Only the customized plan includes in-depth income and expense tracking, budgeting by project or fund, asset tracking, and recurring transactions. To rank the best accounting software for nonprofits, we first considered whether the software offered nonprofit-specific features, like donation tracking and Form 990 generation. We also considered price, ease of use, data security, types of plans, and customer reviews. Typical small-business accounting revolves around profit—how much a company is making, spending, losing, and saving.

• Typical small-business accounting revolves around profit—how much a company is making, spending, losing, and saving.
• Its mobile app lets you collaborate on the go, and it integrates with hundreds of third-party apps.
• The best nonprofit accounting software should include all the core accounting features and functionality all businesses need, such as the ability to send invoices and track spending.

Xero: Runner-up

Put simply, whatever support format is easiest for your church is available with Realm. Xero’s highly customizable and in-depth reporting tools make Xero stand out. By tracking categories, you know if funds are being allocated to the right projects based on donor intent. FreshBooks’ software stands out for its ability to track expenses and restricted funding. For example, time-tracking tools tell you how long it takes an employee to complete a project’s task.

• Once you have chosen an affordable software and respective plan that includes the accounting features and functionality your nonprofit needs, evaluate its more advanced plans.
• And if you own a larger nonprofit with multiple ongoing projects, Aplos’s customized solutions start at $189 a month.
• While Wave offers free plans, its payroll (tax services), transactions and bookkeeping and accounting support cost extra.
• Didn’t find the best accounting software for nonprofits (specifically, your nonprofit) on our list above?

Best for Free Basic Accounting Tools

Form 990 is a tax form that tax-exempt organizations—which include most nonprofits—must submit to the IRS every year. The form details your organization and its aims, and shows where your funds came from and were distributed during the tax year. Unlike individual and small-business end-of-year tax forms, Form 990 is available for the public to view. First, find out which considered software offers a free trial or a version you can use to try the software before buying. Narrow your list down of considered software to the ones you can afford. Fund accounting, also known as fund-based accounting, is the accounting system nonprofits use to keep their books and track funds.

How do nonprofits prepare financial statements?

QuickBooks offers a discount on its QuickBooks Online software through TechSoup. This version of QuickBooks Online offers the accounting features and functionality nonprofits need, including the ability to manage nonprofit finances, file Form 990 and file taxes. Once you have chosen an affordable software and respective plan that includes the accounting features and functionality your nonprofit needs, evaluate its more advanced plans. Determine if you are likely to be able to afford them and if they include the necessary features your nonprofit needs as it grows. With a less overwhelming set of features compared to some competitors and award-winning customer support, Realm offers churches an easy platform for managing donors and their donations. Each subscription includes a 24/7 online Help Center, phone support, online webinars, personalized training, local user groups and an annual client conference.

Best for Volunteer-Run Nonprofits

With no payroll tools, Quicken allows solo-run nonprofits that rely on volunteers to perform basic business accounting, such as allocating funds based on donor intent to different categories or budgets. In addition, they can track expenses and capture receipts to simplify tax filings and report to donors the nonprofits’ overhead-versus-project costs. Unlike most software for nonprofits, NonProfitPlus includes inventory management, which is crucial if you stock merchandise (like T-shirts and mugs) to raise money or reward donors. On the other hand, NonProfitPlus doesn’t list any pricing on its site—as with Sage Intacct, you have to get in touch with a representative for a quote.

But if you want to accept donations (which you undoubtedly do) you can’t just sign up for Zoho Books. Zoho Checkout is free as long as you accept only 50 donations—ever, not per month. Clients that need unlimited donations in multiple currencies will need to add a $9 a month Zoho Checkout plan to their existing Zoho Books plan. If you’re searching for accounting software that’s user-friendly, full of smart features, and scales with your business, Quickbooks is a great option. You can eliminate repetitive tasks that run up labor costs such as sending recurring invoices to contractors, sending payment reminders, categorizing transactions and auto-charging cards for recurring transactions. Finding the right software for your nonprofit helps determine its success, so make sure to snag those free trials and test-drive different options.

Compare nonprofit bookkeeping features: Runners-up

While Wave offers free plans, its payroll (tax services), transactions and bookkeeping and accounting support cost extra. Payroll services start at $20 per month and bookkeeping support starts at $149 per month. To process a transaction via credit card, you must pay a fee of at least 2.9% plus $0.60 per transaction. However, Wave doesn’t offer fund accounting or any other nonprofit-specific features, so we hesitate to recommend it to nonprofit bookkeepers and treasurers. The same is true of ZipBooks and other free accounting software options.

QuickBooks Online for Nonprofits: Most user-friendly

Sage Intacct is best for global nonprofits that must work across currencies and tax codes to manage their financials. At Business.org, our best accounting software for nonprofit organizations research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don’t guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services. Quicken is best for very small nonprofits that do not have employees for whom they have to process payroll. Her work has been featured by business brands such as Adobe, WorkFusion, AT&T, SEMRush, Fit Small Business, USA Today Blueprint, Content Marketing Institute, Towards Data Science and Business2Community.

Customers report paying more than $600 a month for NonProfitPlus’s full suite of features, so if you’re looking for affordable nonprofit software, NonProfitPlus probably isn’t it. Quicken offers plans ranging from $5.99 to $10.99 per month (billed annually and offered at a promotional discount for the first year). Wave’s free invoicing tools offer the ability to send customized and branded invoices and automated payment reminders. You can also accept credit cards, bank payments and Apple Pay from invoices.