subject: Fund Accounting Software For Nonprofit Organizations [print this page] Its certainly true that there is a number of accounting software programs that work really well for a short period of time. Once that passes, data entry can be extremely tedious and difficult to handle and you may have a hard time getting the data you need. In times like these, maybe your nonprofit organization is ready to make the move to a more advanced fund accounting software.
One instance is where you need to get fund information from different databases. Having to input information many times into different databases can certainly get tiring and tedious. With a basic accounting software system, this will even be more cumbersome. A lot of fund accounting systems allow you to maintain all of your funds in the same database, allowing you to report on each fund separately. This also allows you to share setup information like customers and vendors without having to set them up in each account.
Organizations normally deal with jargon that basic programs do not recognize like fund versus company and department versus profit center. Basic systems are more suitable for commercial businesses and doesnt offer reporting and budgeting abilities specific to nonprofits. If you provide your software users tools they can understand and relate to, youre guaranteed that they know what theyre doing, thereby increasing system accuracy and performance.
Are department heads not getting the information they need? Do they demand data thats not available? Is it a challenge tracing expenditures and revenues? Basic software cant normally handle the in-depth tracking needs provided by nonprofit fund accounting software. With this software, you have the ability to hunt down revenues and expenditures, even payroll by department, location, and project.
Accounting for nonprofit organizations requires a good audit trail. Basic accounting systems dont provide a sound audit trail, leaving you vulnerable to corrupt information. Fund accounting systems can record the history of every transaction, offering a solid audit trail.
For most nonprofit organizations, its inevitable that the budget you start with goes through some changes. A lot of people want to view and compare financial statements with revised budget versions. Solid nonprofit fund accounting systems let you keep your original budget intact even with some revised versions, so you have the option to compare the version of your choice. Obviously, moving to a more advanced fund accounting software from basic software offers better tracking, lesser chance for error, and in-depth reports.
