Accounting for charities and not-for-profits

Innovative approach to multi-dimensional reporting killer AccountsIQ feature for Arts charity, Artichoke Trust

Artichoke Trust is a charitable organisation which works with artists to create large-scale public art events across the UK. Artichoke’s ambitious outdoor art projects include the Lumiere light festivals and Antony Gormley’s One & Other Fourth Plinth commission. As a charity managing multiple projects at once, each with varying budgets and funding sources, Artichoke Trust has unique accounting requirements when it comes to project accounting which need to be SORP compliant. In particular, it requires a granular level of detail to ensure accurate recording of core project costs as well as the ability to record project costs against phases.

Neil Goulder, Director of Finance & Operations at Artichoke Trust, had been using Sage Financials as his accounting tool but admits it had a “number of serious shortcomings”. When he learned of Sage’s plan to withdraw the product, it was an opportunity to look around for alternatives which might better fit his particular requirements in Project Accounting and provide the structure he needs for SORP compliance. Neil says,

I started to look for a good Cloud-based replacement that is strong on dimensional reporting and analysis codes. Among a dozen candidates was AccountsIQ. I took a peek at a demo system and really liked it. Great, scalable product, with an innovative approach to multi-dimensional coding.

‘Conditional’ dimensions for accurate posting

Strong dimensional analysis is key for Neil. AccountsIQ allows for up to six customisable dimensions linked to a unique BI code, plus an infinite number of codes that can be assigned to each dimension. Reporting is possible across all dimensions and codes. AccountsIQ’s key strength is that only valid permutations of Analysis Codes can be used when data is input, which significantly reduces the risk of human error when it comes to tracking costs. Neil explains,

Dimensions are really important to us. We looked at Sage 50, but that only had two dimensions. We needed at least four, covering cost centres; projects; project phases; and individual light installations. There are some very expensive systems which can do it but there aren’t many affordable systems which offer this level of flexibility. That was an absolute ‘must’ from our point of view. AccountsIQ is the only product I’ve seen that allows you to create these ‘conditional’ dimensions.

Greater efficiency through automation and streamlined workflow

AccountsIQ features an automated bank reconciliation functionality that has helped Neil speed up the period end reconciliation process.

I really like the way the Bank Rec module works. The system with Sage Financials was so overcomplicated we never used it and worked in spreadsheets instead. AccountsIQ is very straightforward. I like the way it recognises past transactions and fills in as much of the information as it can, which really speeds up the process.

Neil is able to upload paperwork against transactions which makes it much easier to provide information to auditors and also facilitate a mostly paperless environment. Ultimately, AccountsIQ enables Neil to keep all of his data in one place, largely automated, without the need for other spreadsheets or manual processes.

With smart use of the dimensions coding structure, I can get every piece of information needed into AccountsIQ so that I don’t have to maintain control accounts manually in Excel. It saves us a huge amount of time.

Ease of access to data for SORP reporting

AccountsIQ’s Excel Add-in offers further efficiencies for Neil, allowing him to use a real-time data link from AccountsIQ to create tables in Excel which are fed into the SORP compliant statutory accounts prepared in Word. This means updates are refreshed instantly as changes are made to Statutory accounts.

AccountsIQ is brilliant at accommodating the structure needed for the SORP. We pull the information into our format live from AccountsIQ through Excel. It’s an incredibly quick and efficient process.

Lightning-fast implementation

Having initially set an ambitious release target of two weeks, Neil was able to implement AccountsIQ at Artichoke Trust in a record-breaking two days. This was in large part due to Neil’s own tenacity in getting to grips with the BI codes and how they could best be mapped to his needs. AccountsIQ’s development team gave Neil access to a test system so he could model the BI codes before going live. He had also exported and cleaned the static data from his old accounting system such as customer information, bank account details, and the nominal ledger structure. This level of preparation allowed Neil to go live with AccountsIQ so quickly. He says,

I hoped we might break all records and implement it in a fortnight as our new accounting year started on the First of April. I signed a contract Wednesday morning and we went live at 4:30 the next day.

Summing up his experience

The elements that have really made a difference are AccountsIQ’s innovative implementation of analysis codes, the attaching of invoices, and the bank reconciliation module. These are things I didn’t have before, and they work beautifully. These features have made the biggest difference to the way I work, giving me the information I need. Of all of these, BI codes are the absolute killer feature that puts AccountsIQ head and shoulders above the competition.

Enclude helps charities bridge the digital divide by implementing AccountsIQ

IT charity consultancy Enclude was formed with the aim of helping other charities adopt technology to improve their data management, communications, CRM and financial management processes. Sylvester Murphy is Enclude’s CEO and also implementer of cloud-based financial management system AccountsIQ, Enclude’s preferred accounting platform for its charity clients.

Describing his reasons for selecting AccountsIQ, Sylvester says, “We undertook research a number of years ago in conjunction with a group of charities including the Irish Charities Tax Reform Group. The purpose of that exercise was to assess the impact of emerging legislation and SORP requirements and try to identify a suitable charity accounting software package for the sector. AccountsIQ, a web-based accounts system, emerged as a great candidate from this research. We approached them and they were delighted to assist in structuring an offering for the sector.”

Meeting a range of needs with one accounting solution

Over 1,000 charities are registered with Dublin-based Enclude all of whom are seeking to improve their digital capabilities and enhance their IT systems and business solutions.

The requirements for financial management systems can vary across charity sectors and over time. In choosing a financial system, Boards and management teams are seeking solutions that are accessible, affordable and scalable. Increasingly, organisations are seeking systems that will also offer the potential for integration with other systems such as a CRM and Payroll systems.

Smaller charities can realise the benefits of improved management and controls by moving from spreadsheets to fully fledged accounting databases. For charities with incomes in excess of €500,000 with higher transaction volumes, automated processes such as bank reconciliations will save a significant amount of time. Charities in the €1-5M bracket might need to map payroll data and other expenses across different programmes and cost centres, requiring more complex coding structures. Larger charities in the €5M or greater bracket will also benefit from workflow automation and the capability to handle multi-entity organisations with groupwide data consolidation and reporting.

Sylvester adds, “We find AccountsIQ unique in that it can meet the needs of both small and very large charities. We have been able to become proficient in implementing one financial software system which, although it is often adapted differently, fundamentally suits the needs of the widest range of charities.

Helping charities achieve compliance

The Charities Act of 2009 represented a significant milestone for the charity sector in Ireland. It reformed the law relating to charities in order to ensure greater accountability and a Regulator was introduced. It triggered an ongoing narrative across the sector around transparency, governance and the need for improved systems to better manage reporting and compliance. One way in which charities could enhance public trust and confidence was through improved reports: financial reporting had to become more sophisticated, requiring charities to review their accounting models so that they could report across a variety of operating categories. Sylvester adds,

One challenge our Irish charities had in complying with the 2009 legislation was in moving away from very ‘flat’ accounting structures and introducing multi-layered reporting on income and expenditure by SORP heading and cost centre such as programmes, projects and branch location. AccountsIQ’s flexible coding structure and GL structure allows charities to classify their programme expenses with little extra effort.

In addition to the sector’s specific reporting requirements, AccountsIQ holds many standard, template reports within the system itself. It is also possible for information to be manipulated in Excel should charities need to create particular reports for specific stakeholders.

In addition to complying with the 2009 Irish Charities Act, many of Enclude’s clients also have entities based in different jurisdictions which need to comply locally as well as centrally. These accounts need to be consolidated in a consistent manner (and currency) for group reporting, all of which is handled within AccountsIQ’s integrated consolidation module. Sylvester adds, “Prior to using AccountsIQ for consolidation, the work done in spreadsheets by our multi-entity charities was hugely complex and time-consuming.”

Charity cloud accounting supporting flexible working structures

Non-profit organisations are often structured and resourced with staff and volunteers which may be part-time and working remotely. Commenting on the suitability of cloud apps in these scenarios, Sylvester says,

Cloud-based business apps like AccountsIQ give charities robust tools coupled with tremendous flexibility in how services are delivered and managed. You can access the software anytime and from any device. Also, the system allows you to define user profiles which means that you have very strict controls over who can access the system and to what degree. Providing remote access to people like external accountants or auditors can also help charities negotiate lower fees.

An implementation model which makes the most of the Cloud

Over the years, Enclude has developed a tried and tested implementation model supported by the customer success team at AccountsIQ. A phased implementation approach usually works well, allowing the charity to make steady progress at a manageable pace and to spread the costs over time.

The initial phase includes defining the data structure and chart of accounts so that data from previous systems or spreadsheets can be imported and correlated. “This ensures that fundamental reporting requirements will be met. With AIQ in place we then tend to look at potential for further enhancements such as integration with the organisation’s CRM solution.”

Where charities have implemented a cloud based CRM solution to manage their client service programmes, donor management and fundraising activities, he says it is possible to achieve further levels of efficiencies and control by integrating data feeds between the CRM system and AccountsIQ. “We have worked with a number of Charites, who have automated the processing of their donations from their web site into their CRM and onwards into their AccountsIQ financial management system.“

Enclude’s clients which use AccountsIQ are supported in the first instance by Enclude. More complex issues requiring level 2 support are escalated to Enclude’s customer success manager at AccountsIQ.

On the quality of support, he receives from the AccountsIQ’s team, Sylvester says,

The services team and support at AccountsIQ is very good and that is particularly important in the charity sector as we seek to transition the digital divide and build trust and competence in cloud solutions. The entire support process is managed within the system itself and there is a range of “How To” guides and online Help tools.”

AccountsIQ’s CEO Tony Connolly says, “It is great to see the Cloud making such a positive impact in the Charity sector. It is a pleasure to work with the team at Enclude which finds ways to make digital transformation achievable for other charities by providing experience, skills and resource.”

AccountsIQ helps global charity, Lepra gain rapid multi-dimensional reporting and reduce processing time by 80% by moving to the Cloud.

Lepra are a charity leading the global fight for the eradication of Leprosy. Each day over 600 people worldwide are either diagnosed with Leprosy or are starting treatment for Leprosy. More than 8% of these are children.

Based in the UK but supporting operations on a global level, like many charities, Lepra have complex revenue generation. Their revenue comes from various sources and must be consolidated into one system for accounting and compliance purposes. Recognising the need for a cloud solution which can automate their manual processes and consolidate their revenue, the Lepra team engaged ION, a financial transformation specialist, to help find the right solution for them. The support ION offer enables a point of contact for the finance team should any issues arise – whether they are knowledge or training issues, or problems in simple transacting to complex reporting.

Requirements and Challenges

Lepra’s current accounting system was not giving them the reporting breakdown that they needed, meaning it was taking too long to pull together information which advised critical business decisions. In addition, the need to manage all their revenue in one place and have access to real-time data would not only save time but also give everyone in the team more access to information.

Like many businesses, Lepra’s current system was not well connected to their CRM system, Advantage, and this meant a lot of manual processing was needed to align the two systems. As with a lot of manual processes, this was time consuming, allowed for human error and often meant the process wasn’t followed exactly as required. Through the discovery phase, their implementation partner, ION, identified a lot of functionality and improvements that Lepra wanted to implement in the future, therefore the need to have a system which could be flexible and grow with the charity was important.

The final major requirement for the team was that the implementation could be quick and seamless. With a lot of disruption to the business already and with many team members working from home, they needed a solution which could be quick and easy to get everyone on board with.

Quick-to-Implement Solution

Taking all these things into consideration, AccountsIQ was identified as a good solution for Lepra. A flexible and user-friendly cloud accounting solution, AccountsIQ could address all of their requirements and open up many other benefits.

Nick Avery, Director of Resources, Lepra

“AccountsIQ was the only solution we found that combined the ease of use of cloud based accounting systems and the multi-dimensional analysis that is needed for charity accounting at a cost that we liked!” Nick Avery, Director of Resources, Lepra.

A concern for the team was the time it takes to switch over to a new system and how this would disrupt their processes. However with ION’s quick start implementation framework and our user-friendly interface, the transition was managed with ease. The implementation was completed in a matter of weeks, and the transfer of data to AccountsIQ was seamless.

Outcomes

Like many clients, within weeks, Lepra were finding many benefits to operating within a new system. The ease of use of AccountsIQ has made the adoption across the Lepra team much easier, meaning they can see the benefits of the system straight away. Several key areas have been improved:

• Process efficiency: manual processes have been drastically reduced, with some processes now 80% quicker than before.
• CRM data connectivity: the import of data from Lepra’s CRM system, Advantage has been simplified. Removing the need for additional Excel sheets and manual intervention to import and export data sets several times is helping to save the team a lot of time and undoubtedly removing opportunities for error.
• Remote access and usability: the usability of the AccountsIQ system has been praised by the Lepra team and means that the business has more active users getting the most of the system. With many teams still working remotely, having user-friendly cloud systems has minimised training requirements and empowered decision-making across the team.
• Expenses management: switching from paper methods to a digital system, expenses are submitted to the relevant manager directly, with the employee given full traceability to monitor the status of their expense claim.
• Scalability: the integration paves the way for scalability of the system in the future. Built on a solid cloud accounting system, the team can plan for additional modules and reporting functionality when the business requirements dictate.
• Maintenance: often with new software integrations, IT teams are typically concerned about the impact that a project implementation will have on their workload, but with the right system, maintenance for internal teams should be reduced. For Lepra, they have found that the system is much easier to maintain than their previous software.