If you are a nonprofit organization, you know getting a handle on your finances can be a challenge. Thankfully, there are a number of accounting software programs and financial tools available to help organizations reach their goals.
There is no one-size-fits-all software for nonprofits, so it’s important to understand the essential features of any accounting software you use. Many of these programs require some technical expertise as some may be linked to your website or social media platforms.
OnPay
Besides regular functions like keeping track of payroll, generating invoices, filing taxes and keeping data on payments, OnPay offers additional useful features like tracking employees’ insurance payments and 401(k). It can even be set up to automatically pay your taxes for you. The pricing starts at $36 per month.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Intuitive and agile user interface | Sometimes slow |
| Customizable dashboard | No mobile app |
| Extensive reporting functions | |
| Easy to use | |
| Responsive customer support | |
| Multiple report options | |
| Multiple app integrations |
Who it’s best for: Small and medium businesses
NetSuite ERP
NetSuite is a great tool for growing businesses, as it’s created to fulfill an organization’s needs from inception onwards, irrespective of its subsequent growth. It does so by helping users with financial planning, supply chain management, order fulfillment and more, besides regular bookkeeping functions. Its pricing is available on request.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Easy to use and learn | Reporting could be better |
| Lots of customizable report options | More expensive than others |
| Plans for all business sizes | |
| Cloud based | |
| Makes payroll easy | |
| Highly searchable | |
| Multiple app integrations |
Who it’s best for: Small and medium businesses, enterprise
Tipalti
Tipalti is a bookkeeping software that can help businesses track outstanding deadlines by administering various time-sensible administrative issues. It also works well for organizations with international clients, with international payment processing in more than 190 countries. Its pricing is available upon request.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Automates all financial functions of business accounting | Needs bank account bank integration |
| Simplifies vendor management | Sometimes glitchy |
| Responsive customer support | |
| Multiple payout forms and user templates | |
| Integrates with multiple apps | |
| User-friendly and intuitive interface | |
| Multiple app integrations |
Who it’s best for: Small and medium businesses, enterprises
Yendo
Yendo offers a CRM and dashboard that helps users get an overview of their organization’s financial and operational health. It also offers basic functions, like invoice creation, payments and expenses tracking, report generating and others. Pricing starts at $29 per month.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Free plan available | Can be expensive |
| Clean user interface | |
| Solid basic accounting functions | |
| Easy to use | |
| Responsive customer support | |
| Free trial | |
| Multiple app integrations |
Who it’s best for: Small and medium business
QuickBooks Enterprise
Quickbooks Enterprise is a robust platform targeted at growing organizations. This powerful system allows users to integrate everyday tasks like payables, payroll processing, and inventory tracking directly into their accounting process sans ERP implementation. It offers companies tailored solutions that can make most of their accounting processes much simpler and faster. The platform is loaded with enterprise-grade features that are bound to benefit any business or organization.
The product’s accounting capabilities are designed to automate manual processes so that you get to focus on more important tasks. It gets rid of manual data entry in just about any area of your business, including accounting, inventory, and sales. You also get to enjoy compliance with industry reporting standards, along with insights that can greatly help you make data-driven decisions. The tools that accompany the system are highly suited to different industries as the vendor can scale the system to meet any requirement.
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What makes Quickbooks Enterprise special is its ability to cater to the needs of nonprofits. The system generates receipts for donations, along with pledges that an organization receives. Its robust reporting features enable the solution to generate reports reflecting your biggest donors and grants and donor contributions. Expenses can be tracked with ease, helping you provide your donors, board, and even the IRS with key figures. You can also find out total individual donors’ contributions.
Quickbooks Enterprise is available in a variety of pricing models, starting at $990 per year.
Invoice Meister
Invoice Meister is a feature-rich accounting solution that allows both businesses and nonprofits to manage revenues and expenses so that your accounts are properly organized. If you are running a nonprofit or working for one, the tool is bound to suit you. It is easy to set up as the system is very intuitive. And because it’s deployed via cloud, you can access the system in real-time, from anywhere.
You can use the system to automatically generate recurring invoices using predefined templates, saving you both time and effort in the process. It also has powerful reporting features, allowing for efficient expense tracking and detailed financial reports. Donations can likewise be tracked with the system automatically sending out notifications about unpaid or recurring invoices. Security is topnotch, with the vendor performing automatic backups and employing bank-level protocols.
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The vendor offers prospective customers a variety of discounts. These include a 50% discount for members of the academe and those who work for nonprofits. When purchased with MindMeister, a 30% discount is in the offing.
19. MYOB Essentials
Designed for growing and small Australian and New Zealand organizations, cloud-based MYOB Essentials manages expenses, creates and sends invoices, complies with tax requirements, and provides deep insights into organization’s finances. It lets you link your bank with over 130 banks and credit cards, simplifying your expense tracking requirements.
MYOB Essentials allows your employees to manually input their work hours into the system. They can then access their payslips using the application’s YourPay module. For law compliance, it automatically reports your employees’ salaries, wages, taxes, and superannuation straight to ATO.
For accountants, MYOB Essentials offers a number of sophisticated accounting features like common ledger, intelligenet chart mapping, financial data acquisition, and compliant reporting.
Detailed MYOB Essentials ReviewREAD MORE
20. BigTime
BigTime is an end-to-end time and billing solution created for businesses and professionals. It serves as a unified hub where users can track billable hours, keep tabs on expenses, as well as generate reports to gain insights into their finances. With this, you gain access to mobile timesheets, real-time finance tracking, as well as DCAA-compliant timekeeping, making it ideal for government contractors. Moreover, with its advanced billing and invoicing module, you can customize templates according to your preferences so you can include details necessary for your operations such as tax rates, remittance information, and more.
What’s more, the platform has a built-in project management tool. This allows you to manage projects in line with your finances and make it easier to calculate project costs. It comes with Gantt charts so you can create project timelines, assignment tracking tools to increase accountability within your team, and auto-reminders so you don’t have to worry about missing a deadline. Plus, with its resource allocation function, you can have a clear view of your staff capacity and make sure that no one is being overworked or underworked.
In addition to the abovementioned features, BigTime can also integrate with third-party applications such as Quickbooks, Salesforce, Slack, Google Apps, and Zapier. With these, data import/export is faster and processes are more streamlined.
BigTime offers three different subscription plans priced depending on the number of users, the feature set, as well as the types of customer support you require. For small teams that require basic functionalities, they have the Express plan at $10/user/month. There’s a Pro plan for teams that need more advanced tools at $30/user/month. Lastly, they have a Premier Plan at $40/user/month which offers uptime guarantees, unlimited API access, and priority support.
Detailed BigTime Review
BEST FOR SMALL ORGANIZATIONSACCOUNTS from Software4Nonprofits
For small organizations like churches or community organizations, we selected ACCOUNTS as the best accounting software. It’s affordable and easy to use, with all of the necessary features you need to track income and expenses and create reports.Pros
- 60-day free trial and 30-day money back guarantee
- The standard version costs just $130 for the first year
- The program can be used for the accounting of multiple organizations (up to 5) at no additional cost
Cons
- The desktop program can only be used on Windows
- You have to purchase a separate donation program to track donors
- Only one user can do data entry at a time with the standard version
ACCOUNTS through Software4Nonprofits is a program offered by Cooperstock Software, a small company based in Canada. The company was founded by the treasurer of a religious finance committee because he had difficulties finding software that met his needs. He created ACCOUNTS as an alternative to the more expensive and complex accounting programs available at the time.
ACCOUNTS is an easy-to-use platform designed specifically for small organizations and churches who need basic bookkeeping and accounting services. The program allows you to track income and expenses, track fund balances, associate accounts with lines on your IRS tax forms, and create detailed reports.
If you’re responsible for managing the accounting for multiple organizations, such as the school PTA and your child’s sports team, you can use the software to handle the accounting for both at no additional cost.
The standard version of ACCOUNTS is $130 for the first year. After that, it costs $65 per year. You can try ACCOUNTS for free for 60 days, and you can download the free version online. ACCOUNTS also has a 30-day guarantee if you purchase the program. If you’re not satisfied with your purchase and no longer intend to use it, the company will give you a full refund.
Unfortunately, ACCOUNTS was designed for Microsoft Windows and the desktop version is only available for that operating system. However, there is a cloud-based, browser version called OnDemand that works on most platforms including Mac. Under the standard version, only one user can do data entry at a time. If you upgrade to the local network version—which costs $220 for the first year—up to five users can access the database at once.
If you want to track donations and donor information, you’ll need to purchase additional software. Cooperstock Software offers another program called DONATIONS, which is free if you have 100 donors or less per year. Larger organizations will need the paid version of DONATIONS.
BEST FOR LARGE ORGANIZATIONSFinancial Edge by Blackbaud
For large organizations that want enterprise-level accounting, Financial Edge is the clear choice. It integrates with Raiser’s Edge, a program of choice for donor and constituent management, and allows you to track expenses and budget across fiscal years.Pros
- Cloud-based software that can be managed remotely
- Integrates with Raiser’s Edge donor management software
Cons
- Lack of pricing transparency on the site
Financial Edge is a product released by Blackbaud, a leading software company that caters to nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and healthcare facilities. It serves millions of users in over a hundred countries worldwide.
For large nonprofit organizations that have significant accounting needs as well as employees and a large donor-base, Financial Edge can be an excellent fit and it’s our top choice for large organizations.
Financial Edge is a cloud-based program, so you can use it from any laptop. You can use Financial Edge to create budgets, track expenses, manage cash flow, and handle the general ledger. It has expanded budgeting capabilities, so you can forecast different scenarios and budget across fiscal years.
Financial Edge also integrates with Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge, the gold-standard program for donor management and fundraising, so you can make sure your organization’s efforts are cohesive.
Conclusion
To ensure your nonprofit organization is well-managed and performing, financial software can be a huge help. The right accounting software for nonprofits can keep financial information organized and accessible. It also provides a secure environment to allow staff to enter data with ease.