How to tell if a Not-For-Profit has outgrown their Entry Level Accounting Software

Not-for-profit organizations range from government agencies to religious organizations, and each have their very own, and very unique management needs. Even though the type of not-for-profit may vary, providing high quality service, and stellar administration (which will enable automation and help to reduce expenses) are a few ongoing traits that are required by all. The backbone of these organizations and a major form of empowerment for successful management is the accounting system.

More often than not, a majority of the not-for-profit organizations starting out opt to use a solution such as Intuit QuickBooks to satisfy their basic accounting needs; and why wouldn’t they? Entry level accounting software packages are typically very adaptable, easy to use, easy to setup, and cost effective. However, as organizations grow, their solution may lag behind. With that in mind, it’s important to understand when you should begin to look for a more robust product. So, what are the tell-tale signs that you have outgrown your entry level accounting software? Here they are:

1. Unacceptable delay in menus and screens when navigating
2. Reports take an unacceptable amount of time to print
3. When any list exceeds 10,000 – however, most companies see performance issues earlier
4. Once the file size reaches 30MB or the total number of transactions exceeds 32,000

When you finally come to the realization that you have in fact outgrown your system, you are faced with a very important decision; to continue using a solution that is prohibiting growth, or to invest in a solution that will take you in to the future. As you do your due diligence in researching potential solutions, it’s important to look for something that is scalable, will grow as you do, and most importantly handle the specific requirements and issues that you may encounter in being a not-for-profit organization.

Aside from picking a solution that offers a strong core of business and financial applications, there are also a handful of other specialized capabilities that all not-for-profits should be on the lookout for. Here are a few:

• Interfund Accounting: Automate the transfer of balances between funds
• Grant Management: Proactive management to ensure accountability
• Encumbrance Management: Maintain control over budget expenditures, monitor encumbered purchases
• Commitments and Control Account Management
• Allocation calculations, Intercompany Accounts, Statistical Accounts
• Built-in workflow capabilities
• Attach supporting documents to journal entries
• Drill down displays offsetting entry or entries
• Real-time access to financial and member information.
• Improve case and project management abilities through easy access to all information.
• Integrate data from disparate systems
• Automate and streamline business processes such as funding and donor management.
• Compliance with regulatory and external audit requirements.
• Automatic conversion of data from old solution to new.
• Flexible deployment options: on premise, in the cloud, or a combo of both.

Deciding on a new accounting system may seem like a daunting task, however, the reality is that ERP solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics GP, from the Microsoft Dynamics ERP suite of products, make it easy for not-for-profit organizations that have outgrown entry level accounting packages to transition. Highly specialized functionality and powerful business/financial applications in combination with the potential for scalable growth are the perfect tools to lead any organization into the future.

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