{"id":26179,"date":"2024-11-20T03:14:48","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T08:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=26179"},"modified":"2026-02-12T03:46:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T08:46:19","slug":"when-is-it-time-to-change-your-nonprofit-accounting-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/when-is-it-time-to-change-your-nonprofit-accounting-system\/","title":{"rendered":"When is it time to change your nonprofit accounting system?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWhen is it time to change your nonprofit accounting system?\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

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\tNatalie Anderson<\/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

When nonprofits grow in their mission and scale up programs, often their original accounting systems can\u2019t keep pace with their new needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some introductory accounting systems lack functionality; others are not specific to nonprofit accounting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In today\u2019s data-driven world, it is essential to have a nonprofit accounting solution that delivers easy access to real-time insights and efficient automation to help you operate in the leanest, most cost-effective manner possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Get your free copy of Nonprofit Accounting Software Buyer\u2019s Guide here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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

As your organization expands its mission impact, it is crucial to re-evaluate whether your mission, objectives, and compliance requirements still align with the functional and operational capabilities of your nonprofit accounting software. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your needs have changed, it may be time to adopt a more capable, cloud nonprofit accounting solution<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading for 9 questions you should ask yourself to determine whether your current software has functional gaps that could be holding your organization back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nine reasons it may be time for a new nonprofit accounting solution<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The right nonprofit accounting software kicks organizational efficiency into high gear, gives you real-time visibility into the metrics you need to be successful, and streamlines compliance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer these 9 questions to explore which functional areas could see the biggest impacts with a more modern accounting solution:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. How easy is it for staff and executives to access reliable real-time financial information?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As your organization grows, it becomes more important to be able to access financial insights from anywhere in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A true cloud nonprofit accounting solution keeps data secure while allowing easy access. Whether you are working from home or on the other side of the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And because everyone in the organization can access the system, information about expenditures, budgets, and revenues can stay updated in real-time, providing all stakeholders with timely information to make decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Could your internal controls and compliance use an upgrade?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Funders and the board need to be able to trust the financial information in your nonprofit accounting system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You need to be able to provide transparency and secure your financial information simultaneously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your accounting system helps you adhere to compliance standards and streamlines your organization\u2019s audits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Sage Intacct Compliance<\/a> helps ensure audit-ready financials, prevents fraud, spots outliers in your general ledger, and enables efficient communication with your auditor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Has your chart of accounts become a monster?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

After years with the same accounting system, many nonprofits have thousands of GL codes to manage\u2014and the problem continues to grow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sage Intacct Dimensions<\/a> let you tag any type of transaction as well as operational data, so you can track what is most important to your mission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only does a dimensional database simplify your chart of accounts, but it also levels up reporting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being able to tag a transaction with multiple dimensions enables you to slice and dice your data and reports with ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Does your system provide easy-to-understand, real-time reporting and dashboards?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Nonprofit leaders need access to reliable, timely data insights to make decisions that expand mission impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your current accounting system offers limited, backward-looking reports, it is difficult for your team to support executives and the board of directors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cloud nonprofit accounting solutions offer real-time multi-dimensional reporting<\/a>, so decision-makers can see changes in trends and adjust quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Role-based dashboards allow you to build custom views for different people, so they have the best information for their jobs in one place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sage Intacct enables you to create different dashboards for each executive, the board, program managers, and even your auditor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dashboards can include visualizations<\/a>, KPIs\u2014including both financial and operational outcome metrics\u2014and reports you can drill into with a single click.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Nonprofit Accounting Software Buyers Guide<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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The ultimate guide to selecting the best accounting and financial management software for your nonprofit.<\/p>\n

<\/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\tDownload now<\/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

5. Could you save time if more workflows were automated?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

With a new accounting solution, your team could leverage technology to work smarter and create more space for strategic work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Automated workflows for routine accounting tasks such as purchasing and payment approvals, vendor setups, and consolidations can free you to work on more important tasks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workflows should be able to be customized to reflect the way your organization operates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no longer a need for workflows that require manual, paper-based processes and Excel spreadsheets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Does your system deliver the advantages of artificial intelligence?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

If your accounting system is older, it may not have been designed with AI capabilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using AI can help your team improve accuracy, automate more tasks, detect potential outliers and errors, and close faster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sage Intacct has an intelligent general ledger<\/a> that empowers continuous close accounting and quickly reviews thousands of transactions to detect outliers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sage Intacct AP Automation with Ai<\/a> cuts AP processing time in half, allowing the accounting team to focus on more strategic mission-critical work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Do you need multi-entity accounting features?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

For many nonprofits, growth brings expansion into multiple entities or locations and a need to manage each entity with separate financial reporting as well as a need to roll multiple entities up into overarching reports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, many entry-level accounting systems don\u2019t handle multi-entity accounting tasks such as inter-entity transactions and multi-entity consolidations very well\u2014if at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your nonprofit has multiple financial entities and\/or locations, you also need your accounting system to offer both entity-level and aggregate reporting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sage Intacct includes powerful multi-entity functionality<\/a> and automates consolidations which can cut your organization\u2019s monthly close time by up to 70%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Are you able to track and manage your grants effectively?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Grants are an essential part of the funding plan for many nonprofits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether you work with government agencies, corporations, or foundations, grantmakers demand transparency and compliance in order to win grant awards and renewals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many entry-level accounting systems don\u2019t include grant functionality, but you will want to consider a better system if you intend to manage multiple grants, especially restricted grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sage Intacct Grants Tracking and Billing<\/a> enables nonprofits to streamline the grant funding process, track and account for funds, manage grant restrictions, and bill accurately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Does your accounting system share data with other best-of-breed software solutions?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Being able to choose the best software applications and have them work seamlessly with your accounting system means being able to run your organization the way you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one software vendor offers every type of solution\u2014especially when it comes to nonprofits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your next nonprofit accounting solution should have a robust network of partners building integrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sage Intacct Marketplace<\/a> features more than 350 prebuilt integrations, including more than 60 nonprofit solutions.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Selecting a new nonprofit accounting system can feel daunting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Build a more precise list of functional needs for your next system by addressing the questions above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many nonprofits find themselves in need of a new solution after they\u2019ve grown enough to create some accounting complexities\u2014for example by having multiple entities, global currencies, restricted grant funding, or a need for more sophisticated reporting and data analysis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever the reasons your organization needs to step up to a newer nonprofit accounting system, Sage is here to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download a copy of The Nonprofit Accounting Software Buyer\u2019s Guid<\/a>e to learn which key attributes drive mission growth and an overview of what nonprofits should look for in modern nonprofit accounting software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About the author<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Head\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Natalie Anderson<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Natalie Anderson is a senior nonprofit industry marketing manager for Sage Intacct. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With 10 years of experience in software marketing, Natalie is passionate about helping nonprofits leverage software to achieve mission success.<\/p>\n\n\n

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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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discover the nine questions you should ask yourself to determine whether your current software has functional gaps that could be holding your organization back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1435,"featured_media":26188,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,49],"tags":[110,170,153],"business_type":[41],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[58],"persona":[100],"imagine_tag":[444,472],"coauthors":[611],"class_list":["post-26179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-strategy-legal-operations","category-trends-insights","tag-accounting-101","tag-business-strategy","tag-growing-a-business","business_type-growing-business","industry-nonprofit"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-us","author_name":"Natalie Anderson","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/shutterstock_1408495376_c2222.jpg","imagine_tags":{"444":"Intacct Medium Business","472":"Nonprofit"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice US","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1435"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/26188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26179"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=26179"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=26179"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=26179"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=26179"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=26179"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=26179"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=26179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}