Financial Technologies & Management- E-Newsletter for September |
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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, Executive Directors, Finance Directors, Finance Staff, and other Nonprofit Staff.
Our upcoming live webinars for financial management training are broken into the following areas. Please feel free to click on any of these areas to learn more and register for these upcoming financial management training. -
Financial Management Training-Topics include Overlooked Benefits of Outsourcing Nonprofit Accounting or Why your Nonprofit should be using Nonprofit Accounting Software? Our plan is start this back up in the fall.
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Nonprofit Financial Forum-These FREE Forums are provided typically the last Thursday of the month over the lunch hour knowledge based so go ahead and register for the remaining forums this year on 10/31, and 11/30. The remaining topics for 2023 include effective grants management and cost allocation, and developing effective dashboards and Key Performance Indicators (KPI's)
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MIP Fund Accounting-General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Reporting, Financial Statements, and Drillpoint-Each webinar is 2 hours. Please feel free to register for the FREE quarterly MIP user group meetings on Oct 26. The MIP User Group Agenda for October 26th includes MIP and Microix Budgeting, your MIP questions, and MIP Updates
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Nonprofit Finance Certificate-Effective Financial Management and Leadership-first part is focused on bookkeeping and accounting; and second part is focused on controller, CFO, and leadership roles. This training is typically the last Monday of each month. Click here FMI and to register.
Please contact us if you have any questions or feedback about our upcoming live webinars. Feel free to check out our FTM blog or book a meeting on my calendar.
Best Regards, James Simpson, CPA, CFE, CITP, and CGMA. |
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Effective Grants Management and Cost Allocation |
In order to provide effective grants management, we need to make sure that we are performing bookkeeping at the grant level. Our grant accounting needs to properly allocate costs to the grants while maximizing our grant reimbursement and avoiding any cost disallowance.
There are several things that lead towards effective grants management which includes financial policies and procedures, adequate supporting documentation, ability to produce Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA), and proper base to apply indirect cost rate.
The program staff needs to be involved in the data collection and reporting responsibilities including the proper reporting to the correct grant budget categories. We need to establish and schedule future grant deadlines to insure timely grant report submission. We would suggest sharing the grant agreement with the program staff to insure all grant requirements and deadlines are met.
Federal grants and awards are specifically identified and require a financial management system that identifies the source and application of federal funded activities. Federal grants typically require written procedures around payment requirements, allowability of costs, procurement procedures, and standards of conduct.
The grant audit requirements include ability to prepare Schedule of Federal Awards. (SEFA) The full blog article reviews this grants management in detail, |
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Developing an effective dashboard and key performance indicators |
Nonprofits are complex organizations that are built around mission and outcomes, which must be supported by the right revenue and expense models.
A properly designed dashboard allows a nonprofit to monitor its effectiveness as evidenced by the financial health along with the impact of the programs and services provided. Board and staff should develop strategy and goals to create dashboards with focused conversation and collaboration.
It is important to determine the program-delivery mechanism that influences results. Different types of nonprofits have different organizational models with different drivers for success. It is important to select Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) that focus the organization on data that will support decision-making. Consider whether you need a dashboard that reflects trends over time or performance against goals. Successful Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) achieve the following: - Represent business model drivers
- Reflect progress towards intended outcomes
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Guides priorities and decisions
- Limited number of KPIs that can be realistically monitored
- Should be periodically reassessed
The full blog article reviews developing dashboards and key performance indicators in detail |
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Is now the time for a financial assessment for your nonprofit organization? |
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
- 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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Have changes in your finance office impacted your use of MIP? |
We recognize that our clients staffing and needs have changed and we want to make sure your financial software continues to evolve.
FTM is offering a free 60 minute MIP Configuration and Software Assessment with Senior Software Consultant Jeron Comeau. Your session will be led by an MIP and Microix Certified Consultant. During the assessment we will,
- Confirm MIP users on file with FTM for the purpose of receiving helpful tips and the quarterly FTM Newsletter
- Discover if your organization’s MIP configuration of user licenses and modules continues to meet your needs
- Discuss challenges experienced by MIP users.
Examples of outcomes, - Removal of unused user licenses or modules that may save you money on your MIP Annual Maint & Support
- Identify opportunities to save you time by replacing manual entries with imported entries
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Replace time consuming Excel reports with MIP reports
- Address questions about cloud migration
Schedule your free 60 minute MIP Fund Accounting Help
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