When it comes to accounting software, it’s just as important for nonprofits to track income and expenses as it is for businesses. Nonprofits must follow strict guidelines to maintain their tax-exempt status. If they don’t, they can lose this status, which can open them up to an IRS audit and make all of the donations they’ve previously received taxable.
An accounting system is a must for a nonprofit organization. These nonprofit finance software systems need to handle the daily tasks of a non-profit, from the very basic to the highly complex. A good nonprofit accounting software can meet all your needs in a single system. In this article, we will discuss how to find best accounting software for nonprofits and what makes a good accounting software for nonprofits.
Nonprofit organizations and businesses both need accounting software. Nonprofits often need accounting software during their year-end audit to show the government what they have done with their funds. Software used by nonprofits needs to conform to all of the current regulations and be easy to use for volunteers who serve on the board of directors .
When looking for accounting software, it’s important that it allows for detailed tracking of donations, donors, and expenses. In addition, software should be able to generate detailed reports for presentation to a board of directors and donors, as well as for filing the annual IRS Form 990.
Sage Intacct
The special value of Sage Intacct is that it’s a vast platform with unique accounting solutions tailored to suit various types of non-profits.
Whether you’re a healthcare organization, religious ministry, or NGO, Sage Intacct’s accounting services come with nifty features that benefit these organizations.
For instance, for establishments like churches that might have to deal with a consistent flow of donations and expenses, the program provides real-time financial reports. Not only that, its automated process makes donation tracking and bills management faster and much simpler.
Based on its design and functionality, Sage Intacct was built with convenience and speed in mind for both small and large nonprofits. Features like one-click commands, simplified dashboards, and its automatic workflow make it intuitive and user-friendly.
At the same time, it’s a pretty powerful software with basic and practical advanced functions designed for nonprofit accounting such as:
- Tracking and managing donations, grants, and expenses.
- Automating transactions and real-time reports.
- Simplifying bank reconciliations.
- Tracking and managing budgets.
- Managing foreign and international transactions.
- Accessing donors.
- Managing payroll.
- Monitoring performance and revenue.
These specialized features extend to a vast clientele base of nonprofits that also includes charity foundations, membership organizations, educational nonprofits, and more.
Pros
- Has an automated workflow that generates live reports and monitors transactions.
- Handles foreign and international transactions.
- The software integrations are very flexible.
- Manages payroll.
- Processes bank reconciliations.
- Offers full security and membership management.
- Offers remote access.
Cons
- It might be complex for novice users.
AccuFund Accounting Suite
AccuFund Accounting Suite is a full-on accounting system designed for nonprofits and government agencies.
With a core infrastructure that provides anything from cash receipts and general ledgers to essential features like flexible financial reporting, seamless integrations, and easy bank reconciliations, it’s a standard choice for any non-profit.
But what really makes the suite stand out is just how customizable it is. Depending on the accounting needs of your organization, you can always add new modules and functions such as payroll automation, grants management, and more.
Because of its flexible structure, nonprofits can design custom forms and categorize transactions uniquely to suit their specific needs. Also, the financial report writer has several filter options.
Add these features to the ability to customize reports as needed and you have a truly robust reporting platform that can be utilized to create specific internal and external compliance reports. This makes AccuFund a great option for nonprofits and government entities that run strict financial operations and require utmost transparency.
Whether it’s been provided in the core system or it’s a service you have to access via customization, AccuFund Accounting Suite can provide the following solutions:
- Tracking and managing donations, expenses, and loans.
- Handling payroll, tracking employee time, and streamlining HR management.
- Developing and managing budgets.
- Storing documents.
- Importing and exporting.
- Handling utility bills, tax reports, and licenses for government agencies.
Acufund’s flexible nature makes it practical for nonprofits of any size, but more importantly, it’s a strong model for scaling. Organizations can tweak the system to fit their needs as they expand.
Pros
- Financial reporting is robust and customizable.
- Its custom modules and integrations make it very adaptable.
- Supports payroll and human resources management.
- Provides bank reconciliations and compliance reporting.
- Offers strong security and data storage.
- Can be accessed remotely.
Cons
- Might seem complicated to novice users.
- Doesn’t offer a free trial.
Aplos
Nonprofits like churches often need an accounting system that lets them accept donations, track their cash flow, and allocate funds for their ministry, Aplos is specifically designed to serve those functions and more.
The program is particularly great for managing donations, as not only can you track donations, you can apply them to specific budgets as needed.
Faith-based organizations and nonprofits often depend on the ability to raise funds and convince donors, Aplos’s donor and event management features are strongly equipped for that purpose. It takes fundraising and gift-giving to another level with a gift automation process that facilitates repetitive contributions.
Ideally, the software provides strong accounting and reporting functionalities for small to large nonprofits, but it’s truly practical for churches because it provides essential and advanced functions such as:
- Monitoring cash flow and optimizing budgets with fund accounting.
- Registering, managing, and tracking events and fundraisers.
- Accessing donors and managing their profiles.
- Creating and managing teams and volunteer groups.
- Offering advanced communication systems.
At the core of Aplos’s usability is its communication system. With the ability to integrate with several CRM software and the features like mass emails or texts, it gives you the option to increase cooperation from team members, partners, and contributors.
Pros
- Offers fund accounting.
- Provides donor access and management.
- Facilitates collaboration with CRM integrations, team management, and communication tools like emails and texts.
- Tracks donations and promotes gift-giving.
- Manages events and facilitates fundraisers.
- The features are accessed and automated from a central location so the workflow is streamlined and easier.
- Can be accessed remotely since it’s cloud-based.
Cons
- The integrations could be more flexible and sophisticated.
FastFund Online Nonprofit Fund Accounting
FastFund Online Nonprofit Fund Accounting is an all-in-one accounting, fundraising, and payroll software program. It was designed by nonprofit experts to meet the needs of nonprofit and small governmental agencies.
There are four plans to choose from. The all-inclusive Premium plan starts at $94 per month and includes fund accounting, fundraising, and payroll tools all in one program. If you don’t need the all-inclusive option, you can purchase just the plans that you need. The fund accounting plan and fundraising plans both start at $42 per month, and the payroll plan starts at $66 per month. There is no setup fee, you can cancel anytime, and technical support is included in all four plans.
We chose FastFund Online Nonprofit Fund Accounting as the best overall accounting software for nonprofits because it meets the accounting, fundraising, and payroll requirements at the best price, less than $100 per month.
Features of each of the plans offered by FastFund include:
Nonprofit Accounting Plan
- Customized chart of accounts
- FASB-compliant financial statements
- Reports to assist with completing IRS Form 990
- Tracking of cash receipts and disbursements
- Customized financial statements
- Budgets
Breeze
Breeze is an affordable, cloud-based software designed specifically for churches. The pricing structure is simple—one plan at $50 per month that includes all available features. Breeze has been on the market since 2014 and services more than 8,000 small and mid-sized churches located all over the United States and Canada. We chose Breeze as best for churches because many of its features are customized to meet the specific needs of houses of worship.
Breeze Features
- Event management
- Access to unlimited users
- Add unlimited people to the database
- Online and text giving
- Track donors and gifts
- Access your data via the mobile app
- Create member directories
- Create, email, and text groups
- Manage event attendance
Like Aplos and QuickBooks Online, Breeze can be used on any computer with an internet connection. If you need assistance, tech support is available by phone or email.
Freshbooks
Cloud-based financial management and accounting software FreshBooks is not only for SMBs. Nonprofits also do well using this comprehensive platform. The software’s popularity stems from its ability to streamline organizations’ time tracking and invoicing processes. Indeed, sending invoices using FreshBooks takes only a few minutes.
If you run a nonprofit, FreshBooks is just the tool for you. It helps you accelerate the donation process, which can greatly help your organization in its undertakings. It enables donors to send donations through a variety of online payment options that are not only convenient but highly-secure as well. This, along with its invoicing and tracking capabilities, will ensure that your cause is better served.
FreshBooks continues to receive upgrades that are bound to benefit your organization further. For instance, it has become a collaboration tool and now sports a more visually appealing dashboard that can generate even more customized invoices, which the system can track. Tasks can now likewise be prioritized, thanks to the tool’s time tracking capability, resulting in more transparent accounting, which is a must for nonprofits. Its search functionality has also received a facelift, along with the addition of multicurrency support. The platform comes with mobile apps that support both Android and iOS devices and integrates with third-party applications, including G Suite, Shopify, Stripe, and PayPal. These are but the key Freshbooks benefits; the app goes a long way in terms of ease of use and pricing.
Unit4
Unit 4 is the best accounting software for nonprofits associations that manages the organization to enhance operations by improving the most important assets, workers, and volunteers.
This Software is aimed at people who are involved in the association, offering tools to unleash their potential and organize their time, thus achieving greater efficiency of the whole group.
In fact, Unit4 not only offers management software for NGOs and foundations but is also widely used in other fields such as universities, professional services companies, administrations, as well as public sector companies.
With regard to the ERP accounting software for nonprofits associations, we find a whole series of functions and modules aimed at improving and making the work of all the collaborators much more efficient.
Thanks to programs such as Unit4, you can save a lot of time in data entry and other tasks that can be performed directly by the Software, so that volunteers and workers have more time to devote to other more important purposes.
Conclusion:
Best free accounting software for nonprofits is the purpose of this article. It is to make informations known about best accounting software and help people decide and decide freely and easily which one they like and want to choose and use as an accounting software for their nonprofit organization.