Financial Technologies & Management- E-Newsletter for August |
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Upcoming Live Webinars Dear {CONTACT.SALUTATION} We hope you find our monthly E-Newsletter useful for your nonprofit organization. We are pleased to provide you with access to our knowledge articles and live webinars!!
These live webinars will help Nonprofit Leaders, Treasurers, Finance Directors, Finance Staff, Executive Directors and other Nonprofit Staff.
Our upcoming live webinars for financial management training are broken into the following areas: Nonprofit Financial Forum, Nonprofit Finance Certificate, MIP Fund Accounting, and Financial Management Training. -
Nonprofit Financial Forum-These FREE monthly forums are back for 2024 during the last Wednesday of each month from 11:30 EST to 1:00 EST-FMI or Register-September 25th-Building a Superior Budget
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MIP Fund Accounting-Quarterly User Group Meetings for 2024 are as follows: Fall-September 26, 2024-Budget and Microix Budget. 15th Annual User Conference on October 8 to 10 in Las Vegas. We will once again by presenting and sponsoring this year's conference so let us know your coming and please select FTM as your referral contact when you register. See you in Las Vegas in October. Please click on this link for conference web site FMI and to register.
Please contact us via phone, email, or directly book a consultation on my calendar for all current and prospective clients. Also, you can use the contact us page to subscribe to our newsletter for you, your staff, or your colleagues. Please click here for the current and previous monthly newsletters back to 2020. Best Regards, James Simpson, CPA, CFE, CITP, and CGMA. |
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Building a Superior Budget |
A strong budget is an essential element for any nonprofit organization to achieve financial leadership. Superior budgets, though, have written plans about the core activities to include strategic, organizational, and program goals and how they will be financed.
Most financial leaders focus too much time on budget variance analysis and not enough time to anticipating or planning for the future. By anticipating or planning, organizations can focus on what’s upcoming regardless of its budget cycle or fiscal year end. A budget can be complemented with rolling forecasts to better anticipate upcoming financial results. Financial sustainability can only be achieved with a well-prepared and continuously monitored budget. Conversely, a poorly developed budget can diminish mission focused activities opportunities and threaten long-term success.
Budget process best practices would include: - Establish budget process timeline
- Set goals for organization and its programs
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Draft income budget to identify expected donor sources
- Draft expenses into variable, fixed, incremental, indirect
- Implement budget
- Document budget decisions including and assumptions
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Finance committee reviews draft budgets
- Document budget decisions including assumptions
Please click on the find out more for the full article |
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Is now the time for a financial assessment for your nonprofit organization? |
An assessment can be a valuable tool in determining the current state of your organization's accounting and finance function. A comprehensive finance assessment should include a review of your nonprofit’s financial statements to financial transactions that weren’t recorded correctly. The assessment should also include a review of your financial and related systems, reporting, policies, procedures, and internal controls. Finally, the assessment should help the CEO/Executive Director understand the skill level and knowledge of the organization’s accounting and finance team. The assessment should be delivered in a clear and concise written report including findings and recommendations.
If you do not have a solid understanding of the capabilities of your accounting and finance function, now may be the time to engage a reputable accounting firm specializing in nonprofits to conduct an assessment. There are other events that typically are times to perform a financial assessment as well.
- Turnover in the accounting or finance department
- New CEO/Executive Director
- Board and Finance Committee lacks financial confidence
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Unfavorable auditor report
- Never conducted a financial assessment
Please feel free to book a FREE 15 or 30 minute consultation to discuss a financial assessment for your Nonprofit |
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Eight reasons to outsource your nonprofit accounting |
The current employment market has nonprofits looking more externally to obtain necessary accounting talent and seeing significant increases and retention issues with internal accounting staff. In this current environment, organizations need to look at where they should hire internal staff or externally outsource various accounting functions of their organizations.
Nonprofits typically outsource accounting already for payroll processing and audit services so it is not surprising that nonprofits are looking at other aspects of the finance and accounting department to outsource. With limited resources, a nonprofit can outsource some or all its financial functions, which can help a nonprofit efficiently staff and conduct its financial operations. It also respects the board and executives limited time or expertise to manage the finance functions, and allow more allocation of resources toward mission and program outcomes.
Here are eight overlooked reasons to outsource accounting - Improved efficiencies
- Reduce costs
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Reduced fraud threats
- Higher level of expertise
- Ability to scale
- Accounting software expertise
- Manage your finance and accounting function
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Stay current with regulations and laws
Please click for the full article for details of the eight reasons |
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FTM offers client care plan for our MIP Fund Accounting and Microix users-Sign up today |
We provide software advisor services to our MIP clients. Our system review services provide recommendations on how your organization can better leverage the software. Please click here for our MIP Training page and look for our customized courses which includes all the modules training available from community brands university and more.
We are excited to expand our software advisory services by offering a client care plan for our MIP and Microix clients.
Do you wish you had an MIP Certified go to consultant whenever you have questions about MIP or accounting? At FTM, we have the answer with our Client Care Plan options. Keep in mind your Community Brands Maintenance and Support Agreement does not cover critical topics that keep your accounting software performing to its potential.
The full article will provide specific examples of software topics resolved by our certified trainers and consultants along with the benefits to your organization.
FTM has certified trainers, dedicated trainer support line, average response time is 2 hours or less, and priority client assistance to meet your needs and insure you are fully utilizing your MIP investment.
We offer three plans that start at $500 per year. Our plans cover everything and don't have limitations like M&S plan provided by MIP including offering accounting services help. |
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