Helping Not-for-Profits with Better Accounting

AccuFund (accufund.com) — This product was developed by many of the people originally involved in the American Fundware product. They have created a product based on their experience, and have used current technologies to build it. This product is available in a hosted version.

Blackbaud (blackbaud.com) — One of the long-term players, this publicly held company has specialized in fundraising, focusing on schools and foundations. They have offerings in a number of NFP verticals.

CYMA NFP (cyma.com) — This entry-level product has after-the-fact payroll, write-up and recurring entries with splits to complement their NFP fund accounting.

Peachtree Accounting for Nonprofits (peachtree.com) — Sage Peachtree Premium Accounting for Nonprofits 2010 does more than just manage the financial side of nonprofit businesses. It can track expenses, supplies and labor costs against grants and other funding sources, manage spending across multiple budget years, achieve optimal cash flow using “what if” scenarios, and use integration with Microsoft Excel and Outlook to work the way you need to. The Customer Management Center helps nonprofits view donors and volunteer details in one place, with customizable dashboard views and one-click lookups. There are Unified- and United Way-based chart of accounts that ease setup and tracking for outstanding member and pledge fees.

QuickBooks Nonprofit (quickbooks.intuit.com) — Intuit offers Nonprofit Editions for QuickBooks Premier and QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions, with customized reports and tools for the NFP industry.

Sage MIP Fund Accounting (sagenonprofit.com) — For more than 25 years, this fund accounting solution has targeted nonprofit organizations and governments. Sage MIP Fund Accounting is flexible, complies with FASB and GASB requirements, and provides individual fund tracking and reporting software. Sage has a broad number of offerings for integrated fundraising and web presence, as well.

Serenic Navigator (serenic.com) — This certified extension to the Dynamics NAV software brings customizable fund accounting to the Microsoft accounting family of software.

TRAVERSE NFP (osas.com) — Open Systems TRAVERSE is a customizable solution that can improve financial management practices and reporting. The system has FASB 117-compliant reporting, cross fiscal year reporting on all financial reports, and can create allocation entries for Accounts Payable, General Ledger and Payroll while also handling due to/due from transactions.

WHO INSTALLS THESE PRODUCTS?
In most cases, the systems named above are supported by local installers, partners, resellers or VARs in your market. A few of the companies will do direct installation. You will want to check the installing partner’s capabilities carefully, including contacting referral accounts. In markets where nonprofit activities are high, excellent installers are available for these products. If your organization is not in an active nonprofit marketplace, you will need to budget additional money for installation, and you will need to plan on more remote support.

As you step through the process of selecting a viable replacement system, remember that cheaper or more expensive does not necessarily equal better. Look for a good philosophical and practical fit for your clients’ NFP organizations.