{"id":9972,"date":"2021-05-19T15:22:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T19:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=9972"},"modified":"2026-02-12T04:45:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T09:45:45","slug":"whats-the-difference-between-sage-intacct-and-quickbooks-for-nonprofits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/whats-the-difference-between-sage-intacct-and-quickbooks-for-nonprofits\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the difference between Sage Intacct and Quickbooks for nonprofits?"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/category\/technology-innovation\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Technology &amp; Innovation<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s the difference between Sage Intacct and Quickbooks for nonprofits?\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\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<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2021-05-19T15:22:00-04:00\">May 19, 2021<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"What\u2019s the difference between Sage Intacct and Quickbooks for nonprofits?\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/whats-the-difference-between-sage-intacct-and-quickbooks-for-nonprofits\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/joan-benson\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/08\/Joan-Benson-350x350.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"joan-benson\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Joan Benson<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Like more than 80% of small businesses, many nonprofits begin their financial lives using Intuit\u00ae QuickBooks\u00ae to manage accounting. It\u2019s easy to use, well known, and offers entry-level accounting functionality at an affordable price. But as these organizations grow, they often face significant challenges and hidden costs as they hit the limits of QuickBooks\u2019 functionality. For example, QuickBooks for Nonprofits was not designed for growing organizations that face complex demands like automating core processes, supporting distributed work teams, consolidating multiple entities, enforcing internal controls, or delivering insight with faster report times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-do-you-know-when-your-organization-has-outgrown-quickbooks-for-nonprofits\">How do you know when your organization has outgrown QuickBooks for Nonprofits?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As your organization grows and becomes more complex, it\u2019s quite common to become bogged down with manual data entry, unruly spreadsheets, time-consuming workarounds, and patched-together analyses. Here are some common telltale signs your nonprofit has outgrown the capabilities of QuickBooks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Insufficient information in reports to make decisions with confidence.<\/strong> Nonprofits often struggle to generate the reports they need to make better business decisions in real time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Manual processes and spreadsheets become unwieldy and prone to error.<\/strong> Organizations are forced to do cumbersome workarounds to manage multiple locations and perform operational analysis.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lengthy close of financial periods.<\/strong> QuickBooks does not offer dashboards or built-in capabilities for complex processes. Manual processes and spreadsheets are time-consuming to consolidate and offer limited visibility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta gated-content\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">5 Telltale Signs Your Nonprofit has Outgrown QuickBooks<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-4284cd83-4f9c-4594-9dfc-82c1f8b73484\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Download<\/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<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-539434591-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Small business owner working\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-539434591-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-say-goodbye-to-manual-entry-and-workarounds\">Say goodbye to manual entry and workarounds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Over time, many nonprofits gradually develop sophisticated accounting requirements such as revenue recognition and multi-entity consolidation. One major difference between Sage Intacct and QuickBooks for Nonprofits is automation. Sage Intacct <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/industry\/nonprofit\/\">nonprofit accounting software<\/a> has built-in automation and workflows that streamline processes to save time and reduce errors while QuickBooks does not provide these built-in capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are using QuickBooks for Nonprofits as your financial foundation, it often means your team is forced to build cumbersome workarounds to complete these complex processes, leaving users over-reliant on spreadsheets and manual entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/success-stories\/atlas-network\/\n\">Atlas Network<\/a>, the use of QuickBooks and Excel spreadsheets made it increasingly difficult to track and manage financials and funding grants to partners around the world. The nonprofit maintained a massive spreadsheet with roughly 20 tabs, each with up to 150 rows and 90 columns of data. The spreadsheet became unwieldy, prone to breakage, and wasn\u2019t easily shared with other stakeholders. Once Atlas Networks made the switch to Sage Intacct, they boosted efficiency by 75%. They are also saving two weeks a month by automating journal entries that had previously been entered manually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cReporting efficiency has leapt 75% since we deployed Sage Intacct. I can answer questions from managers in minutes, rather than needing two days to dig up information from QuickBooks and Excel. I\u2019m doing more reports and I\u2019m doing them faster with Sage Intacct.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>Romulo Lopez, Direct of Finance, Atlas Network<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-make-faster-financial-decisions-based-on-real-time-data\">Make faster financial decisions based on real-time data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As your nonprofit grows, you increasingly need the right information in real-time\u2014and in the right format. Using QuickBooks, you\u2019re stuck with canned reports and no dashboards, so your visibility is limited. Unfortunately, that means you\u2019re often forced to make decisions based on outdated information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sage Intacct provides real-time visibility into metrics and the flexibility needed to adjust budget and forecasting models in real-time. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/sage-business-cloud\/intacct\/product-capabilities\/extended-capabilities\/financial-reporting\/\n\">Dashboards<\/a> give stakeholders access to meaningful, big picture financials at any time plus the ability to drill down into details and assumptions. Plus, you can easily customize reports to see the data you want all in one place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sage Intacct role-based dashboards give key stakeholders real-time visibility into KPIs enabling data-driven decision-making to drive mission success.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-drive-growth-with-confidence-and-easily-adapt-to-new-requirements\">Drive growth with confidence and easily adapt to new requirements<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As your nonprofit organization grows, you need an accounting system that can grow with you. QuickBooks was designed for the needs of small businesses and was not designed to manage the sophisticated processes of a growing nonprofit; and does not offer advanced functionality or robust financial controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, Sage Intacct was designed for growth. It provides your nonprofit with a scalable architecture that allows for increases in transaction volume, the ability to add new entities and ledgers, and financial controls to ensure compliance and auditability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/success-stories\/usa-fencing\/\n\">USA Fencing<\/a> needed a more powerful system to handle nonprofit accounting needs and ease financial stewardship, they chose Sage Intacct to modernize financial processes and reporting. When using QuickBooks, USA Fencing had to spend a day every month manipulating data in Excel for restricted funding sources. With Sage Intacct, they are now able to provide personalized dashboards by project and get the granular visibility needed to satisfy stringent funding requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cNow that Sage Intacct provides more meaningful, accurate visibility into our data, we\u2019ve been able to easily meet stringent requirements from new funders and better manage our bottom line\u2014ultimately bringing our asset balance into the black.\u201d<\/p>\n<cite>Keri Khan, Director of Finance and Business Services, USA Fencing<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-conclusion\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t lose valuable time managing unruly spreadsheets, struggling with manual processes, or allowing the limits of QuickBooks hamper your ability to grow. Your nonprofit\u2019s sophisticated and evolving demands require flexibility, automation, and better visibility to strengthen financial stewardship and drive performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Assess your current capabilities and uncover the costs associated with your organization\u2019s use of QuickBooks. Learn about the potential upside of switching to a modern cloud financial management and accounting system. Download our eBook, 5 Telltale Signs Your Nonprofit Has Outgrown QuickBooks (and what to do about it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta gated-content\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">5 Telltale Signs Your Nonprofit has Outgrown QuickBooks<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-4284cd83-4f9c-4594-9dfc-82c1f8b73484\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Download<\/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<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-539434591-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Small business owner working\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/12\/GettyImages-539434591-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to our Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>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\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-ab515c6e-7e90-4c2f-a67e-113872516e8b\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe<\/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<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Working from home with tea in hand\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Like more than 80% of small businesses, many nonprofits begin their financial lives using Intuit\u00ae QuickBooks\u00ae to manage accounting. It\u2019s easy to use, well known, and offers entry-level accounting functionality at an affordable price. But as these organizations grow, they often face significant challenges and hidden costs as they hit the limits of QuickBooks\u2019 functionality. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1430,"featured_media":13964,"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":[46,48],"tags":[420,168,154],"business_type":[40,312,41],"lilypad":[],"context":[418,429],"industry":[57,58,450],"persona":[150,98,96,97],"imagine_tag":[209,436],"coauthors":[844],"class_list":["post-9972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","category-technology-innovation","tag-cloud-financial-management","tag-sage-accounting","tag-technology","business_type-small-business","business_type-accountants","business_type-growing-business","industry-financial-services","industry-nonprofit","industry-software-saas"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-us","author_name":"Joan Benson","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/02\/shutterstock_1031044339_c2222.jpg","imagine_tags":{"209":"Accounting","436":"Intacct Accounting"}},"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\/9972","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\/1430"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9972"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34931,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9972\/revisions\/34931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/13964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9972"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=9972"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=9972"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=9972"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=9972"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=9972"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=9972"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=9972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}