, such as email marketing, social media, and event management tools, work together cohesively. This creates a unified experience for donors and ensures consistent messaging across platforms.

By integrating their systems, nonprofits can enhance their operational efficiency, improve donor engagement, and ultimately increase their impact.

Five Ways in Which Automation Helps Donor Management

There are many ways in which automation helps donor management. These include:

  1. Reduced manual data entry: With system integration and automation, data entry is reduced or eliminated. Donor information entered into the accounting system flows seamlessly into the CRM and vice versa. This saves significant time and effort.
  2. Eliminate mistakes: By reducing manual data entry, your organization can reduce the chance of mistakes and duplicate data.
  3. Better reports: Integrated CRM and accounting platforms also ensure that as donor information is updated in the CRM, the accounting information is automatically updated too. This ensures that reports generated from the accounting platform contain the latest information.
  4. Improved insights: Integration ensures that reports contain data from multiple sources, leading to better insights. Such reports can also be generated rapidly, leading to more accurate decision-making about donor campaigns. Marketers can capitalize on trends and respond swiftly to opportunities.
  5. Enhanced donor communications: Automated donor management can also enhance communications by sending customized thank-you letters and follow-up campaign materials.

Take Advantage of Automated Donor Management Today

As you can see, nonprofits receive many benefits from integrating CRM and accounting platforms and automating their donor management tasks. Start today with a comprehensive review of your existing platforms. Which may need to be updated? What can be integrated? Then, look at the possible benefits of donor management automation. What can your organization achieve through automation?

With the answers, you can take the next step and ensure software and systems are prepared to accommodate automated donor management programs.

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.

Jun 20
0

Tame the Paper Tiger: How to Get Accounting Files Under Control

By | Accounting, Accounting Software, Nonprofit | No Comments
person using ERP accounting software on both a mobile phone and laptop, Accounting Files

How dependent is your office on physical paper? Do you have file cabinets crammed into every hallway and corner, or have you tamed the paper tiger and transformed your office into a streamlined and efficient digitally based accounting office?

The pandemic forced many organizations to consider going paperless as more employees had to work from home. However, not everyone continued the transition to paperless. Many organizations continue using basic software such as spreadsheets to manage their accounting. They print invoices and bills, file bank statements and credit card statements, and keep customer files in file cabinets.

This isn’t necessarily bad, but it is inefficient. Today’s digital transformation affects nonprofits just as it does for profits, offering time-saving software and technology to better manage accounting, finance, and overall paperwork. Let’s get your paperwork under control and talk about some of the new and better ways to manage these tasks.

Nonprofit Accounting Software

Specialized nonprofit accounting software can help you move from an inefficient paper-based or spreadsheet-based accounting to a nearly paperless office.

Nonprofit accounting software was built specifically for nonprofit organizations. It includes basics such as a general ledger, accounts payable, and accounts receivable, and organizes the information logically for nonprofits. Additional nonprofit accounting software offers grant management functions, tracking expenses and revenues by program area, and more. Donor management software can be used alongside nonprofit accounting software to manage outreach campaigns and provide a coordinated central repository for all information.

Using nonprofit accounting software instead of spreadsheets helps control excess paper in your office in several ways. Nearly all the basic accounting functions you need to track, from invoices to credit card and banking information, are all tracked electronically, eliminating the need to print and store everything. Additionally, you can run reports more easily from a dedicated nonprofit accounting program than from spreadsheets. You can create and share PDFs of your balance statement, income statement, cash flow, and more.

During audits, if you currently need the auditors onsite or must print reams of paper and carry it to their office, you’ll find it much easier with accounting software. With nonprofit accounting software, you can provide auditors with usernames and passwords, allowing the auditors to select and review any information electronically. And, if you’ve chosen to use a cloud-based accounting platform, the auditors can access the system remotely. They may not have to spend several days onsite if they can review information electronically.

By moving your accounting to a completely digital system, you’ll save paper (and trees!). You’ll also reduce the number of mistakes in your accounting. Unlike a spreadsheet, which may require you to type information into multiple worksheets, with an accounting program, you just enter it once into the system. Accounting software offers many timesaving features and improves efficiency in any organization.

Differences Between Nonprofit Accounting Software and Small Business Software

Many nonprofits consider specialized accounting software but opt instead for off the shelf small business software. Such software may be appealing. It may have a lower price tag and easier onboarding than a robust nonprofit accounting platform.

However, small business software is not designed for the specific needs of a nonprofit. It does not track revenues and expenses by program. It cannot manage grants easily. And it does not integrate with donation software. What you save in upfront and other licensing costs, you may end up spending on custom programing to get small business software to produce the right reports or track line items correctly to the general ledger.

Speak with Nonprofit Accounting Software Experts

If it’s time to make the switch and tame the paper tiger, speak with the nonprofit accounting and software consultants at Welter Consulting today. We’re experienced at working in the nonprofit world and understand the challenges you face managing your accounting. We can suggest the right accounting platform and other software to streamline your office and tame that paper tiger.

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.

Jun 13
0

The Art of Accounting Storytelling: Use Storytelling Techniques for Effective Presentations

By | Accounting, Accounting Software, Nonprofit, Uncategorized | No Comments
Person giving accounting presentation via a large computer monitor, Accounting Storytelling

Once upon a time …

Your mind probably raced back to childhood at that phrase, to many pleasant memories of adults reading stories to you. The human mind is hardwired to listen to stories, and our brains naturally gravitate toward the time-tested framework of a story: a beginning, middle, and end; a hero on a quest; a villain who tried to stop the hero; and the wise guide who helps the hero overcome the challenges.

Financial professionals may think that storytelling techniques are for sales, marketing, and donor relations, but they also offer a rich framework with which to share information so that it is understood and remembered. Let’s examine the art of storytelling and how accountants can leverage this method for better communications.

Why Use a Story Framework for Financial Presentations?

Every accountant or financial professional must present numbers. Whether it’s presentation budgets to stakeholders or reviewing the annual report with the board, at some point this year you will be asked to present to a group.

Part of the art of presenting wisely is engaging the audience’s attention. Accountants may face a significant challenge when presenting numbers because not everyone in the group understands basic accounting concepts. To have your point understood and remembered, you may need to use creative methods to share information. This is where storytelling techniques come into play.

Everyone has heard stories. We watch movies and television shows, we read books and see plays. We know the framework of a good story. It is burned into our subconscious mind through thousands of repetitions over the course of a lifetime. Tapping into this framework to share financial information helps engage your audience and share information in ways they can easily grasp.

Accounting Storytelling Framework

So just how can you use a storytelling framework for your numbers-based presentation? Think of the hero’s journey. Every hero starts off on a quest. Luke Skywalker set out to return R2D2 and the Death Star plans to the Rebels to thwart Darth Vader and the evil empire. That was his quest and the hero’s journey unfolded in two hours of adventure that has kept audience spellbound for decades.

Now you may not be a Jedi knight, but you are the ninja of accounting, so let’s apply this framework to a common scenario: presenting budgets to stakeholders. In your accounting story, you must first explain the challenges from the audience’s perspective. You must see the information through their eyes and focus on what is important and memorable to them.

What information are you sharing with them? What is the story behind the numbers? Focus on the narrative flow around the data. What is the high-level takeaway, and what is the story inherent in the information?

Good stories paint visual pictures in the mind of the audience. You can do this with your data by using data visualizations such as graphs and charts. The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is true when it comes to presenting accounting or financial data.

Using Your Accounting Software to Craft a Compelling Story

The right accounting software plays an important role transforming basic data into stories through data visualizations. Does your software help you create various charts, graphs, and other visualizations for compelling presentations, or do you spend hours exporting data into spreadsheets and crafting visuals from imported data?

If the latter describes a typical scenario, it’s time to consider updating your software. Newer government accounting software and nonprofit accounting software provides robust data visualizations. It can really make a significant difference not only in how you present but in the impact your presentation has on the audience.

Using storytelling techniques to share financial information may seem far-fetched, but it’s a time-tested method for helping audiences engage and connect with information. Try it and become the hero of your finance team

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.