Is Your Nonprofit Financial Software Maximizing Its Potential?

Nonprofit organizations and charitable organizations tend to run on tight budgets, so when you invest in financial software, it’s important to leverage all of its features to get your money’s worth. However, most organizations only learn the basics. Learn how to maximize your nonprofit financial software and get the most from it as well as determine if a software assessment would benefit your organization.

Why Your Nonprofit Financial Software Matters

Your nonprofit financial software is used to track revenue, and spending as well as keep up with the daily inflow and outflow of money for your nonprofit. You’re using this to maintain your accounting and bookkeeping which you then use to complete the following tasks:

• Setting budgets
• Creating reports for your donors and the IRS
• Forecasting revenue and spending over the long term
• Determining fundraising campaign success and challenges
• Keeping up with specific donors and donations
• Maintaining membership information

However, most nonprofit organizations are only using their financial software to track the basic information, then spend long hours on data entry carrying information from one spreadsheet to the next. In doing so, mistakes and errors are likely and productivity grinds to a halt.

Features of Nonprofit Financial Software

Most of today’s nonprofit financial software contains features that allow you to streamline your data entry, automate your reporting, and increase both productivity and accuracy. Let’s look at the features and functionality of two of the most common nonprofit financial software platforms: MIP and Blackbaud’s Financial Edge NXT.

MIP Features:

• General ledger
• Accounts payable/receivable
• Bank reconciliation
• Budgeting and forecasting
• Reporting 
• Payroll
• Timekeeping 
• Human resources 
• Grant management
• Allocation management
• Fixed assets
• Multi-currency tracking 

Blackbaud’s Financial Edge NXT Features:

• General ledger
• Accounts payable/receivable
• Activity tracking
• Asset management
• Grant management and tracking
• Bank reconciliation
• Budgeting and forecasting
• Compliance management
• Partnership accounting
• Fundraising support

Unlike relying on multiple platforms and manual data entry, both MIP and Financial Edge NXT automate and streamline the financial operations of your organization whether you are a government entity, school, or charitable organization.

Do You Need a Software Assessment?

A software assessment allows you to see exactly where the gaps are with both the platform itself and how your organization is leveraging it. Often, years of turnover, changes to funding streams and reporting, or system conversions have led to a cluttered, confusing database and software that is barely used beyond its most basic functionality.

Capital Business Solutions can provide you with a system assessment that allows you to make informed decisions about how to use your current system or whether you should upgrade to something new. Each analysis includes three stages:

1. Assessing and reviewing the current system processes
2. In-depth analysis of the software system’s formatting, use, and functionality and how your organization utilizes the features
3. Interviewing the system users and stakeholders to see what is and what is not working

With our findings, we can help you determine the next steps. Sometimes it’s as simple as training your team on how to leverage features, other times we recommend shifting to a new system. Regardless, our goal is helping to improve your financial record keeping while saving you time.

Schedule a Consultation and Software Assessment Today

If your nonprofit organization is struggling with your financial software, you worry it’s out of date, or it’s so overloaded with outdated data that it’s impossible to use efficiently, we can help. Schedule a consultation with a member of our team so we can help you get organized and up-to-date with your financial data. Call us at  (843) 971-9061 or fill out our contact form below to get started.