A lot of people think that because they are working in a nonprofit organization, they are already saving money. But the reality is, nonprofits must follow certain financial rules and be responsible with their funds like any other business organization. Hence, it’s not surprising to find them looking for free accounting software or accounting software for nonprofits small business.
Software for nonprofits small business is available at this website. Browse the software that’s available and choose the one that suits your needs. You can download it in a matter of minutes. This will help you save time and money on asset management, product management, CRM, and various other things.
Xero: Best for small, growing organizations
Price: Xero offers three plans, billed monthly: Early ($12), Growing ($34) and Established ($65). All new users get a 30-day free trial. Registered nonprofit organizations receive 25% off the monthly fee.
Pros
- Full suite of 100+ reports included with all subscription levels.
- Syncs with apps like Stripe, PayPal and Infoodle.
- Easy to use, with online courses to help you get started.
Cons
- No phone support.
Why we like it
Xero is an easy-to-use, easy-to-scale, cloud-based accounting software that can be customized to fit the needs of your nonprofit organization. Need to manage a membership base? Connect Xero with MembershipWorks. Need to track donations? You can link your Xero account to Infoodle for seamless donor communication and analysis.
Aplos: Best for accounting and CRM
Price: Aplos starts at $59 per month with the option to add on text-to-give ($20 per month) or advanced accounting ($159 per month). Aplos offers a 15-day free trial and 50% off the first six months if you sign up during that trial. Additional discounts are available for small/new organizations and those that opt for an annual subscription.
Pros
- Designed for nonprofits and churches.
- Tools to build and host your website.
- Accept tithes and donations from your website.
- Online event registration and attendee tracking.
- True fund accounting with balance sheets and income statements by fund.
Cons
- Accounting features like tax reporting and budget by fund require an upgrade.
Why we like it
Aplos does more than accounting — way more. The cloud-based software is a full-fledged customer relation management tool that allows your organization to easily track, manage and engage members and donors. True Fund accounting features help you stay on top of donation restrictions to ensure funds are spent on time and in the correct manner. And event management tools let you register, track and check in attendees.
The “Advanced Accounting” package is a pricey add-on at $159 per month but unlocks the ability to budget by fund or tag, track fixed assets and automatically complete your annual IRS Form 990.
QuickBooks Enterprise for nonprofits: Best for large organizations
Price: Annual subscriptions range from $1,655 (Gold) to $4,020 (Diamond) for one user. You can add up to 30 or 40 users, depending on the plan. While QuickBooks Enterprise doesn’t offer a discount for nonprofits, as of this writing new users can receive 10% to 40% off the annual cost for their first year.
Pros
- Industry-specific reports to track donors and manage budgets by program.
- Capable of handling a robust donor database.
- Priority customer service.
Cons
- Desktop only. Remote access is an additional charge.
- Expensive annual subscription.
- Limited to Windows users.
Why we like it
You can tweak most QuickBooks accounting solutions to work for a nonprofit organization, but who has time for that? QuickBooks Enterprise does much of the work for you with a nonprofit chart of accounts that gives a clear picture of your organization’s assets, expenses and revenue, including from donations and retail sales. At tax time, you can easily transfer your data to the relevant IRS forms. Customizable reports allow you to manage budgets for various programs, view contributions by donor and grant and track top-tier donors.
While QuickBooks Enterprise is stacked with features, it also requires a stack of cash to acquire. Annual subscriptions start at $1,655 for one user and there’s no discount for nonprofit organizations.
Sage Intacct
Gain real-time financial and operational visibility throughout your business. Leverage comprehensive financial controls to ensure security and compliance. Streamline your business processes using extensive automation to reduces labor, and save costs. The Sage Intacct system includes accounting, cash management, purchasing, vendor management, financial consolidation, revenue recognition, subscription billing, contract management, project accounting, fund accounting, inventory management, and financial reporting applications, all delivered through the cloud.
Wave
PROS
- Easy to use even for nonaccountants
- Completely free forever
- Ideal for simple nonprofit organizations
- Bookkeeping assistance available via Wave Advisors
CONS
- Lacks specialized features for nonprofits
- Not a good fit for large nonprofits
- Multiple apps instead of a single full-featured app
- No tools for managing restricted funds
Our Expert Opinion
Just like QuickBooks Online, Wave has no industry-specific features, but it’s flexible enough to be included in our best nonprofit accounting software. If you are a volunteer treasurer for a small charity, then Wave is suitable software for accumulating your income and expenses. Wave doesn’t offer departmental comparison or analysis, so it doesn’t work if you receive restricted funds. Nevertheless, Wave has a good set of features to streamline accounting for donations, tax receipts, and payroll. Nonprofits with multiple locations can also set up and manage multiple entities with Wave. While Wave is easy to use, even for novice accountants or treasurers, you can seek personalized coaching from a Wave Advisor.
Wave Pricing
Wave’s accounting, invoicing, and receipt tracking features are free. It only charges fees for processing credit card, bank payments, and payroll transactions:
- Accounting, invoicing, and receipt tracking: Free
- Credit card processing: 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction (for most cards) and 3.4% + 30 cents (for American Express)
- Bank payments: $1 per transaction
- Payroll:
- $35 per month plus $6 per employee or independent contractor for users living in tax-service states (Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin). If you live in one of these states, Wave can process your tax payments and file the paperwork with state agencies and the IRS.
- $20 per month plus $6 per employee or independent contractor for users living in the remaining 36 states. These states are self-service, which means that Wave only calculates payroll taxes, but you have to pay and file the required paperwork yourself.
Blackbaud
PROS
- Can track complicated grant requirements
- Robust budgeting capabilities
- Unlimited tracking characteristics for in-depth reporting
- Integrates with other Blackbaud software packages
CONS
- No features for managing donors
- Complicated to use
- No upfront pricing
- Most of the modules are available for an additional fee
Overall Score2.80OUT OF5
| RATING CRITERIA | PRICING | 1.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
| EASE OF USE | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| GENERAL FEATURES | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| NONPROFIT FEATURES | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| EXPERT ANALYSIS | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
Our Expert Opinion
If you’re currently relying on major foundation or government grants for funding, Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT is comprehensive enough to track both simple and complex grant requirements. Blackbaud has powerful tracking levels for monitoring each grant separately, allowing you to create reports about each grant and forecast budgets across multiple grant periods. This helps you gain better overall control of grant finances. With Blackbaud, you can specify how your financial data looks on reports and break your accounting structure down to a very detailed level if required. The program is also ideal for organizations that require consolidated reporting—thanks to its consolidation management module which allows users to merge financial statements across multiple organizations. On the downside, Blackbaud is a bit expensive and complex which requires a lot of training and support to get up to speed on the basic functionality.
Blackbaud Pricing
Prices are not available, but you can contact the provider to request pricing information or a customized quote.
Nonprofit+
PROS
- Extensive list of useful modules
- Powerful donor management capability
- Can add as many users as needed
- Offers tools for managing restricted funds
CONS
- Pricey for small nonprofits
- No built-in tools for managing payroll
- Complicated to use
Overall Score3.53OUT OF5
| RATING CRITERIA | PRICING | 1.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
| EASE OF USE | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| GENERAL FEATURES | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| NONPROFIT FEATURES | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| EXPERT ANALYSIS | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
Our Expert Opinion
Nonprofit+, by Acumatica, is robust accounting software that is particularly useful for tracking donors. It includes plenty of modules to expedite the different aspects of your nonprofit operations, but we especially like its strong donor management tool, which allows users to easily manage donor contacts and track donation sources. With Nonprofit+, you can track income from donors, generate customized reports by activity, and schedule emails to send out to donors. Nonprofit+ is also a terrific choice for nonprofits that receive restricted funds. It has a restricted fund management module that allows you to define and restrict the uses of restricted donations. Despite having the most comprehensive nonprofit features on our list, many small nonprofits may need to consider an alternative as it’s expensive and a bit complicated.
Nonprofit+ Pricing
Prices are not provided on the Acumatica website. You can sign up for a free product tour to see how it works.
MIP Fund Accounting
Nonprofit Accounting Software Overview
MIP Fund Accounting is the preferred nonprofit fund accounting and financial management software for planning and managing budgets, maximizing grants, managing HR, and producing reports.
MIP Fund Accounting helps nonprofits track and report individual funds from multiple sources. They also comply with FASB, GASB, and other reporting requirements.
MIP was recently awarded a Top Rating from Trust Radius and five stars from CP Practice Advisor.
Why We Love this Nonprofit Accounting Software
MIP Fund Accounting can change and grow with your organization through your most difficult fund accounting, human capital management, and payroll challenges.
Pricing of this Nonprofit Accounting Software
Contact MIP Fund Accounting for a quote for their accounting software.
Conclusion:
Software for Nonprofits Small Business There are a lot of good systems out there that can help you automate the bookkeeping, or just handle some of the more tedious tasks of nonprofits small business. These applications might be overly complicated for a small team or sole proprietor. You want something easy to use and intuitive, but that also comes with enough features to not require learning an entirely new system if your nonprofit small business grows.