Team Approach for Nonprofit Accounting

Handling the financial aspect of a nonprofit can be extremely daunting for a board of directors. Typically, boards have looked for a single accountant or treasurer to handle the task of keeping the books. However, all of accounting and finance does not need to be – and should not be – one person’s role. Rather organizations can satisfy their accounting and finance needs with a team approach.

Organizations need:
-someone who has the attention to detail and knowledge to correctly input invoices and checks into the accounting system;
- someone to pull the information out into meaningful financial reports; and
- someone who can analyze and present the statements, so they can be used for strategic decision making and will give confidence to funders.

These don’t have to be all different people or even people within the organization. Board, staff and outside contractors can combine to fill these roles. Or these roles can all be filled by outsourcing all the financial duties to an accounting group specializing in nonprofits. Outsourcing some or all of the accounting function is a great alternative for many organizations and can lead to increased accuracy and efficiency.