Frequently Asked Questions

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We will talk about your organization, what you are looking for. I will ask a series of questions geared to assess the roles and responsibilities, technology, and workflow of your organization’s current fiscal and/or board functions. After our meeting I will send a follow up email with my assessment of your needs, recommendations, and the areas that I can offer support in. 

I will also include links to free resources, templates, and recommendations for anything that is outside my scope. My goal is to leave you with more information, perspective, and resources, regardless of whether we end up working together or not. 

Bookkeeping refers to the daily and monthly recording of transactions, including maintaining the ledger, supporting payroll, categorizing transactions, etc. 

Accounting, on the other hand goes more in-depth. Accounting involves reporting on, assessing and leveraging financial information (from regular bookkeeping) to help inform business strategy, create financial models and more. 

No problem. I can do some or all of your bookkeeping. Or I can help you with setup, training, and support. I can offer ongoing support on an "as-needed" basis, to handle any QuickBooks issues that come up. And if you like, I can provide an “extra set of eyes” by doing a quarterly or annual review to check for errors before you send your books off to your accountant. 

Regular monthly bookkeeping prices are based on the size of your organization, the number of bank and credit card accounts you have, and the average number of transactions you do each month. Pricing for catch-up work is based on the number of months of backlog. In those rare instances where the situation is too complex to give you a price in advance, I will give you an estimate of the cost. 

I am happy to work with your budget and find something that is affordable for you, while ensuring the best service I can provide. 

Outsourcing your accounting can save money overall, but it can also serve as a vital internal control, and provide segregation of duties needed to protect your organization and reduce risk. Outsourced accounting also provides in depth knowledge around the financial compliance requirements for, and free up more energy your staff to focus on its mission‑critical work!

In addition to freeing up resources to focus on your mission, outsourcing accounting functions may also enable a nonprofit to mitigate certain downside risks that arise in financial management, such as:

• Fraud made possible by the practice of allowing one staff member to control some or all financial functions from start to finish,
• Undesirable fiscal surprises or instability due to the lack of fiscal literacy on the board and the board’s inability to spot red flags in periodic financial statements,
• Untimely financial reporting or filing because the nonprofit staff must focus on other pressing business, and
• Allegations of noncompliance with the terms of grants or contracts due to sloppy financial reporting.

Yes, there are! And you should consider them carefully before making a decision. I'm a big fan of Nonprofit Insurance Alliance, which offers an impressive wealth of free resources to their clients. 

I recommend reading the article below, from NIA's Risk Manangment Center. It talks about the benefits and risks of outsourcing your accounting functions, what factors to consider, and what to look for when considering this move. 

• IN is OUT, and OUT is IN Outsourcing the Finance or Accounting Function in a Nonprofit

As someone with extensive experience in the nonprofit accounting world, honestly there have been instances when I've seen it work, and when I've seen it be highly counter-productive. This happens when there is limited communication, and the firm operates on general assumptions, instead of understanding the unique needs of the organization it's serving. I believe that successful outsourced accounting functions are achieved by ensuring that I don't operate under the assumption that I always know the right answer to everything without asking questions. Every nonprofit is unique and the right answer for one is not nessecarily the right answer for another. I approach my work by first learning how your org functions, so I can understand your programs, operations, and funding, and how those things factor into your accounting needs.