{"id":21431,"date":"2023-12-06T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=21431"},"modified":"2026-02-12T04:11:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T09:11:22","slug":"12-days-of-sage-nonprofit-accounting-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/12-days-of-sage-nonprofit-accounting-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Days of Sage Nonprofit Accounting Advice"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAccountants<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t12 Days of Sage Nonprofit Accounting Advice\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tPublished
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\tNancy Master<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Healthy and thriving nonprofit organizations leverage financial management tools that help them enhance outcomes, support mission storytelling, and be audit-ready. That\u2019s why more nonprofit finance teams are using cloud nonprofit accounting software to manage funds, satisfy reporting requests and requirements, and gain greater financial visibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download the e-book: The Road to Nonprofit Finance Transformation<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nonprofits positively impact the world by providing advocacy, delivering services, and building community. This wouldn\u2019t be possible without the work of passionate staff and volunteers who deliver innovative programs and execute powerful missions supported by sound financial decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The healthiest nonprofits rely on modern cloud nonprofit accounting and financial management solutions<\/a> that accelerate and enhance financial processes, reporting, connectivity, visibility, and collaboration. This article provides 12 days of nonprofit accounting advice that will help you transform your nonprofit finance operations, your organization, and your mission impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 1: Identify areas of fraud risk and mitigate vulnerabilities<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nonprofit finance teams know that auditors will ask what processes they have in place for identifying and responding to fraud risks. And it\u2019s really important that those processes are concrete. Sometimes things go wrong\u2014funds are misappropriated, or an employee uses the organization\u2019s credit card for unauthorized purchases. These acts can have both immediate financial consequences and lasting damage to your reputation\u2014leading to further financial losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice:<\/strong> Strengthen internal controls and minimize fraud risk by using modern cloud-based nonprofit accounting software<\/a> with secure login features, role-based user permissions (enabling segregated financial duties), transaction approval workflows, and audit trails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 2: Take a sustainable approach to budgeting<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nonprofit finance leaders know budgets matter. They provide the financial data to predict expenses, support decisions on resource allocations, and plan fundraising activities. It is also important to establish realistic budgets. A budget should be a living document that guides the organization\u2019s activities and also allows you to make necessary adjustments in real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice:<\/strong> Use a modern cloud-based financial planning and budgeting software<\/a> to help you collaborate in real-time across your organization to make better, faster, more informed decisions with modern planning and budgeting, forecasting, what-if scenario modeling, and reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 3: Ensure accountability with donation and gift acceptance policies<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to Giving USA, individual donors still account for more than two-thirds of all funds given, and much of that comes from donor-advised funds and family foundations. As your funding sources change, it\u2019s important to ensure your organization\u2019s gift acceptance policies and acknowledgement practices stay in compliance with the rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice:<\/strong> Stay on top of how your organization receives and uses financial resources and provides real-time visibility and automated reports for stakeholders by integrating your donor management system with your financial management system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Day 4: Provide up-to-date insights to your Board of Directors<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The end of the year is a good time to review your organization\u2019s strategy, tactics, and performance from this year and tweak your plan for greater mission impact next year. For example, many nonprofits have been shifting focus away from campaigning for smaller donations from individual donors in favor of attracting larger donations. What has been the financial impact of this approach? How have programs performed this year? Are operating expenses in line with the budget? Has funding increased or decreased?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When your executives, board members, and trustees try to answer these questions, they should do so with a complete view of up-to-date financial information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice:<\/strong> Use a financial management system that provides real-time reporting and centralizes financial and outcome data. For example, Sage Intacct includes a real-time nonprofit digital board book<\/a> that delivers graphical views of best practice metrics to stay on top of trends and priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. <\/strong>Don\u2019t skimp on essential overhead expenses<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Administrative expenses\u2014also known as overhead\u2014are necessary to keep nonprofit organizations running. While slashing overhead expenses may sound better to donors, this approach can be destabilizing and unsustainable to the health of the organization. It\u2019s important to have the infrastructure you need to successfully support your mission. If your organization is relying on spreadsheets or an outdated accounting solution, then you can\u2019t track program outcomes or improve service delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice:<\/strong> Nonprofit finance transformation happens when everyone who needs information can easily access it. Accounting software powered by an Intelligent GL\u2122 built on a dimensional database<\/a> enables you to tag expense transactions and easily associate them with programs, locations, or other internal categories\u2014enabling better insights and decision making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. <\/strong>Mentor younger professionals and build a great team<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like many other industries, nonprofit finance teams have had trouble attracting and retaining talent. Some organizations have had success bringing in younger professionals and helping mentor and develop that talent. When your organization has an intuitive cloud accounting system infused with best practices, it\u2019s easier to help newer team members understand what you are doing and why. It also reduces the amount of mundane tasks leaving employees more time for more strategic and meaningful work. This all adds up to higher job satisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice:<\/strong> Use a financial management system with a collaborative, embedded communications tool<\/a> to keep everyone on the same page when questions arise around journal entries, accounts, projects, invoices, and more. Messaging is centralized within the accounting system rather than lost in email thread providing an instant one-click record of issue context and resolution.  This is especially helpful for remote workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. <\/strong>Be audit-ready all the time<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Donor trust is a valuable commodity for nonprofits. A nonprofit audit<\/a> goes a long way to providing good stewardship and delivering transparency. One of the most painful parts of an audit is the time you waste hunting down requested information. Sometimes it takes hours to dig through transactions to find the one that supports an out-of-the-ordinary metric and search through emails to find the justification for an odd journal entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice:<\/strong> Get immediate online access to auditable information with a modern cloud nonprofit accounting software like Sage Intacct. It provides audit-ready visibility in three ways: drill-down visualization, automated audit trails, and messaging within the system that documents the why. Give your auditors role-based permission to access your system remotely. This will shorten your audit time and expense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. <\/strong>Go after more grants with confidence<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Managing grants takes a lot of work\u2014both pre-award and post-award. Since each dollar of grant funding is hard-earned, it\u2019s critical to have impeccable fund management practices in place and ensure compliance with each grant. A strong financial management system helps ensure you accurately track expenditures, manage timelines, monitor sub-contracts, reconcile expenses, and report outcomes back to the grantor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice:<\/strong> Ensure you have automated grant tracking and billing capabilities<\/a> to help you build trust and credibility with the funder by ensuring careful management of restricted funds, accurate billing and reporting for grantors, and the ability to share outcome metrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. <\/strong>Transform financial reporting<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nonprofit finance teams spend too much time on manual data entry and monthly reporting\u2014at least 12 weeks every year! When you\u2019re in the weeds with manual reporting tasks, it\u2019s difficult to carve out any time for trend analysis or strategic insights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice:<\/strong> Use a modern cloud accounting system to eliminate spreadsheets, improve the accuracy and timeliness of financial reporting, and provide real-time data and insights to decision-makers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Improve connectivity by e<\/strong>liminating data silos<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If your organization is experiencing a lack of data connectivity between key systems, then your visibility is clouded. No one has time to sit and rekey information from one system to another. Too much manual data entry leads to accuracy issues, slows down reporting, and hampers growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice:<\/strong> Ensure your accounting system facilitates integration to your other systems<\/a>. In this way, your organization can automate the flow of data between your accounting system and other systems like AP and AR automation, expense reporting, CRM<\/a>, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11. <\/strong>Get real-time visibility into program costs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Financial decisions rely on good and timely information. That\u2019s why it\u2019s essential for nonprofit finance teams to understand the real costs of their programs to help support decisions about fundraising needs, contract terms, and program expansion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A notable success story is the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland, which has reaped substantial rewards from adopting Sage Intacct church accounting software<\/a>. They now have access to standardized, accurate, and timely financial information, simplifying entity oversight. This allows them to analyze real-time performance by various drivers without the complexity of managing an intricate chart of accounts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice:<\/strong> Transform your finance operations to gain the ability to see key performance indicators in real time. That\u2019s crucial for proactive management and good stewardship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12. Simplify complex operations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If your nonprofit operates multiple locations and programs or works in many countries, you may need a higher order of functionality not usually met by entry-level accounting software, outdated systems, or spreadsheets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advice:<\/strong> Manage funds more proactively than ever before with continuous real-time consolidations<\/a>, flexible multi-ledger architecture, and a single source of financial truth across all entities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final thoughts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We hope these 12 pieces of advice will help your organization enjoy a strong finish to 2023 and also give you some ideas to ponder for 2024. Nonprofit finance transformation may sound like a lofty goal, but really, transformation is about giving your organization tools to turn data into insights and drive greater mission impact. Sage created the e-book, The Road to Nonprofit Finance Transformation to help organizations transform their nonprofit accounting and financial management practices to drive optimal impact. Download the e-book below to learn more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The Road to Nonprofit Finance Transformation Success<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nancy Master<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nancy Master is a senior nonprofit industry marketing manager at Sage Intacct, dedicated to providing solutions for nonprofits<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From accounting software for churches<\/a>, community development, education, healthcare, governments to foundations and philanthropic organizations, Sage Intacct offers comprehensive tools to support mission success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With over 15 years of experience in software marketing and nearly 20 years of experience working with a human services nonprofit organization, Nancy is passionate about helping nonprofits achieve their goals.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Subscribe to our Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Get our latest business advice delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Working\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

Browse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t