I have worked in the nonprofit compliance industry for a decade and I have seen humanity at its best and at its worst…at least in the realm of volunteer officers. After a series of horror stories, I have decided to offer nonprofit bookkeeping help. If a newly elected treasurer gets a binder, that is actually a win! Usually, the previous treasurer hands over a literal shoebox full of receipts and a cashbox with a half completed print-off. I have tried to call a treasurer about a 990 and the president calls back a few days later saying the treasurer is in jail for embezzlement. My dad always said that no one should make it more difficult for parents to raise money for their kids. This is why I started Books in Good Standing. I help fix messy books and I offer ongoing support for long term consistency. 

What happens when a nonprofit uses a handwritten ledger? 

Many volunteer organizations are…well…run by volunteers. This means that there are variety of recordkeeping methods. Sometimes no records are kept at all. This is often due to the misconception that nonprofits do not need to file taxes. There is the second level of hand written ledgers (fortunately, I have not seen one of these in a few years). These are some of the hardest nonprofit financial records to digitize. Generally speaking, these need to be rebuilt from the beginning. With modern technology, a handwritten ledger might as well be no ledger at all. The next tier is keeping everything in a google spreadsheet. 

Can a nonprofit use Excel for accounting?

If Google Spreadsheet records are kept, they are often inconsistent. This is also where I have seen the most variety in methods. Some organizations upload spreadsheets directly from the bank, add in additional columns and label all the transactions. Other organizations transfer over the banking information line by line. Some organizations do multiple tabs for each individual program. The two big problems with these methods are that records can easily be thrown off and consistency. Just because the first treasurer understands it does not mean the second treasurer will. Eventually, someone with a financial background is elected and they immediately have panic attacks. 

Do small nonprofits actually use accounting softwares? 

Then we reach the (usually) highest level of recordkeeping. Actually using an accounting software. I know that the phrase “accounting software” or “bookkeeping software” frightens a lot of volunteers. I have heard the phrase “we are just a group of parents fundraising for X Program. We don’t need anything like “that”. Bookkeeping/accounting programs link up directly to the bank account. As transactions occur the software provides the option to categorize or tag each transaction. As long as everything is setup properly and recorded properly, the organization will largely see success. The problem is consistency, which is where I can help.