Whether you’re a small business owner or the leader of a non-profit, your bookkeeping goals are important no matter where you work. Non-profits have a unique challenge of needing to be diligent with spending and need to keep focus on providing an adequate amount of funding to a cause! In many respects, non-profits run just like businesses, so it makes perfect sense that non-profits would use the same effective record-keeping software and tools. Since you want to ensure you make the best financial decisions, here are some bookkeeping tips for non-profits you can easily implement into any process:
Start with Bookkeeping – This first step is also one of the most important. In order to understand how to track your business expenses and monitor money or donations, you need to create a system for bookkeeping. Unlike a traditional business, non-profits are generally run on donations or private funding, in addition to using volunteers to run a good portion of the non-profit. Cloud-based bookkeeping software makes tracking cash donations, invoices and cheques easy to monitor no matter where you are.
Prepare for the Annual Audit – Every year, it’s the same stressful story, looking for last minute documents, receipts and financial statements. Using cloud-based bookkeeping software means you can quickly and simply upload images of any documents into the software for future reference. This makes it easy for you to go back and look at invoices or receipts throughout the year and makes the annual audit relatively stress-free. All you need to do is provide an auditor log-in access on read-only files and it’s more efficient for everyone.
Streamline the Process – Through non-profits, volunteers come and go on a frequent basis. Creating a streamlined bookkeeping process makes it easy for people to learn as soon as they come in and keeps the machine well-oiled and running smoothly. Create a guide for new volunteers to follow and be sure to review documents twice a year to ensure the bookkeeping is clear and concise.
These bookkeeping tips for non-profits are crucial in making sure the finances are in order at all times. Staying organised and simplifying the process are just two important components in the success of any non-profit.
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