In this post I have listed some of the best budgeting software for Nonprofits. You can download free trial version for free or go with a paid version as per your requirement and needs.
It is a good practice to maintain accounting books as there are several laws going on related to reporting and maintaining official records for Nonprofits.
QuickBooks Enterprise Nonprofit
Many nonprofit organizations end up cobbling together accounting, donor management, and payroll services by using multiple programs, making things confusing during end-of-year reporting. QuickBooks Enterprise Nonprofit is our choice as the best overall accounting software for nonprofits because it is a full-service program that allows you to track your finances, manage your donor lists, and even pay your staff.Pros
- Combines donation management, financial statements, and payroll services into one package
- Online backup and protection of your QuickBooks data
- Syncs with apps like Kindful
Cons
- Free trial unavailable on Enterprise edition
- You must pay an additional fee to get remote access
- Adding users can quickly drive up the monthly cost
QuickBooks Enterprise Nonprofit is issued by Intuit, the financial services and tax software company. Intuit was founded in 1983. Since its launch, it has become a household name, earning over $7.7 billion in revenue in 2020.
While there are cheaper versions of QuickBooks available for nonprofit organizations, we selected QuickBooks Enterprise Nonprofit because of its robustness. For large or growing organizations who need comprehensive accounting services, this program can be a good fit.
You can use QuickBooks Enterprise Nonprofit to track expenses and donations, budget by program and compare to actuals, and create donor and grant reports. This version of QuickBooks allows you to accept donations and securely store donor information in your database. If you upgrade to the Gold, Platinum, or Diamond plans, you can even get payroll services for your organization and pay your staff directly through QuickBooks.
QuickBooks integrates with several apps used by nonprofits including Kindful. If you use these apps as part of your fundraising campaigns, you can sync the data and import transaction details to streamline your reporting.
While other versions of QuickBooks have free trials, QuickBooks Enterprise Nonprofit does not. This version starts at $1,275 per year, but the price can increase based on what additional services you need. For example, the Platinum plan costs $2,035 per year.
The default version is only available via desktop, so employees cannot access it remotely. If you want to add cloud-based access, you’ll need to pay an additional fee for hosting for each user that will be using the program. For example, the cost for two users to remotely access the Diamond plan is $3,572.40.
For smaller nonprofits or nonprofits who are just starting out, you probably don’t need software with as many features as QuickBooks Enterprise Nonprofit. For smaller organizations and charities with more basic accounting needs, QuickBooks has other plans that start at lower prices such $25 per month.
Aplos Nonprofit Accounting Software
If you’re looking for a cloud-based accounting software designed specifically for nonprofit organizations, Aplos is going to be one of your top options. This nonprofit accounting software was created by Tim Goetz, an accountant who couldn’t find simple accounting software for nonprofit clients he worked with.
Aplos is available in two different versions: Aplos Suite and Aplos Advanced Accounting Upgrades.
With the Aplos Suite, you receive the full range of accounting and non-profit specific features, including:
- Funding accounting
- Nonprofit financial statements
- Budgeting reports
- Donor management
- Online donations and giving
- Giving statements
- People database
- Groups and team portal
- Fundraising tools
- Marketing and communication tools
- Events registration
- Website builder
- Reporting and analytics
The Aplos Suite starts at $59 per month—but you can sign up for a 15-day, no-obligation, free trial to test this nonprofit accounting software first.[1]
On the other hand, if you opt for the Aplos Advanced Accounting Upgrades, you’ll receive a customized solution, starting at $159 per month. This platform will include all the features of the Aplos Suite, as well as:
- Budgeting by fund or tag
- Project, campaign, or department reporting
- Custom role permissions
- Automatic recurring transactions
- Fixed asset tracking
- Income and expense allocations
- Managing multiple entries
Moreover, Aplos also offers additional upgrade options for integrated payroll with Gusto, bookkeeping services, and implementation services. It’s also important to note that to use Aplos’ online payment features, associated processing fees will apply: 3% plus $0.30 per credit and debit card transaction for verified 501(c)(3) organizations and 1% higher for non-verified organizations.
Along these lines, ACH transfers will cost 2% plus $0.30 per transaction for verified organizations and 1% higher for non-verified organizations. Aplos also offers special discounts for organizations that were founded in the past six months, or who have annual revenue of under $50,000.
Ultimately, considering that Aplos is accounting software designed solely for nonprofit organizations, there’s no doubt it’s going to be one of the best solutions out there. Plus, not only does this nonprofit accounting software accommodate fund accounting and basic processes, but it also doubles as a nonprofit customer relationship management (CRM) platform—including tools to manage donors, members, donations, and more.
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.
ACCOUNTS has a 4.7-star rating on Capterra.3
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.
Zoho Books
The next nonprofit accounting software on our list? Zoho Books—a simple, affordable, and functional solution for nonprofit organizations and other small businesses alike. Although like QuickBooks Online, Zoho Books was not created specifically for nonprofits, the software has a number of accounting features to accommodate nonprofit organizations, plus an add-on tool within the Zoho Suite of products that can make this solution even more compelling.
First, in terms of accounting capabilities, Zoho Books allows you to get set up with their web-based accounting software quickly and easily, with four plans to choose from, as well as a mobile app that can be used regardless of plan level. With the Zoho Books nonprofit accounting software, you’ll be able to:
- Manage your funds and categorize your expenses
- Create separate expense accounts and generate expense reports
- Accept donations in multiple currencies
- Send payment receipts to donors
- Track projects, associate expenses with projects, and assign users to individual projects
- Track donations and assess progress over time
- Collaborate with employees and volunteers regardless of location by adding them as users
Zoho differentiates their plan levels based on the number of users, workflow rules, and additional features—with the higher-level plans offering the greatest amount of functionality. For the Standard plan, you’ll pay $20 per month, for the Professional Plan, you’ll pay $50 per month, and finally, for the Premium Plan, you’ll pay $70 per month. You also have the option to use the free plan.
This being said, however, Zoho Books also offers a 14-day free trial and 15% off their original pricing for registered charities, trusts, and societies.
Moreover, if you want to take your nonprofit accounting software to the next level with Zoho Books, you can look into Zoho Creator, a customizable database that includes prebuilt apps designed specifically for nonprofit organizations. Within Zoho Creator, these nonprofit apps include a volunteer portal, a donor management platform, and an event management module. You can use each module separately or you can integrate the data between the different Zoho modules. Plus, Zoho Creator also gives you the ability to create your own business apps as well.
Pricing for Zoho Creator starts at $25 per user per month—however, if you contact Zoho directly, they’ll work with your nonprofit to give you a customized price quote.
All of this being said, with the Zoho Books accounting software and Creator integration option (as well as the option to integrate with a variety of Zoho products), Zoho Books is great accounting software for small nonprofits and larger organizations alike.
Conclusion
Non-profit organizations rely on specialized software to deal with the significant amount of data created by various business processes. The purpose of a nonprofit organization is to deliver a clear, quantifiable social benefit to its members, customers and other interested parties. As a result, the finance department of a nonprofit organization faces a higher level of scrutiny from external regulators and stakeholders. Having proper accounting software for nonprofits is crucial to the efficient functioning of the financial department.