This will help you decide which accounting software meets your needs best. Other features you may want to consider include whether the software has a mobile app, how good its customer service is and how well it does with accounts receivable (A/R) and financial reporting. In addition, FastFund Online is a specialized nonprofit accounting software designed to meet the unique reporting requirements of nonprofits.

  • Whereas, we assign the revenue to another fund as net assets with restrictions.
  • You can create user keys for anyone working on your accounting and personalize access levels for each.
  • Tax-deductible gifts are tracked by individuals or households so you can quickly prepare monthly, quarterly, or annual giving statements with a single click.
  • QuickBooks makes it easy to keep track of donations no matter which forms they take, be it cash, cheque, e-cheque, credit card, or debit card.

Financial management is easy with QuickBooks fund accounting software. Connect your bank and get instant updates for expense tracking and cash flow. Xero’s highly customizable and in-depth reporting tools make Xero stand out.

When reviewing sector-specific software like QuickBooks for Nonprofits we also consider its unique feature set and price point, as well as how it stands up to its competition. But this is still only half of the story – you can learn more about our research here. Ultimately, QuickBooks for Nonprofits may struggle to fully comply with the Uniform Grant Guidance for federal accounting.

QuickBooks for Nonprofits Review: Key Features

Even if you’re just planning to offer bookkeeping services remotely as a sole proprietor, it can still be helpful to flesh out the exact steps you’ll need to take to succeed. Nonprofit organizations are essential to our communities because their mission is to support social causes that benefit society. Like for-profit organizations, nonprofits need to establish an efficient bookkeeping system to bring the most value to our communities.

  • Even though the concept of separate funds is straightforward, applying this principle can be difficult using accounting software not designed for fund separation.
  • Aplos is nonprofit software that was created to support your mission, not get in the way.
  • Dummies has always stood for taking on complex concepts and making them easy to understand.
  • QuickBooks offers discounted products for nonprofits through TechSoup, a nonprofit tech marketplace.

An important note – as of 2022, TechSoup will only provide QuickBooks Desktop to organizations that have received QuickBooks Desktop in the past. This is because Intuit is changing the way they support certain versions. Having a birds-eye view of your finances is great, but sometimes you also need to zoom in and see all the details. QuickBooks has a variety of reports you can instantly run to see the whole picture of your organization’s finances. In this article, we’ll talk about the basics as well as the benefits of using QuickBooks and the best QuickBooks nonprofits discount and pricing. We’ll also walk you through two easy ways to integrate Donorbox with QuickBooks.

What is fund accounting?

It should also offer nonprofit-specific accounting functionality, such as the ability to receive donations, manage restricted funds and file Form 990. Here are the best accounting software for nonprofits available today. Forbes Advisor selected these solutions based on features, pricing, reputation and more.

Types of fund categories for nonprofit organizations

Add up to 40 users with custom permissions and securely manage thousands of donors, vendors, and items easily with QuickBooks Enterprise. Classes are probably not the solution to keeping track of separate funds. Class is a tag, and it can be used in  P&L By Class report but the Balance Sheet by Class that QBO allows is never right. The funds are used to measure the revenues wheres my refund and expenditures arising from particular activities. Each organization is responsible for the proper collection, disbursement and control of all money relative to the funds the organization receives. Intuit recently launched a generative AI assistant (Intuit Assist) that provides predictive insights and automates workflows across TurboTax, QuickBooks, and Credit Karma.

Do more for others with our nonprofit accounting software

All Xero plans offer reporting, payment acceptance, file storage, contact management, tax calculations and the ability to connect Xero to a bank account. Its $15 per month plan ($7.50 per month for the first four months during the current promotion) offers invoicing and quotes tools, bill tracking for five bills, bank and Xero syncing and 30-day cash flow snapshots. Its $42 and $78 plans ($21 and $39 per month, respectively, for the first four months during the current promotion) add bulk transaction reconciliation, higher bill pay limits, project tracking and analytics. Rather than track how much profit is earned like small businesses, nonprofit organizations track how money is spent. QuickBooks makes it easy to allocate revenue and expenditures to specific funds or programs, automatically allocates overhead to programs, fundraising, general, and administrative expenses for you.

Fund accounting vs. regular accounting

It can feel daunting to take on a new way of accounting, but with the right tips and tools, you can start fund accounting with no stress. Fund accounting is a way for nonprofits to stay in control of their finances and make sure they’re living up to the public’s expectations when it comes to handling money. QuickBooks tries to make managing your cash flow as simple as possible. The platform lets you categorize revenue expenditures by fund or program, track budgets by fund or program, and even forecast money-in and money-out up to 90 days in advance. If it’s free accountancy software you’re after, Wave’s always-free service is by far the best complimentary option out there. The market isn’t short of affordable solutions either, so check out our accounting comparison table for a simple breakdown of costs.

Out of curiosity for a more general scenario, let’s say a business (nonprofit or for-profit) has two completely separate checking accounts at separate banks. Again, one Sales Receipt to a customer for a combined total that has to be split-deposited. Apparently the general answer is “QuickBooks cannot split a Sales Receipt into multiple Bank Deposits”. Our accounting system is made with nonprofits in mind and is perfect for nonprofit organizations of all sizes.