While business stakeholders are concerned with profits, nonprofit stakeholders and board members want to know if the resources are properly utilized and allocated. It’s also important to recognize that bookkeeping is not a part-time job. Adding this responsibility to an existing staff member’s to-do list will likely overwhelm your employees, and your books won’t get the undivided attention they need. That’s why your first step in the bookkeeping process should be finding a bookkeeper (and evaluating your outsourcing options). Take our 2-minute survey to find out if outsourced accounting and bookkeeping is a good fit for your organization.

Nonprofit bookkeeping is the process of tracking your organization’s day-to-day transactions. With a solid bookkeeping system, your nonprofit can ensure financial transparency, comply with federal professional bookkeeper and state regulations, and have a detailed record of your finances to help in the accounting process. MIP is today’s leading accounting software for nonprofits and government organizations.

PROFESSIONAL BOOKKEEPING

In the same way, bookkeeping can prepare your nonprofit’s financial records and budget for tax filings, annual reports, and every other deep dive into your assets. Jitasa’s experienced nonprofit accountants will set your organization up with a cloud-based accounting system and chart of accounts to guide the financial aspects of your daily operations. We’ll also handle a variety of analysis and reporting tasks, such as reconciling accounts, compiling financial statements, and issuing 1099s. There are ten principles of bookkeeping, known as GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles).

• A bookkeeper’s tasks are not as complex as a nonprofit accountant’s responsibilities.
• In the same way, bookkeeping can prepare your nonprofit’s financial records and budget for tax filings, annual reports, and every other deep dive into your assets.
• No matter the reason, if your back office is overwhelming you, then you need to protect yourself and your nonprofit with professional bookkeeping and accounting services.
• Since every nonprofit is different, it’s impossible to say one software is the best – but there are some excellent options.

Nonprofit bookkeeping is a nonnegotiable task—it just has to be done. You can either assign this task to one of your staff members or trust a professional to handle it. Your message has been received and we’ll be reviewing your request shortly. In the meantime, schedule a meeting with us and we’ll be in touch soon. We’ll create a custom price quote that’s tailored for you— to ensure you get the support you need without paying for anything that you don’t. Schedule a call to talk to us about the unique accounting and reporting needs of your organization.

Recording & Allocating Expenses

Supporters of these organizations want to know where their hard-earned money is going and the best way to explain this is through reports. Bookkeeping for nonprofits is essential for maintaining day-to-day data entry of revenue and expenses. You can even get discounted accounting software for your nonprofit if you use certain software on this list.

But the experience, responsibilities, and deliverables required of bookkeepers are very different from those required of accountants. They can choose to hire in-house accountants or outsource their accounting to a specialized firm. As mentioned, nonprofit organizations have tax-exempt status, meaning they don’t have to pay federal taxes to the IRS under Section 501. This section regulates the tax status of charities, religious organizations, and nonprofits. The basis for an accurate bookkeeping and accounting system is recording all financial transactions. Nonprofit accounting and bookkeeping revolve around representing an organization’s financial records in compliance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

The American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB)

Essentially, you should view bookkeeping as the financial oversight process that’s necessary for operating your nonprofit daily. For example, bookkeeping ensures your nonprofit uses its revenue wisely and maintains its tax-exempt status. Accounting, on the other hand, is using that information to provide a detailed analysis of your finances. Bookkeeping for nonprofits is recording and analyzing financial transactions to ensure compliance with state and federal accounting rules. We’ll help you modernize your nonprofit accounting & bookkeeping systems to get consistent and accurate reports.

• While an accountant is qualified and capable of carrying out bookkeeping tasks, they do typically earn a much higher rate.
• Michelle Higgins and The Nonprofit Bookkeeper have been a gift to our organization.
• FreshBooks accounting software accomplishes all of these tasks with ease and is an excellent choice depending on your needs.
• No one knows your nonprofit better than you do, which is why you should hire a professional bookkeeper to get your records in order and leave the decision-making up to your organization’s leaders.
• This reduces the possibility of errors and guarantees reliability and accuracy.