The hugely popular spreadsheet

You can’t argue the popularity and diversity of Excel spreadsheets.

It’s one of, if not the most widely used software applications in the world – for several decades now. From emergency contact lists to budgeting, from financial statements to stunning works of art (we kid you not) – Excel works.

Excel helps us track and calculate. It helps us solve problems. How many Excel spreadsheets are currently on your laptop? How many Excel spreadsheets are used in your organization?

Managing by spreadsheet is hugely problematic

It’s easy to develop a reliance on spreadsheets – but you shouldn’t be using spreadsheets to manage your nonprofit organization’s budgets, grants, and financial reporting. Here’s why:

  • Mistakes, errors, typos – a transposed number, an error in a formula, a column or row that is copied and pasted incorrectly – any number of small things can lead to significant inaccuracies. (Some sources estimate that 88% of spreadsheets contain errors!)
  • Multiple versions – Have you ever used a spreadsheet to manage a project or maybe collaborate on a budget? Then you know how easy it is to suddenly have multiple versions and increase the risk that someone on the team is working off the wrong version. Also, it’s very difficult to track changes.
  • Time-consuming – Even if you’re an Excel power user (and most people aren’t and don’t want to be) using Excel is, in most cases, a manual process. And, manual processes are time-consuming.

The proper tools and team to handle your nonprofit’s accounting

You, your team, your mission, and your constituents deserve (and should demand) the proper nonprofit accounting solutions with which to manage your financials and heighten your stewardship.

When nonprofit organizations outsource their accounting to Unalp CPA Group they can be confident that the best, industry-leading solutions are being used by us to manage their financials accurately and efficiently. In fact, the AICPA (American Institute of CPAs) endorses the nonprofit accounting solution we prefer, Sage Intacct.

Instead of juggling spreadsheets, we’ll provide you with straight from the accounting system reports with the ability to drill down to the transaction level detail. We can help set up dashboard of key metrics that are real-time and customized for the user.

You’ve struggled with spreadsheets long enough – let’s talk about modernizing your accounting function for the approaching new year.