Have you ever heard of nonprofit technology? No, that’s not an oxymoron. It’s a thing.
The nonprofit sector has always been burdened with the task of doing more with less. That means less resources, less capacity, less people power and less money, but they are still doing amazing things for the community and turn to technology to help them make that impact of a larger scale.
One of the trends in the nonprofit sector over the last few years is that more nonprofits are starting to invest in software solutions instead of hardware – specifically because they recognize the need to increase efficiency in order to get a bigger bang for everybody’s buck.
And you better believe that accounting technology is part of that mix.
The nonprofit offering from QuickBooks is one of those solutions that makes it easier for an organization to do their work and get back to the impact they care about. But, things look different in the nonprofit world than they would in a traditional for-profit organization, so let’s take a deeper dive into the specific use cases for nonprofits and why QuickBooks Online could be the right solution.
How Nonprofits Use QuickBooks Online
Every nonprofit and charitable organization is managing their accounting in one way or another. It’s important to be able to do these tasks efficiently and store records reliably. One reason QuickBooks seems to be a good fit for nonprofits is because Intuit® has taken the time to ensure that it is not a square peg in a round hole by fitting into the nonprofit sector quite well. One of the most inefficient uses of technology is to force a fit with the job you are trying to do. That’s why CRM systems focused on sales are not a good fit for nonprofits. On the surface they look like a good fit, but there are a lot of issues because the tool is not purpose-built for the sector. That’s why QuickBooks is great for nonprofits.
Nonprofit accounting.
As a nonprofit, you might be tracking the expenses of various programs and funds. QuickBooks understands this and has a function that automates this type of accounting. It makes it easy to separate those accounts and expenses. This keeps the team on the right track and on budget.
Tracking donations and grants. Donations are a big part a nonprofit’s work. Whether it is fundraising or allocating donor dollars, QuickBooks has a function that enables the organization to do it easily. The program also works nicely with popular fundraising platforms to automatically sync those donations.
Reporting. There are a lot of groups nonprofits report to: boards, staff, funders and the general public. In fact, there’s always a unique audience to report the organization’s impact; using QuickBooks, staff can can pull reports for finances very easily, saving time and effort. Much like Keela, QuickBooks helps you get back to impact.
Integrated tools. Another great feature of QuickBooks for nonprofits is that it plays nice with other tools. Accounting software can be robust, but it can only do certain parts of the job. A nonprofit needs to do much more than just accept donations and account for them.
One of the biggest jobs a nonprofit does is to build strong, lasting relationships by making emails, phone calls, events and use other stewardship tools to accomplish this. The important part is to keep track of these interactions to truly strengthen relationships for years. That is why having a CRM is imperative for nonprofits.
For functionality like this, QuickBooks relies on other nonprofit software, and information is passed between the programs seamlessly. That way, when someone makes a donation, it is tracked on a CRM focused on nonprofits and accounted for properly on QuickBooks. This is an ideal solution!
QuickBooks Online is cloud-based. More and more, nonprofits are becoming decentralized. This means that there is a lot of work done outside of the office with remote workers, as well as volunteers and contractors. Whatever the case is, nonprofits are relying on cloud-based technology to have their workforce access information from wherever they are.
This is of utmost importance when it comes to accessibility.
QuickBooks offers cloud-based solutions as well. This means that information is made available as long as there is internet access. This makes it easier for everyone to work, collaborate and create impact from wherever they are in the world.
Automation. Automation is always an important point for technology. When monotonous processes are automated, individuals are more efficient. They have more time to do the work that really matters to them. QuickBooks automates a lot of the manual entry that would usually have to take place when doing accounting with pencil and paper. Receipts are digital, so there is less fumbling around with old paperwork.
Overall, it is just a cleaner experience.
Do you want to know what your current accounting environment is?
