Although the general bookkeeping and accounting process is similar to that for other companies, not-for-profit organizations have some special issues that need to be addressed.

The key one relates to financial reporting.  In most cases, the accounting staff at charitable and similar groups need to present financial data to a  Board of Directors.  These people are usually donating their time because they believe in the goals and purposes of the organization.  They are often, however, not comfortable with accounting terminology, or even with the usual presentation of business financial reports.

So, flexibility in formatting financial reports is an important issue in choosing an accounting system. 

As well, many non-profit groups administer multiple programs funded from a variety of sources.  These funding agencies require reports – often quite detailed – of the expenditures on each program showing the sources and application of funds.  This means that some method of tracking those costs and assigning them to the funding sources and programs will be needed.  This may include apportioning some expenses to multiple programs.

The Societies Act of British Columbia also requires that appropriately formatted financial reports be presented to an annual general meeting.  While these may be prepared by the organization’s accountants as part of the year-end review and audit process, you may also wish to be able to prepare them from your own in-house data (after making the accountant’s year-end adjusting entries).

Some small non-profits find that Simply Accounting works for them.  However, the financial reporting is so limited that they often end up producing financial reports in Excel in order to provide clear guidance for the board. Adagio FX can also be used to create financial statements from Simply Accounting data.

Adagio Accounting’s suite of programs provides the needed power for larger not-for-profit groups, including departmentalized breakdowns.   In fact, the department code can be “subdivided” in the Financial Reporter to report on various programs with totals by funding source or type.  Adagio Invoices can be used to issue charitable receipts. A few of the non-profit groups using Adagio are listed on our references page. More informaion on Adagio programs for Non-profit organizations can be found on Softrak's Website.