Category

Healthcare

Why Healthcare Nonprofits Are Moving to Cloud-Based Accounting Software

By | Accounting, Accounting Software, Healthcare, Nonprofit | No Comments

Running a healthcare nonprofit means juggling complex funding streams, regulatory requirements, and the constant pressure to maximize every dollar. Your accounting software should make this easier, not harder. That’s why more healthcare organizations are discovering that cloud-based accounting platforms offer game-changing advantages over legacy systems.

Let’s explore seven compelling reasons why cloud accounting might be the right move for your healthcare nonprofit.

Build Dashboards That Match How Your Organization Really Works

Your healthcare nonprofit doesn’t operate like a cookie-cutter business, so why settle for generic financial views? Cloud accounting platforms let you design dashboards that reflect your unique workflows and priorities.

With cloud systems, you can:

  • Track service hours alongside program spending
  • Monitor compliance metrics next to budget variances
  • Set up quick-access buttons for time-sensitive approvals
  • Share critical updates with your team right on their home screen

You can even establish standardized checklists for recurring tasks, such as grant reporting deadlines or regulatory filings. When each team member sees exactly what matters to their role, everyone works more efficiently, and nothing slips through the cracks.

Let Artificial Intelligence Handle the Tedious Stuff

Your finance team didn’t enter the nonprofit sector to spend their days on data entry. Cloud platforms now harness AI to automate repetitive tasks and catch potential problems before they become real issues.

Imagine invoices that extract their own data and route themselves for approval. Picture bank reconciliations that learn your transaction patterns and automatically match entries. Think about searching your financial system using everyday language instead of hunting through endless menus.

Machine learning algorithms can flag unusual transactions that might need a second look, whether they’re genuine errors or important outliers. This means your talented staff can spend more time on meaningful analysis and strategic planning, the work that truly advances your mission.

Seamlessly Connect Your Entire Technology Stack

Healthcare nonprofits often rely on specialized software for everything from donor management to grant compliance. Cloud accounting platforms integrate with these tools, creating a unified ecosystem instead of forcing you into isolated data silos.

Leading solutions like Sage Intacct offer extensive integration marketplaces where you’ll find connections to fundraising platforms, grant management systems, HR software, procurement tools, and more. These aren’t clunky manual imports. The information flows automatically between systems in real time.

Your development team can track donations in their preferred customer relationship management system or CRM while financial data updates automatically in your accounting system. Your program managers can monitor patient outcomes in specialized healthcare software while budget information stays perfectly synchronized. You get best-in-class tools for each function without sacrificing financial visibility.

Analyze Your Finances from Every Angle That Matters

Healthcare nonprofits need to view financial performance through multiple lenses simultaneously. How much did we spend on community health programs across all funding sources? Which grants are underspent? What does our cost per patient look like by service line?

Cloud platforms use dimensional reporting (sometimes called segment analysis) to answer these questions without creating an impossibly complicated chart of accounts. You can slice your data by program, funding source, location, patient population, service type, department—any dimension that helps you understand your financial story.

Generate sophisticated reports that show program managers exactly what they need to see while giving board members the big-picture oversight they require. This flexibility transforms financial data from a compliance necessity into a strategic asset.

Keep Financial Conversations Where They Belong

When questions arise about financial data, where do those discussions happen? Probably in email threads, Slack messages, or hallway conversations. Because the information is scattered, it’s hard to track and follow up on messages. They get lost.

Tools like Sage Intacct Collaborate embed communication directly into your accounting system. Team members can ask questions, share insights, and discuss financial matters right alongside the relevant data. Attach notes to specific reports so context travels with the numbers.

Every conversation creates an automatic audit trail within the software itself. When auditors ask whether department heads reviewed their budget variances, you can show them the documented discussions. During funders’ site visits, you can demonstrate transparent financial oversight. This approach brings accountability and institutional knowledge together in one accessible place.

Click Through to the Details Whenever You Need Them

Ever looked at a financial report and thought, “Where did that number come from?” Cloud accounting eliminates this frustration through complete drill-down capability.

Click any figure to see progressively more detail until you reach the original source document. Program directors can investigate budget variances themselves instead of submitting requests to finance. Board members can explore specific line items during meetings without waiting for follow-up reports. Auditors can trace any amount back through supporting documentation in seconds.

This transparency builds financial confidence throughout your organization. When everyone can see the story behind the numbers, you create a culture of shared ownership over financial stewardship.

Work from Anywhere with True Cloud Technology

Not all “cloud” software is created equal. True cloud platforms run entirely through web browsers, so no special installations or remote desktop connections are needed. Your team can work flexibly without compromising security or functionality. System updates happen automatically in the background, so you’re always using the latest version without disruption.

These platforms leverage enterprise-grade infrastructure from major cloud providers, giving you security, reliability, and disaster recovery capabilities that would cost a fortune to build independently. Your data stays protected with continuous backups, and you maintain access even if your physical location faces unexpected challenges.

Ready for Change?

Transitioning to cloud-based accounting software represents an investment in your organization’s capacity to serve your community effectively. These platforms eliminate barriers between departments, accelerate reporting cycles, and provide the transparency that funders and stakeholders increasingly expect.

As your healthcare nonprofit expands services, adds programs, or pursues new funding opportunities, cloud accounting scales alongside you. You won’t outgrow your system or face expensive overhauls down the road.

The real payoff? Your team spends less time wrestling with technology and more time focused on what matters most: improving health outcomes in the communities you serve.

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.

HSA, CDHP, HDHP, PPACA: The Alphabet of Employee Benefit Packages – Free Webinar

By | Healthcare, Nonprofit, Training, Webinar | No Comments

Benefit packageFriday, Apr 22, 2016 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PDT

The number of options related to employee benefit packages can be overwhelming. Non-Profit organizations are limited on the amount of money they can spend on employee benefit packages because of funding requirements. So how do non-profit organizations compete with other organizations in order to attract/retain good employees? Learn how your organization can “beef up” the benefit offering to employees without increasing costs to the organization by attending our free NP Enrichement Series webinar.

This webinar presented by Vicki Welter, CPA & Steve Pohlman, CPA

Steve Pohlman, Owner of Steven C. Pohlman, CPA is a CPA with a tax and consulting practice in Mercer Island with a history of helping people and businesses navigate through regulations and reporting requirements. He began his career in 1980 at Knight, Vale and Gregory, CPAs, working in the audit and reporting side of the business. After moving into the private world as the CFO of a trade association, he started his own business doing personal and business tax returns and helping small businesses with their accounting needs. Four years ago he added voluntary benefits to his suite of services to help employers attract and retain high quality employees.

Register here

Questions about ACA?

By | Healthcare, MIP Fund Accounting | No Comments

ACA in a Nutshell: Using MIP to help with ACA ReportingIf you use Abila MIP Fund Accounting and have questions about the impact of the Affordable Care Act, we invite you to join us for a free webinar, ‘ACA in a Nutshell: Using MIP to help with ACA Reporting’ on September 10 at 10:00 PDT.  The webinar is free but registration is required.

Register here

This free webinar will show attendees how to collect and report on ACA data in MIP using the Payroll, Human Resource Management & Employee Web Service modules. We will discuss how this information is entered into the system and who/how it should be entered and effect on ACA reporting. Understand how ACA will affect your organization before the end of the year!

Co-Presented with Melinda White, CPA of RMBS (Developers/Programmers of the HR/EWS Modules for MIP)

Keep your passion focused on promoting healthy living

By | Healthcare | No Comments

iStock_000019788409LargeNonprofit Healthcare organizations have long been crucial community assets for ensuring that children, elderly, expectant mothers and those in need have access to the services needed for wellness.

You need funding to continue to provide those services and sound financial tracking and reporting of existing funding is the best measure to safeguard existing funding as well as position your organization for new awards.

Promoting healthy living, educating and servicing the health of your community and caring for the disabled, sick or injured are key functions of health organizations and Hospitals who trust Abila for our comprehensive yet easy-to-use fund accounting and fundraising software solutions.  It is our goal to help you focus your attention where it should be – on treating and supporting all persons with dignity and compassion.

Fund Accounting 100:

  • Easily create accurate, specialized financial reports for both internal and external key stakeholders with different reporting needs
  • Demonstrate accountability with unlimited budget versions and flexibility to accurately track and report on multiple funds, across multiple cost centers through varying budget periods
  • Maintain a clear audit trail no matter how simple or complex fund allocation, grant administration or data segmentation is for your organization
  • Configure and customize your system exactly how your organization needs to track and report on data

Fundraising:

  • Strengthen relationships with your supporters through targeted communications, solicitations, and acknowledgements
  • Easily track and manage donor-advised funds and donor-directed designations for highly-specialized fundraising campaigns
  • Capture donations via the Web, streamline online donation data entry, manage your grateful patient or sustaining giving program and maintain PCI-compliance with ease with complete payment processing right from the software
  • Grow your special events with the ability to plan, organize, and manage all aspects of your fundraiser within the system

The power of an integrated solution:

  • Improve accountability with organization-wide transparency and data consistency
  • Reduce duplicate data entry with seamless integration between the systems
  • Ensure data integrity of funds raised and disbursed
  • Control administration costs by leveraging solutions designed to work together

Welter Consulting is your one-stop resource to get the right solution, the best technology fit, and the expertise to implement and use those systems to the fullest in order to help the most people.