What are the top bookkeeping software options for non-profits?

I worked in the arts as the general manager of a medium sized production company. We tried other software but Quickbooks did work best. Exception is that it does not deal with some of the tax exceptions and grant situations you need to record. Where I am now (a larger non profit) we use Great Plains, but it is not great.

I too would outsource this and many other positions which are not core. The ability to scale expenses up and, more importantly, down is invaluable in an industry where revenue is very volatile. There have been a lot of very established arts companies that had to close their doors since 2008. The other advantage is this group of contractors can keep up to date with the changing standards and software and the small/medium not for profit does not have to make this investment.

I was bidding on a job for a $24M not-for-profit. They had budget creation woes and couldn't get the right CFO.

I was told they outsourced the entire department, so the actual software decision wasn't an issue anymore.

That's what I was told, but I don't believe that outsourcing your basic accounting functions is always the best alternative. Sometimes, penny wise is dollar foolish!

What software is used, what reports or ad-hoc queries can be made, timeliness are just some of the factors one needs to be interested in and look at prior to outsourcing.

Hi Diane,

As a bookkeeper for non-profits & for-profits, I advise that you meet with your tax preparer to help determine the software appropriate for the size of your non-profit. Anonymous was correct that QuickBooks works well for a smaller non-profit than a larger one with more reporting needs.

You do not need an accountant or CPA to setup QuickBooks for your non-profit using the Unified Chart of Accounts (UCOA), training or regular bookkeeping. You can enlist the help of a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor or other bookkeeping specialist (Certified Bookkeeper, etc.).

The software options for smaller non-profits range from completely free (e.g. Wave, Outright) to paid (e.g. QuickBooks, Sage, Xero). A bookkeeper and/or accountant who understands the nuances of non-profit accounting & GAAP should be able to create systems enabling the reporting you require, regardless of the software used, even if you only use a series of spreadsheets.

Most software offer trial versions & I'd suggest using the trials to examine the interface & the intuitive layout of the software. Additionally, Tech Soup offers deep discounts to 501(c)3 corporations on a variety of software, including QuickBooks and Sage. Sage was formerly known as Peachtree & offers divisional financial reporting and allocation within the software. You can also achieve this in QuickBooks, but it's a manual process.

Good luck with your search!

The size matters greatly. Quickbooks Premier has specialized industry options, including non-profit with fair functionality. The Uniform Chart of Accounts can be downloaded and modified as needed before importing into Quickbooks. Non-profits over $10 Million in size may want to consider more robust options, and will certainly need todo so by $20 Million. Specialized needs for integrated investment management can change the answer.

I worked for a non-profit as Finance Manager using QB desktop. It works well. However, everyone here by-passed the most important part of non-profits - the CRM system. We used QB to house all client contact information. It was a nightmare, and something I highly do NOT recommend. Debits are debits, and credits are credits and just about any decent accounting system will handle that. But what you need to look at first or at least at the same time is the CRM system, and how it will integrate with the accounting software.

Helen Rosen