Accounting software can help nonprofit organizations keep their finances in order, streamline dues collection, and ensure they meet tax-exempt requirements. To find the best accounting software for nonprofits, you should understand your organization’s specific accounting needs and budget. This guide will cover what nonprofit accounting software is, why it’s important for your organization, and how to choose the right accounting software for your group.
Why is nonprofit accounting software so crucial?
Choosing the right nonprofit bookkeeping software is essential, regardless of the size of your club. Proper software is necessary for maintaining and growing your organization. With appropriate software, you can better manage your budget, stay organized with your finances, and easily complete tax reports. Furthermore, it can prevent the headaches of lost funds or overspending. To maximize your organization’s potential, it’s crucial to take a thoughtful and informed approach to your finances rather than simply winging it.
Tracking everything in one place
Small clubs often struggle to maintain order without proper accounting solutions. Starting off without good accounting practices may result in a shoebox full of receipts, many of which may be missing. Nonprofit accounting software can help you keep track of everything in one place and avoid using a scattered system for your financial management. The right platform makes it simple to enter new expenses and payments on the go, so you always have a complete understanding of your club’s financial status and can generate detailed reports anytime.
Managing spending and fund collection
Nonprofit accounting software is a game-changer for organizations looking to stay on top of their finances. It’s a smart investment that can help your nonprofit better manage its spending, allowing you to make the most of every penny. Accounting software is also a lifesaver when collecting and tracking funds. It offers features like online donations, peer-to-peer fundraising tools, and dues collection solutions, making it easier for supporters to contribute and for nonprofits to keep track of donations. By using accounting software, your organization can increase its funding and improve its chances of making a real impact. Whether you’re a small community group or a large nonprofit, accounting software can help you achieve your financial goals.
Facilitating officer handovers and transitions
Whether you’re running a small or large nonprofit, a dedicated treasurer is likely responsible for managing your finances. However, when the person responsible for this role changes, it can create challenges.
Nonprofit bookkeeping software can facilitate easy officer handovers. All financial information remains in your club’s accounting app, making it easy for the new treasurer to take over seamlessly. You won’t need to worry about collecting documents or having the previous treasurer explain their accounting methods. Instead, the new treasurer can simply continue from where the previous one left off with an intuitive and straightforward accounting solution.
How to choose the best nonprofit accounting software for your needs?
By now, you’ve probably come to the conclusion that if you’re running a nonprofit organization, it’s likely that you’ll need accounting software to manage your finances. However, with numerous options available, it can be challenging to determine which accounting software is suitable for your organization’s needs. While not every software is customized for nonprofits’ specific challenges, you can still find dedicated nonprofit bookkeeping software options. To choose the right software for your organization, consider the following factors:
Features: Look for accounting software that has features specifically designed for nonprofits, such as fund accounting, grant tracking, and donation and member-fee management. Make a list of the features that are most important to your organization and compare them across different software options.
Ease of use: Ease of use and accessibility are the first things you should look for in the best accounting software for nonprofits. Accounting software can be complex, so it’s important to choose software that is user-friendly and easy to navigate. Many accounting software solutions are overly complex and intended for use by trained accountants. Instead, find a solution specifically geared toward easy use by non-experts. Consider software that offers tutorials, support, and training to help you get started or an option with excellent customer support.
Cost: Nonprofits often have limited budgets, so it’s important to consider cost when choosing accounting software. Look for software that fits within your budget and offers flexible pricing options. Ideally, you should not have to pay everyday account fees or sign-up costs. The best accounting software for nonprofits typically rely on payment processing fees, which are significantly lower than commercial solutions.
Integration: If you’re already using other software to manage your organization, look for accounting software that integrates with those tools. This can save time and streamline your processes.
Banking: Some types of nonprofit accounting software are only for keeping records and don’t include any banking features. However, you don’t need to seek out both banking and accounting solutions when you can rely on an all-in-one package. Handling banking and accounting through a single solution has multiple benefits. You can ensure that your account balance is always accurate and that you haven’t overlooked expenses and payments. You can also handle all spending and dues collection using that single solution.
Reporting: Reporting is a crucial feature of any accounting software and can be particularly important for nonprofits. While an ongoing ledger of payments and expenses is helpful, reports summarize your finances over a period of time to provide greater insight. Effective nonprofit accounting software lets you generate reports to get a complete overview of finances over a period of time. This allows you to understand the state of your club better, how it’s changing over time, and what your next move should be. It also makes meeting tax reporting requirements so much easier.
Integrate the best accounting software for nonprofits with Crowded
With Crowded, you can integrate popular nonprofit accounting services such as Quickbooks or Xero for organizations of any size or use our platform on its own. Whether you have just a few members or are steadily growing, you can rely on Crowded for all your accounting needs. Our streamlined app and web portal make it easy to track payments and expenses and generate all the reports you need.
In addition to bookkeeping integrations, we offer branchless banking* with no sign-up costs, everyday account fees, or minimum balances. With Crowded, you can access multiple accounts, control spending with digital Visa® debit cards, and streamline fund collection, such as your membership fees and donation collection. Crowded is an affordable option that allows your nonprofit to focus on its activities instead of worrying about bank fees.
To see how much easier your financial management can be, create a free account for your organization with Crowded today.
