When we think of accounting software, we often associate them with businesses. Businesses make sales, log the transactions and ensure that every number is accurate. So it’s only natural for businesses to purchase accounting software since they also need to calculate taxes and payrolls. Nowadays, charities and non-profits have begun to adopt accounting software into their organisations.
Charities and non-profits are established to serve the public good. This can be through donations, volunteering activities and humanitarian campaigns. Their goal is simple, to promote social well-being and achieve their philanthropic goals.
But why would they need accounting software?
While charities and non-profits don’t necessarily need software to help calculate their donations, a little extra organisation can help them in the long run.
Charity is a form of trust between donors and the organisation. They need to know that the money will be used for the right cause and will not be mishandled in any way. At the same time, charities would need support from other organisations or the public in hopes of receiving donations or sponsorships by having financial reports.
Finances for Non-Profits
Finance plays a huge role for non-profits and charities. Money is involved in all their humanitarian activities, hence transparency is needed. The staff for these organisations need to know the cash flow of the donations and sponsorships to avoid any losses or fraud. Plus, they also need to see if they receive enough money to sustain their activities and their organisation to continue operating.
Even the smallest charity requires the competence of a small finance staff – or at the very least, someone with solid financial abilities and an understanding of financial management. What important is that they have financial skills to offer to the organisation, whether they are volunteers, staff members, or trustees.
Although many individuals believe that charity finance managers must have specialised charity-related accounting experience, what they really need are solid financial abilities and outstanding communication skills. They must be able to ask the appropriate questions, organise documents, perform necessary computations, translate and evaluate financial data, and explain it to others in a simple yet comprehensible manner.
Charities must also be more inventive in terms of discovering ways and mean to simplify task execution, particularly financial administration.
How Can Accounting Software Help?
Cloud accounting software is a low-cost option that enables charities of all sizes to have better control and transparency over their finances. There are also other ways accounting software can help charities and non-profits:
1. Security
On-premises accounting software requires infrastructure, expensive updates, and ongoing maintenance, while cloud accounting software does not. Due to the software’s subscription-based business model, charities may obtain greater capability at a far cheaper cost of ownership. Moreover, cloud apps include enhanced security features like automatic backups, regular monitoring, an upgraded firewall, and other state-of-the-art measures to secure critical data.
2. Transparency
On-premises accounting software requires infrastructure, expensive updates, and ongoing maintenance, while cloud accounting software does not. Due to the software’s subscription-based business model, charities may obtain greater capability at a far cheaper cost of ownership. Moreover, cloud apps include enhanced security features like automatic backups, regular monitoring, an upgraded firewall, and other state-of-the-art measures to secure critical data.
3. Easy Reporting
With user-friendly automatic reporting features, cloud accounting software may eliminate the inefficiencies in financial and operational compliance reporting. Forget about having to combine hundreds of different spreadsheets and the hassles of time-consuming data re-entry.
4. Increased Efficiency
Use cloud accounting software to automate and streamline basic financial procedures more quickly and effectively, especially with the use of AI in accounting software. Users may effortlessly handle grants, programmes, and cash thanks to its specialist nonprofit accounting software. It’s simple to track important metrics like performance and impact measurements, so there’s never any doubt about the beneficial contributions your charity is making.
5. Saving Cost
Charitable organisations may achieve higher levels of accountability, accuracy, and openness by depending on the appropriate cloud accounting software. With digital accounting technologies, it is now simpler and less expensive than ever to show contributors how their money is being used.
If you’re a charity or a non-profit organisation owner and looking for accounting software, you can reach out to Info-Tech to assist you with setting up the software. We also provide a free demo for you to try out our accounting software which you can find on this page. Contact us for any enquiry.
