2018 Review of Aplos Fund Accounting

From the 2018 reviews of nonprofit accounting systems.

Aplos Fund Accounting is a cloud-based fund accounting program designed for small to mid-sized nonprofit organizations. Aplos works on both Windows and Mac platforms and contains a user-friendly interface for easy system navigation. Scalable, Aplos is available in three versions; Starter, Standard, and Advanced.

Aplos offers a default chart of accounts for users to utilize. There is also an option to use a current chart of accounts, which needs to be sent to Aplos support personnel, who will upload the data into the system. Users can easily customize the default chart of accounts, adding new accounts, account groups or sub-accounts as needed. All funds entered in Aplos are displayed in varying colors, making it easy to manage and track each individual fund.

Aplos easily processes a variety of transaction types including journal entries, cash receipts, vendor payments, bank reconciliation, and fund transfers. Basic budgeting capability is included in all Aplos product versions, which includes budget versus actuals that can be compared throughout the calendar year. Users can also create a budget for the upcoming year; accessing historical budgets for easy comparison. The Advanced version of Aplos offers more comprehensive budgeting capability such as the ability to create a budget for each fund, department, location, or even fundraiser, if desired.

Aplos offers excellent donor management and tracking capabilities, with users able to easily track donation levels for each donor. The product also handles online donations as well. Aplos also includes a Donor Management dashboard, where users can quickly view recent donors, total online donations, and the number of active and recurring donors. Donations can also be tracked by campaign and by program if necessary. A Contributions Manager is available in both the Standard and Advanced version of Aplos, offering more comprehensive donor management capability.

There is no automatic Due To/From capability in Aplos, thought the product does contain the ability to easily transfer between funds if necessary. Multi-level security options are available in the application, with managers and administrators able to assign users to specific roles. Accountants and bookkeepers can also be assigned system access if desired.

All versions of Aplos offer good nonprofit reporting capability, including pre-formatted nonprofit specific reports such as Statement of Financial Position, Statement of Activities, and Statement of Functional Expenses. The product can also process year-end 1099’s. All reports created in Aplos can be customized and saved for future access, though true customization is limited in the Starter version of the product. The Standard and Advanced versions of Aplos offer more comprehensive reporting capabilities, including the ability to customize report templates, produce 990’s, and utilize custom segment reporting which includes department, campaign, or project reports. Segment reporting is also available in the Advanced version of Aplos. A custom report builder is also available, and all reports can be shared with recipients via email directly from the print page, exported to Microsoft Excel or as a CSV file for additional customization options, or saved as a PDF.

Aplos offers Fund Accounting, Contributions Management, and Donor Management capability in all versions of the application, with the level of functionality varying depending on the version utilized. Aplos also partners with various third-party applications including Bloomerang, Gusto, and Continue to Give. The product also offers both bank integration for easy bank reconciliation and PayPal integration for accepting online donations.  

The Aplos Support Center offers users a variety of help and support resources to choose from, including Getting Started, Donor Management, Partners and Integration, and Troubleshooting. There is also an option for accountants and bookkeepers as well. A variety of knowledgebase articles are available, as are a variety of new and recorded webinars. Support is included in the product pricing, with toll-free support available during regular business hours. Aplos users can also contact support via email and chat as well.

Aplos is ideal for very small nonprofits but can easily ramp up for larger organizations as well. Completely online, Aplos currently offers three product versions: Starter, which is $25.00 per month and includes fund accounting, reporting, and budgeting. The Standard version is $40.00 per month and also includes contributions management, donation management, and the ability to track special gifts. The Advanced version, ideal for larger nonprofit organizations, is $150.00 per month and also includes custom reporting capability, automatic recurring transactions, Form 990 reporting capability, and fixed assets and allocations. Prices are slightly higher if paying month-to-month. Aplos also offers users a free 15-day trial that those interested can download directly from the Aplos website.

2018 rating – 4.75 Stars