CPA_Practice_Advisor_April_2020 - 8

REVIEW: NONPROFIT ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS

By Mary
Girsch-Bock

Features and Functionality are Essential

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*SEPARATE PROGRAM

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APRIL 2020 ■

www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com

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OV E R

ALL

RATI

NG

Mary Girsch-Bock is a
freelance writer specializing in business and technology issues and is the
author of her first book,
several HR handbooks,
training manuals, and
other in-house publications. She can be reached
at mary.girschbock@
cpapracticeadvisor.com

Au t o
m
From a t ed Du
Capa e t o-D
bilit y ue
Mult
i - L ev
el Se
cu ri
ty
Man
agem
Repo
en t
rting

Trac
k ing
Dono
r
M
a
Fund
rais nageme
nt /
ing

t ion
Dona

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Budg

cess
d Ac
Clou

ABILA MIP
ACCUFUND
APLOS
ARAIZE FAST FUND
COUGAR MOUNTAIN DENALI
FINANCIAL EDGE NXT
FUND E-Z
GMS ACCOUNTING
SERENIC NAVIGATOR

eting

in question. That's where features and
functionality really come into play. For
instance, a nonprofit that is supported
mainly through grants will need a
very different software application
than the nonprofit supported solely
by donations. You and your client will
also want to take a look at deployment
options, and consider which works best
for the particular situation.
If you're ready to get started on
finding nonprofit software for your
client, be sure to check out the applications reviewed in this issue. They
include:
■ Abila MIP Advance
■ AccuFund
■ Aplos Fund Accounting
■ Araize Fast Fund

ibilit
y
Cus t
o
o f Ac m i z a b le
coun Char
ts
t
Mult
iple
Seg m Acco
en t s un t
Mult
i
Type ple Tran
sac t
s
ion

Membership organizations need
to be able to track memberships
accurately, while nonprofits running
several programs simultaneously
need to create and manage a separate
fund for each active program in order
to determine financial success. Nonprofits also need to be able to manage
grants and sponsorships, and most
importantly, nonprofits need a way to
handle recordkeeping and accounting
for their donors, from initial contact
to managing and retaining donors. In
fact, the lack of donor management is
the number one reason that nonprofits
turn away from traditional accounting
software.
It can be a challenge to find the
software best suited for the nonprofit

s

a handle on volunteer staff.

ation

profits are also tasked with managing grants and keeping

t

to manage deposits, track expenses, and pay bills, non-

Alloc

While all businesses, whether for-profit or nonprofit, need

men

not found in standard accounting software applications.

nage

may find itself searching for features and functions simply

t Ma

nonprofit's infancy stages. But as an organization grows, it

Gran

can use the same accounting software, particularly in the

■ Availability of a mobile app
■ Fundraising capability
■ Membership management
We also let you know if a demo is
available to try out prior to purchasing.
Finally, we address the biggest issue of
all, pricing. After all, it doesn't matter
what features an application offers if
it isn't in your client's budget. While
not all vendors share pricing with us,
when they do, that pricing will always
be included in the review.
There's no better time than today
to start looking for the nonprofit
accounting software that best suits
your client, and there's no better place
to start than with the reviews included
in this issue. ■

20 20

Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT
Cougar Mountain Denali FUND
Fund E-Z
GMS Accounting
Serenic Navigator for NPO
The products included in this
review of nonprofit accounting
applications vary widely in features,
functionality, and pricing, with some
of the products better geared towards
smaller nonprofits, while others offer
nearly every feature a nonprofit may
need, both now and in the future. We
also took a look at two popular small
business accounting software applications, QuickBooks Online and Xero, in
terms of their nonprofit accounting
features. A noteworthy app worth
exploring is Tangicloud Fundamentals.
■ QuickBooks Online
■ Xero
■ Tangicloud Fundamentals
Included with the reviews is a
handy chart that identifies the features
found in each application, making it
easy to pinpoint which of these applications may be best suited for your client.
Features and functions that we looked
at include the following:
■ Chart of accounts structure
■ Online or on-premise deployment
■ Grant management capability
■ Donor management capability
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I n t eg
Vendration w
or M ith
odul
es
In t eg
r
a
Par t t ion w
y Ap
plicaith Third
t ions Help
&
Op t i Suppo
ons
rt

YES, IT'S TRUE that for-profit and nonprofit businesses

5
5
4.75
4.75
4.75
5
4.75
4.5
5
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