Top 10 Accounting Solutions for Nonprofit Organizations

If you’re looking for a cloud-based accounting solution to manage your nonprofit organization then you should give 10 to 15 minutes of your time to us as today we’ll be discussing top financial management solutions that nonprofit organizations should use for managing their finance and other accounting related matters.

What to Consider When Purchasing an Accounting Software for a Nonprofit Organization?

The ideal accounting solution for non-profits should contain nonprofit-specific features such as donation tracking and fund-based accounting. The accounting solution should also be able to generate basic financial reports like balance sheet, income and expenditure statement, cash flow statement, accounts receivable and accounts payable reports.

Depending on the type and nature of your entity’s operations, you may need some specific add-on features. For example, If you’re entity has thousands of donors then you may need an accounting solution with excellent customer relationship management (CRM). Similarly, if you have hundreds of employees then you may feel the need to have an accounting solution that can easily be integrated with payroll and HR solutions. Lastly, you should take into account the price of the accounting solution you’re looking to purchase for managing your finances and operations.

Make sure to evaluate all the accounting software we review and recommend below to see which one actually meets your entity’s needs and requirements.

1- Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct has set a very high standard for other accounting solutions to meet when it comes to fund accounting for nonprofit organizations. In addition to usual accounting features and reports such as balance sheet, income and expenditure statement, statement of cash flows, bank reconciliations, aging reports, the software also has a number of nonprofit-specific tools and features:

• Donation tracking
• Multi-currency support especially in case of international donations
• Fundraising, membership, and dues management
• Nonprofit related financial and accounting reports, including forecasting and budgeting
• Task automation for reducing redundant work

Sage Intacct also offers its users with free seminars to get a better understanding about the software and how it can be utilized in the best possible manner. On the TrustRadius (a review site), Sage Intacct gets 8.6 stars out of 10 with many customers saying that they’re very happy with the solution’s excellent customer service.

However, this accounting solution is definitely very pricy if we look at it in the context of a nonprofit organization. The pricing of the solution isn’t mentioned on it’s site, so you’ll have to get in touch with Sage Intacct team for a quote. If you have just launched a nonprofit organization then this solution probably isn’t for you, it is better-suited for established local or international organizations with multiple offices in different locations and a hundreds or thousands of employees.

2- Aplos

Aplos accounting software has been designed specifically for nonprofit organizations. It’s pretty grounded when it comes to fund-based accounting, so you would not have to make much changes to the standard version of the solution. The solution starts from $59 per month and includes a range of features that are best-suited for accounting of nonprofit organizations:

• Fundraising campaign management
• Donor management (CRM software)
• Secure online donor portal
• Automated donation receipts, donation reminders and thank-you emails
• Tax preparation

If you’re interested in text-to-donate feature then you can upgrade your solution to include the aforementioned feature. The solution including text-to-donate feature starts from $79 per month. And if your organization is a large one with multiple projects, then you can get a complete customized version of the solution. The price of such a customized version starts from $154 per month.

While, Aplos’s nonprofit-specific tools and features stand out, its accounting tools and features are very limited in nature. Only, the customized version includes in-depth donation tracking, asset tracking, recurring transactions and budgeting by fund or project.

3- SAP

SAP offers its clients a wide range of accounting, bookkeeping, CRM, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions for entities operating in different industries and sectors and that includes the nonprofit sector as well. There are a wide range of SAP modules that can serve each and every type of an organization’s functions including inventory management, fund accounting, and e-commerce. SAP allows any type of easy to complex customization. There are a huge quantity of ABAP developers and SAP consultants to help you in software customization.

SAP is a very expensive software so it is better suited for medium and large nonprofit organizations that have hundreds and thousands of members and massive available funds.

4- Odoo

Odoo is one of the best accounting solutions for Nonprofit organizations. It has over 7 million users and increasing every single minute. It’s an open source software and allows any kind of easy to complex customization. From donors’ management to rewards management, donation tracking, fundraising, reminders and events management, Odoo does all with perfection. Finding and selecting the right accounting solution for your nonprofit organization is integral for long term success, so make sure to check all the accounting solutions you’re interested in by utilizing the option of free trials including Odoo free trial.

5- QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online for nonprofit organizations offers thorough nonprofit accounting and bookkeeping when compared with other options on this list, with features such as tracking of income and expenses, bill payment, inventory tracking, and tax deduction assistance. It also allows nonprofit organizations to break down their budgets by fund or program.

Since QuickBooks was made especially for non-accountants, it’s pretty easy for fresh or inexperienced bookkeepers to get their grip on nonprofit finances. Moreover, the accounting solution’s mobile app is very easy to use and understand. Therefore, if you’re planning on doing a lot of donor management and financial tracking then QuickBooks is another best option for you.

6- QuickBooks Enterprise

QuickBooks Enterprise for nonprofit organizations is a desktop-based accounting and bookkeeping solution and starts at around $1,275 per annum. The desktop version of QuickBooks allows you to store more donors when compared with the online version. The desktop version also includes detailed and comprehensive industry-specific financial reports which the online version lack

One major drawback of this solution is that it is very expensive if you take into account the prices of similar nonprofit-specific accounting solutions like Zoho Books, Xero and FreshBooks. However, you can get ths software in discounted prices if you buy from a Quickbooks Enterprise Dealer.

7- NonProfitPlus

NonProfitPlus’s accounting and bookkeeping includes board management, donor management and unlimited users which helps an entity in delegating work. The solution also offers its users both encumbrance and fund-based accounting.

Unlike other accounting software for nonprofits, NonProfitPlus includes the feature of inventory management, which is key if you stock merchandise (like mugs and T-shirts) to reward donors or raise funds. The price of the solution isn’t listed on its site—you would have to contact their representative to get a quote. Many customers of the software provider have reported paying more than $600 per month for the solution with all the features and reports.

8- Zoho Books

Zoho Books’s in-depth and comprehensive reporting tools and features include expense reports that helps in fund tracking. This solution allows you to delegate as much work as you want to other staff members. However, the number of users are limited by package but the solution allows it clients with the option of adding more users to any plan or package for $2.50 per month for each additional user. Zoho Books just like Sage Intacct uses task automation for streamlining data entry and to reduce redundant work.

If you want to receive donations then you cannot just sign up for Zoho Books you would also need Zoho’s payment portal as well as Zoho Checkout. Zoho Checkout costs nothing as long as you accept 50 or less donations ever. Entities that need the option of accepting unlimited donations and that too in different currencies then suc entities would have to add a $9 per month Zoho Checkout plan.

Zoho Books offers a discount of 15% on its starting price to all the registered nonprofits. This 15% discount helps in lightening some of the fiscal burden.

9- Xero

Xero surpasses every other cloud-based accounting solution in one very important area and that is collaboration. While QuickBooks limits the number of users by package/plan and FreshBooks charges it’s clients an additional $10 per user each month, Xero offers unlimited users. NonProfitPlus also offers unlimited users, but Xero’s $11 per month starting cost easily beats NonProfitPlus’s starting price. Xero also has solid accounting basics that can help you in keeping your entity’s budget on track, including detailed and comprehensive financial reporting and income and expenditure tracking. The solution’s mobile app allows you to collaborate, and it can easily be integrated with several third-party applications.

However, Xero wasn’t designed specifically for nonprofits and therefore lacks the nonprofit-specific features which Sage Intacct, Aplos and NonProfitPlus possess. It also doesn’t offer its users true fund-based accounting. For und-based accounting and collaboration, NonProfitPlus is a better option if you’re not worried much about the price.

10- Blackbaud

Blackbaud serves a range of nonprofits, including faith communities, educational institutions, arts organizations, and any other type of nonprofit organization. It supports grant and award management, peer-to-peer fundraising, donor payment acceptance and nonprofit marketing.

Blackbaud is one of the largest nonprofit software providers in the world. However, it reported a security breach in 2020. While, the breach isn’t necessarily unusual but the company experienced the breach in February of 2020, noticed it in May of the same year but didn’t tell its clients about the breach until July 2020 and as a result a lot of its customers are upset. Since the breach, Blackbaud has increased its security but still many companies and entities are hesitant to use it.