Bookkeeping for Nonprofits
Bookkeeping for Nonprofits
Form 990 prep support. Restricted versus unrestricted funds. Grant tracking.
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- QuickBooks ProAdvisor
- Xero Partner
- US-based team
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A nonprofit balance sheet has to answer a question a for-profit one never gets asked: whose money is this, and what were you told you could do with it? A grant restricted to a specific program cannot quietly cover payroll for something else, even in a tight month. A donor-restricted gift has to stay separate until the restriction is met. Get that wrong and it shows up in your Form 990, your audit, or a call from a funder asking questions you cannot answer cleanly.
Board members and executive directors come to us with the same underlying worry: the books technically balance, but nobody can say with confidence what is restricted, what is unrestricted, and how each grant is tracking against its budget. We build books that answer those questions on sight, not after two hours of digging through spreadsheets before a board meeting.
What changes once we're running your books: restricted and unrestricted funds sit apart from the first transaction, not sorted out at year end. Grant spending tracks against budget in real time, so a report to a funder is a export, not a project. Your Form 990 prep starts from clean numbers instead of a scramble in March. The mission stays the focus. The accounting stops being the thing that eats the executive director's Friday.
Where nonprofits bookkeeping actually helps
- A funder asked for a report on how their grant was spent and I could not pull it together quicklyGrant spending tracked against budget from day one, by fund, so a funder report is a few clicks, not a reconstruction project.
- I honestly can't tell at a glance what's restricted versus unrestricted in our accountsRestricted and unrestricted funds tracked separately from the transaction level, so the split is visible any time anyone asks, including the board.
- Form 990 prep turns into a fire drill every year because our books are not organized for itBooks kept organized around the categories your Form 990 actually needs all year, so your CPA or EA has a clean starting point instead of a scramble.
- Our board asks how we are tracking against the annual budget and I have to dig for an answerMonthly financials built for a board packet, not just a trial balance. Program versus admin versus fundraising spending broken out clearly.
- Our donor management system and our accounting software do not talk to each otherDonor management data reconciled against the books monthly, so gift totals match what the board and the auditor both see.
What's different about nonprofits bookkeeping
- 501(c)(3) compliance recordkeeping woven into the monthly close
- Form 990 prep support, with books organized around the categories your filing needs
- Restricted versus unrestricted fund tracking, separated from the transaction level
- Grant tracking and spend-down reporting for funders
- Donor management software integration and reconciliation
- Functional expense allocation across program, admin, and fundraising
- Board-ready monthly financials
What board-ready books actually look like
Most nonprofit books we take over have the fundamentals but not the structure. Income is recorded, expenses are recorded, but restricted grant money sits in the same general pool as everything else, and nobody can say for certain how much of the balance is actually free to use. Functional expense allocation, the split between program services, management, and fundraising that your Form 990 and most funders want to see, gets estimated at year end instead of tracked as spending happens.
We rebuild the chart of accounts around your actual funding sources: each restricted grant gets its own tracking, so spend-down is visible in real time and a funder report doesn't require reconstructing a year from bank statements. Functional expense categories get assigned as transactions happen, not guessed at in April. Donor management platforms get reconciled monthly against the books so gift totals match everywhere they're reported.
The result shows up at board meetings first. A treasurer's report that answers the actual question, how are we tracking against budget and against each grant, without three days of prep beforehand. It shows up again at Form 990 time, when your CPA or EA starts from organized numbers instead of a shoebox. And it shows up with funders, who get a spend-down report that looks like you take stewardship of their money seriously, because you do.
"Form 990 prep, restricted versus unrestricted funds, grant tracking. We needed someone who actually understood the nonprofit model, not someone learning on us. They had the right answers from day one."
What's included
- Bank and credit card reconciliation across all accounts
- Restricted versus unrestricted fund tracking by grant or gift
- Grant tracking and spend-down reporting for funders
- Form 990 prep support, books organized for a clean handoff to your CPA or EA
- Functional expense allocation across program, admin, and fundraising
- Donor management software reconciliation
- Payroll for program and administrative staff, where applicable
- Monthly financials built for board packets
- Year-end handoff to your CPA or EA
Why nonprofits pick us
We understand the fund model
Restricted, unrestricted, temporarily restricted. We track each correctly from the start, not sorted out under deadline pressure.
Form 990 prep, organized all year
Books structured around the categories your filing needs from month one, so your CPA or EA gets a clean starting point, not a scramble.
Grants tracked to the dollar
Spend-down visible in real time by grant. A funder report is an export, not a research project.
Functional expenses allocated properly
Program, admin, and fundraising split as spending happens, not estimated at year end under pressure.
Board-ready, every month
Financials built for a board packet, not a raw trial balance. Questions get answered before they get asked.
Mission stays the focus
Books that don't consume the executive director's week. The accounting supports the mission instead of competing with it.
Get fund accounting that actually holds up
Tell us about your funding mix and reporting deadlines. Quote in writing the same business day.
Three nonprofit shapes
Small staffed nonprofit running a mix of grants and individual donations
A handful of active grants, a modest individual-giving program, one or two program staff. Board meets quarterly and wants a clean treasurer report without a week of prep beforehand.
What changes
- Restricted and unrestricted funds tracked separately
- Grant spend-down visible by funder
- Board packet ready before every meeting
- Form 990 prep support organized all year
How nonprofit books usually get handled
Volunteer treasurer Common in smaller orgs | Bookkeeper on staff Part-time, wearing many hats | Nonprofit-focused (us) Fund accounting built in | |
|---|---|---|---|
Restricted funds tracked separately | Partial | Partial | Yes |
Grant spend-down visible in real time | No | Partial | Yes |
Functional expenses allocated accurately | No | Partial | Yes |
Form 990 prep-ready year-round | No | Partial | Yes |
Board packet ready monthly | No | Partial | Yes |
Books reviewed by an AIPB-certified bookkeeper | No | No | Yes |
Coverage during staff turnover | No | No | Yes |
How we price nonprofits bookkeeping
Nonprofit bookkeeping pricing depends on the number of active funding sources, whether you have staff on payroll, how many grants require separate reporting, and how complex your donor management integration needs to be. A small volunteer-run organization with one grant costs less to keep books for than a staffed nonprofit juggling six concurrent funders.
Fill out the quote form and tell us about your funding mix. We come back with a written number, usually within one business day. No flat tier to force your organization into.
What clients say
"Form 990 prep, restricted versus unrestricted funds, grant tracking. We needed someone who actually understood the nonprofit model, not someone learning on us. They had the right answers from day one."
Nonprofits bookkeeping FAQ
Two things to remember
Every account is reconciled and kept tax-ready by an AIPB-certified bookkeeper. Every account is run inside the US. Those two anchors shape how we handle compliance for nonprofits specifically.
Mission-aligned books.
Tell us about your funding mix and reporting deadlines. Quote in writing the same day.