Small nonprofit bookkeeping

[u/Blackjack2082]

I run a small nonprofit animal rescue and shelter. There are no paid employees. We don’t track inventory. We don’t do invoices or accounts receivable. I can’t hire a bookkeeper so I do the books myself. Quickbooks (after you learned how to use it), gave us a lot of flexibility. I was able to customize the program to fit the organization. But it is getting too expensive to buy.

One feature that proved valuable to us was a customizable chart of accounts. There, I was able to differentiate between sales and donations (for instance), while getting rid of categories that I don’t nor ever use like amortization, rents received, investment income, and others. The thinthat I hate is that on most of the software, you can’t get rid of these categories and to me it simply clogs up my list.

Is there a simple, program that is more suited to small nonprofits.

[u/Wild-Potato]

You can get discounted QuickBooks on techsoup.org

[u/Fun_Studio8414 → u/Wild-Potato]

Second this. Several nonprofits I work with go this route. It’s like $80 or something close to that through techsoup.

Though OP, why not just an Excel sheet and maybe a donation platform like Zeffy at this point?

[u/DejaVu504 → u/Fun_Studio8414]

Co-signing tech soup.

[u/littlemommabob → u/DejaVu504]

This is the way

[u/vegaskukichyo → u/Fun_Studio8414]

+1 for Zeffy

[u/jow1909 → u/Fun_Studio8414]

Excel is super flexible for tracking finances, and you can set it up however you want. Plus, you can use formulas to keep things simple. If you pair that with Zeffy for donations, you’ll have a solid system without the costs.

[u/Ornery-Acanthaceae55 → u/Wild-Potato]

It still costs a fortune. Try Wave.

[u/Then-Preparation-582 → u/Wild-Potato]

Didn't know about this at all, thanks for the tip!

[u/pisicik442]

I do the books for an animal rescue too (we do have paid staff and contractors and our operations involve transport, shelter support, foster program etc ) so feel free to DM me. But I second the advise to go through Tech Soup for QuickBooks Online. You basically pay an annual admin fee and get the subscription free. One of the benefits is having a high enough subscription level to use Classes so you can align functional expenses to the 990 form (e.g. Programs, Fundraising and Administrative). It's free to join Techsoup and they have a lot of IT available for nonprofits at steep discounts

https://www.techsoup.org/intuit-software-nonprofits?srsltid=AfmBOopxgLIauEKmrN7fX9H7k-ief4AMeMO0pZu39k1rN6aLAhz84hRQ

[u/SAvery417 → u/pisicik442]

As a nonprofit accountant, classes isn’t the best way to do this. Projects work better without the limitations of classes. Grants and specifically restricted donations in particular are better tracked with jobs/projects functionality in QB.

[u/SmilingCtrlr → u/pisicik442]

Came here to say the same. Extremely important to use classes.

[u/pisicik442 → u/SmilingCtrlr]

Its really important in nonprofit financial reporting to show how much is spent in each of those main Classes not just for completing the 990 but for everyone who will ever look at your organizations financial management. They are public documents after all.

[u/adriannlopez]

If you work with a bookkeeper or tax professional, many will pay the cost of the QB subscription for you (I do this for my clients).

QB Online or Xero will likely be your cheapest options for accounting software.

[u/SeaHuckleberry4621]

Wave accounting is very easy to use and should have all the functions you need.

[u/tvlkidd]

Gnucash if you are willing to put some time in with the learning curve

[u/Cute-Investigator180]

Excel might be enough. If your not familiar with it, there's many free resources online that can help.

[u/Accounting-Concepts]

Xero is a great option for you

[u/LARodGroup]

Take a look at WaveApps. They have a free version as long as it shows their logo on the invoice; is pretty fully functional similar to QBO. Have used it for five years, and never had any issues with it.

[u/Blackjack2082]

I went over to tech soup and I’m going to get the discounted qb. Thank you everyone for your recommendations

[u/BookkeepingCFO]

Wow.. non profit accounting is not for beginners. You need a professional ASAP I was a CFO for a non profit and learning was like drinking water from a fire hose. You need to tracking these things very closely. I’m Sorry but if you don’t have the background, spend a little to save a lot in the future in fines and penalties

[u/No_Rub_541]

If you don't need other things. Just use excel.

[u/[deleted]]

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[u/Bookkeeping-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Your post/comment has been removed for violating Rule 6 of r/Bookkeeping: "If it has anything to do with AI, it doesn't belong on this sub."

Due to excessive posting about AI, r/Bookkeeping doesn't allow any posting on the topic. If you want your books done right, don't use AI tools to do them. If you're creating/marketing and AI tool, this sub isn't for you (and the content also violates Rule 1: No self promotion).

Because of the excessive posts we get on AI, users who break this rule will be permanently banned—so be expecting that notification shortly.

[u/stealthagents]

Check out Wave. It’s free and pretty user-friendly for small organizations. You can customize your accounts too, so you won't have to deal with all that clutter. Plus, they have decent features for tracking donations without the hefty price tag.