Nonprofit organizations have long struggled to build budgets based on accurate forecasts of operating expenses and revenue. The usual struggle is especially heightened this year, given uncertainty around the pace of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
If your nonprofit struggles to create accurate, timely budgets, odds are the reason is that you’re still relying on spreadsheets for budgeting, forecasting, and planning.
While Excel and similar solutions can be a good place to start for young nonprofits, as your organization grows and your needs become more complex, you’ll run into a number of challenges with spreadsheets, including:
The good news is that nonprofits no longer need to settle for spreadsheet-based accounting. Advanced solutions like Sage Intacct give finance teams the ability to perform rapid what-if analyses and produce credible forecasts that are board-worthy.
With a cloud-based ERP solution like Sage Intacct, you can make changes in your forecast model and compare the results, both inputs and outputs, to your budget. It’s easy to create multiple what-if scenarios within a single budget, and you can collaborate easily, inviting department heads to build or edit their budgets.
Another important aspect of Sage Intacct business budget software is that everyone works on the latest version and knows who updated the budget and when. It’s a single, secure solution, with access limited and controlled by the user.
Contact FSS Group for assistance as you budget and plan for the next fiscal year. We provide strategic accounting solutions to businesses and nonprofits of all sizes, and can provide expert support tailored to the specific needs of your organization.