Financial budgets for nonprofits may be tighter than previous years with donations expected to increase only marginally in 2013. In the US the 2% payroll tax increase implemented this year, high unemployment rate, and expected health-insurance increases may see many tighten their budgets at home, meaning that previous donations may not be as frequent or as generously as previous years. Read more…

We are excited to open up registration for another Explorations, our nonprofit accounting software conference for Serenic users and partners. The theme of this year’s conference is, “empower your team” with workshops, roundtables, one-on-ones, and more.  We are returning to Denver, Sep 29 – Oct 2, and looking forward to seeing you!

During our 3-day conference, you will learn from experts and your peers how to be more effective and make the most of your nonprofit financial software. Explorations 2013 will offer numerous learning and networking opportunities, along with interactive group discussions.  Sessions will include:

• Training workshops
• Roundtables
• Best practices
• Consultant one-on-ones
• Networking events
• Basic and advanced technical tips 
• New solutions and offerings
• Computer lab

Previous attendees have said the following about Explorations:

• “Excellent one-on-ones, all questions covered, extremely helpful.”
• “Good to see all possibilities and what we’re missing.”
• “Great place, lots to see and do.”
• “Individual attention for a single issue was excellent.”
• “Great opportunity to network and learn.”

For details about the conference, or to register, visit the Explorations home page.

Leveraging accounting software designed specifically for the nonprofit end-user ensures that your organization is benefiting from what technology today has enabled in terms of insight and control.  The right infrastructure and fund accounting software empowers your managers and employees with ready access to relevant financials and statistical metrics, making data actionable – not just historic. 

There are many nonprofit–specific software features designed around real-world application of best practices, such as:

• budget preparation and spending controls
• seeking and managing grants, contracts & other sources of funds
• integrating systems
• working in real-time 

The benefits of having the right nonprofit accounting software payoff for an organization in terms of:

• identifying cost saving opportunities
• employee time savings (both by limiting paperwork and streamlining data entry)
• access to trustworthy, real-time data
• compliance with nonprofit oriented business rules

As time marches forward and technology along with it, organizations should be mindful of how these financial toolsets are evolving for the nonprofit customer and how they can be employed to streamline operations and maximize the impact of every dollar received.

Being a nonprofit organization, you are experts on making every dollar count toward your overall mission delivery.  Many of your employees economize in simple ways to stretch the limited funding dollars, everything from using donated office furnishings to leading recycling efforts at campuses.  Careful stewardship of funds received is not only part of the job, it’s a ‘culture of thrift’ mindset that nonprofit organizations ask employees at every level to use in making daily decisions. 

The key to supporting this mindset of ‘culture of thrift’ is having a solid infrastructure in place to provide both spending insight and proper purchase approval mechanisms.  With the right procurement process in place, when purchases are made your organization’s stakeholders can be confident that the funds are expended only when necessary, in accordance with funder guidelines, and that funds were available per budget prior to the purchase decision.   In today’s increasingly paperless office environment, strong purchase control procedures can easily and efficiently be put into practice; thereby, streamlining the procurement process and even providing hither-to unrecognized opportunities for savings.  By capturing buying patterns overtime, at the individual commodity level and vendor level, your nonprofit organizations can:

• Identify further opportunities to lower overall costs thru vendor negotiated discounts
• Seek group purchasing programs for large purchase areas
• Gain insight and control which both translate into savings opportunities 

For more information, download our Smart Stewardship in a Rapidly Changing World whitepaper or Purchase Requisition and Purchase Order fact sheets.

'Smart Stewardship in a Rapidly Changinging World' by Peter Brinckerhoff.

Purchase Order Fact Sheet

It’s auditing time!  This can be an exciting, yet stressful time of year.  Audits can cause a great deal of anxiety, require immense commitment and can take countless hours.  There are, however, some key steps your nonprofit organization can take to ensure a successful, stress-free audit.

1.      Schedule meetings with your auditor. 

It is recommended that you meet with your auditor early to determine what they will need (e.g. reporting requirements); the timeline and resources that may be needed to support the audit.  You should probably schedule recurring meetings throughout the year to stay on track with the timeline and goals.

2.      Build-out audit reports throughout the year. 

Upon meeting with your auditor on the specifics, you should review the existing reports in your nonprofit accounting software to determine if the pre-defined and/or user-defined reports meet the auditor’s requirements.  Please feel free to contact Serenic Support/Consultants for assistance.  Send sample reports to your auditor and ask for feedback.  This avoids the organization rushing to hammer out a report at the last minute. 

3.      Review financial statements on a regular basis. 

You should review the financial statements once a month to confirm accuracy.  Setup a scheduled reminder using Microsoft® Outlook’s Task Manager, Microsoft Project, etc. to stay on task.  Pay attention to your balance sheet.  If the balance sheet is not up to par, more than likely the income statements will be off.  Catching mistakes early can save valuable time that can be lost if you wait until the end of the year to review.

4.      Reconcile payables and receivables.  

Review the receivables and payables balances at least once a month.  This can also be another time-saving tool if done in advance.  Serenic Navigator has pre-defined reports that can aid you in this process.  Take a look at the Aged Accounts Receivable, Aged Accounts Receivable by Fund, Aged Accounts Payable and/or Aged Accounts Payable by Fund reports.

5.      Provide reports to department heads. 

Provide financial and income statements to the department managers to keep them up to date on the financial status.  Ask for feedback on any corrections that may needed.

6.      Perform internal audits. 

If you have the resources, you can hire an internal auditor to review the financial statements and work with the external auditors.  This may help free up resources at the organization and ease the stress of the audit.  If hiring an internal auditor is not feasible, look at designating a team with specific responsibilities for each person so that the staff isn’t feeling too overwhelmed.  Schedule recurring meetings to discuss the financial statements and financial health of the organization. 

Can you provide some other recommendations that have aided your organization in a successful audit?

Is your nonprofit organization struggling with line, cost, batch and expense allocations (just to name a few)?  If you have the proper tool, then this headache can be eliminated – along with all the offline spreadsheets!  With Serenic’s accounting software for nonprofits, your allocations are performed within the system, providing greater accuracy, auditability and transparency.

Our Advanced Allocations functionality automates your nonprofit’s calculation and posting of transactions and has the ability to run allocations more frequently, at the time of transaction entry and/or daily; thereby ensuring your financial data will always be up-to-date. 

As an example, one of our clients, UVA Alumni Association, is using allocation tools to eliminate calculation mistakes by allocating exact income, spend rates and administration fees across multiple departments. 

Once your nonprofit organization has set up your global definitions, you can distribute amounts to multiple accounts, funds, and user-defined dimensions in the system where a G/L account is entered, such as:

• Departments
• Cost centers
• Programs
• Projects
• Locations

Further flexibility is provided because you can distribute based on percentage tables, fixed amount(s) or a combination of the two.  Plus each allocation has an effective date, allowing for greater flexibility and auditing.  So if your board wants expenses allocated based on approved percentages, this is not a problem.  The rates can be stored within the allocations.

We can also help you better manage your indirect cost plan.  You can track actual expenses incurred while, at the same time, automatically calculating and posting the negotiated/approved indirect costs for budgeting and reporting purposes, along with the appropriate offsetting entry. This will help you capture the necessary data to ensure that your negotiated/approved rates are validated and, if appropriate, negotiate a better rate in future periods.

Don’t settle for a month-end “snap-shot.”   You can count on up-to-date and reliable financial reports, providing a more accurate financial picture with Advanced Allocations.  Check out our factsheet for more information.

Serenic Software Advanced Allocations

Join us in Myrtle Beach, where Serenic will be presenting at the S.C. Human Service Providers Conference.  The topic of the presentation is: Four signs you need a new Financial Management System and the requirements for selecting a new system.   

Serenic will share the following: 

• When you need to look at new software.
• The top ten criteria for selecting a new system.
• Calculating the costs associated with this type of acquisition.

Holly Frye, Finance Director, will also share the lessons she learned when she purchased a new financial management system for Berkeley Citizens, Inc., and the benefits she continues to enjoy as a result of choosing a solution to meet their specific needs. 

Attendees of this session are eligible for 1 CPE credit.

Be sure to stop by the Serenic Software and Hodge Systems and Consulting exhibit while at the conference.

Here are details about the event:

Keynote Speakers:

• Dr.  Beverely Buscemi, State Director SCDDSN
• Mr. Anthony “Tony” Keck, State Director Health & Human Services
• Mr. Charles Weathers, The Weathers Group

Presentations:

• Implementing ABA Plans in Community Programs – Dr. Martinez – Diaz
• Innovations in Customized Employment for People with Disabilities – Dale Dileo
• The Effects of Disabilities in Latin America – FRIDLA
• Risk Management – Mary Poole
• Improving Care through Electronic Records – THERAP – Barry Pollack
• Using GPS to Manage Transportation and Risk – Al Hill, CLC
• Professional Considerations for Behavior Analysts – Dr. Martinez – Diaz
• Developing a Person Centered System: What We Have Learned – Mike Smull
• The Affordable Care Act: What it Means – Hank Steinberg
• Internal Audits Key Issues – Kevin Yacobi
• Technology that Supports Independence – Simply Home
• Building a Better Budget – Lois Eustace Wagner
• Understanding the Audit Process and What the New Standards Mean for You – Chris Clark
• Offsite Monitoring: New Ideas in Managing Services – Jeff Ballenger      
• Servant Leadership – Leadership Principles that Align with Non Profits – Gerald Bernard

Emerging Trends 2013. Innovative Ways to Improve the Culture of Caring.

Serenic Project Manager Sylvia Dickinson is sharing her advice for accounting software project teams and how to maximize their success.  Sylvia has found that the most successful nonprofit accounting software teams include at least the three skill sets listed below.

Nonprofits have unique accounting software needs and their project teams should be just as distinctive.  Typically each team reflects the style and capacities of its parent organization. Whether there are many members or just a few, the most successful teams typically include:

1. Executive level – Director or Executive Director: This person might participate directly on the project team, hold budget authority or just be kept in the informational loop. They keep the project an organizational priority, ensure broad organizational support and define strategic direction.
2.  Senior Accounting Manager or Controller:  This person often takes a very hands-on role in the project and might even be the client-side Project Manager. They are knowledge experts; key in defining and adopting new business processes, system setup and configuration and managing the accounting staff that complete necessary tasks and testing.
3. IT resource:  In many organizations the more technical aspects of the project are handled by IT staff. They are needed to secure new servers, install and maintain software, set up user access and to assist with technical issues that might arise. In addition, these folks are handy for advanced report writing and defining technical strategy/policy related to things like remote access for offsite users.

What other skill sets proved valuable on your project?

In December we surveyed nonprofit decision makers from all over the world to learn more about whom they serve and the challenges that impact their organization.  We were excited by the number of people who responded and saw some definite trends across the board. 

Some of the results we found most interesting were the top 5 challenges respondents reported with their current nonprofit financial management software:

1. Inflexible reporting
2. Using too many spreadsheets outside of the system
3. Lack of integration
4. Lack of integration with donor management
5. Lack of grant management

Additional answers to the question are illustrated below in the graph:

Serenic Nonprofit Accounting Software Survey Results

Respondents included nonprofit accounting software users in various segments with the most replies coming from Religion and Spiritual Orgs, Education, and Human Services.

What do you think? Are these the challenges that keep your staff up at night and asking for more hours in the work day?

We’re excited to be sponsoring a live webinar hosted by Fundraising Success.  The webinar, “Doing What it Takes to Keep Supporters Involved”, is being hosted on Wednesday, January 23 at 12pm Mountain, 2pm Eastern.  If one of your goals for 2013 is to increase the loyalty of your donors, you should register for the webinar.

We all know how important it is to cultivate the relationships you have with your donors.  Managing communications is time consuming, but essential.  We have donor management software to help build and maintain relationships by segmenting constituents, allowing you to target your communications and also track the success of your fundraising efforts.

As part of the cultivation of donors, this webinar points out how important it is to manage donor files and retain the donors with which you currently work.

Join us and Fundraising Success for this webinar to learn:

• Top mistakes your organization might be making that drive away donors
• The basic building blocks to donor loyalty
• Social Media – the new face of donor loyalty and engagement

Fine-tune your organization’s retention efforts and start off 2013 on the right foot!