Nonprofit accounting: Beginner guide + key financial statements
QuickBooks for Nonprofits is an essential tool designed to help nonprofit organizations manage their finances with ease and accuracy. Unlike for-profit businesses, nonprofits have unique accounting needs, such as income statement managing donations, tracking restricted funds, and maintaining transparency with stakeholders and regulators. Churches can use this feature to save time (and, so, money), eliminate late fees and error-proof their accounting. You can set rules to automate your church accounting such as rules to automate payments, categorize transactions and auto-charge cards for recurring transactions. You can add payroll processing for $40 per month, plus $6 per employee.
Best for Customizable Reporting
With its specific accounting services for nonprofit organizations reports on campaigns, pledged tracking, donations by donors, and more, secure comprehensive insights into your donors and contributions. The platform also provides discounted QuickBooks licenses for eligible nonprofits through TechSoup. A one-year subscription for 25 users costs $170, as opposed to $200 from the Intuit website. To qualify, you must have secured an official 501(c)(3) status and fulfill other criteria listed by the platform. When starting out with your nonprofit, you often don’t have the money to have a dedicated accounting staff and rely on volunteers to keep track of and manage expenses.
Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT: Best for large organizations
- In this way, Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT provides secure data management and enhances strategic decision-making based on accurate financial data.
- Churches looking for an all-in-one church-tailored platform for keeping church records, managing church events and membership, and performing all essential church accounting functions should consider PowerChurch.
- QuickBooks for Nonprofits is a comprehensive solution that simplifies accounting and financial management for nonprofit organizations.
- Free nonprofit management software can provide the tools your org needs to better serve the mission on budget.
- It supports managing donations, grants, and encumbrances and simplifies tax reporting with IRS Form 990.
- For nonprofits, that often means basic financial reports (including donor- and board-facing financial reports), a chart of accounts to help you track finances, and basic budgeting to keep your nonprofit up and running.
This results in organizations trying to make square pegs fit in round holes, relying on a patchwork of solutions, and following online tutorials to make general-purpose software work for the NPO. We recommend Aplos Core for its valuable features, such as fund accounting, donation tracking, and online giving forms. It is also ideal for faith-based organizations with few employees; law firm chart of accounts see how it benefits churches in our evaluation of the best church accounting software.
Case Study: How Nonprofits Use Keela With QuickBooks Online
See if one of these additional accounting software solutions for nonprofit treasurers and bookkeepers meets your needs. PowerChurch offers full-featured accounting software with general ledger, bill pay, income management, payroll processing tax management, donor pledge and giving management, statement generation and printing capabilities. QuickBooks offers a discount on its QuickBooks Online software through TechSoup. This version of QuickBooks Online offers the accounting features and functionality nonprofits need, including the ability to manage nonprofit finances, file Form 990 and file taxes. Knowing how financially healthy your nonprofit is and being able to track your expenses, income, and various funds are crucial to the growth of your nonprofit. Plus, it helps you create annual reports and maintain transparency with donors.
This guide to the top accounting software will simplify your finances with top features, pricing, reviews, and more. Quicken stands out as user-friendly accounting software ideal for volunteer-run organizations. Its intuitive interface makes basic accounting tasks accessible, even for those without bookkeeping experience. While discounts can help with basic accounting costs, advanced features like payroll are often available only as add-ons with more expensive plans.
Best for Tailored Accounting Software
This plan is suited for large nonprofits or those needing robust financial management tools with more users and advanced features like automation and data synchronization. With nonprofits relying on donations and grants to fund their operations, QuickBooks offers an easy and effective way to track and manage funds for better allocation. Its features, like financial reporting, bookkeeping, and invoicing ensure financial transparency. At its core is fund accounting, a critical system that allows organizations to meticulously track and allocate donations according to donor wishes.
It also offers advanced reporting for budget comparisons, encumbrance tracking, and various financial statements compliant with nonprofit accounting standards, such as FASB 117. This being said, its custom reporting capability is only available with the Pro add-on, which will cost more than the standard system. We also like Aplos’ ability to manage various funds, each with specific restrictions and reporting requirements. Its true fund accounting allows these organizations to accurately track and report on each fund separately, ensuring compliance and maintaining donor trust. With over 70 built-in customizable reports, organizations can get granular insights into all aspects of their financial performance.