Accounting for nonprofits grows increasingly more complex with each passing day. New rules, regulations, and laws must be accommodated and followed to ensure compliance. Daily duties require your full attention, but then there’s the list of ideas you want to implement at your nonprofit organization. Your to-do list grows while your wish list languishes. Is there any way to tame the task-list tiger and gain control over what’s important to your organization’s success?
When it comes to accounting for nonprofits, the secret to managing your time wisely is in your approach to goal-setting. Goal-setting for accounting means establishing priorities and rubrics to weed out the unimportant so that you can grow what is important. The better your time-management abilities, the better you’ll be able to support your organization’s mission through critical accounting tasks and processes.
Questions to Ask to Establish Goals
Begin your goal-setting task by answering these questions. Then, use the answers to guide your priorities.
- Can I delegate any of my tasks to my team? If you’re the only accountant at your nonprofit organization, you may be unable to delegate tasks to subordinates. But if you have a team backing you up, are there any tasks on your list that can be delegate to them to free up your time to focus on big-picture tasks?
- Are you doing things just because they’ve always been done that way? Many organizations fall into the trap of continuing to do the same tasks every year simply because it’s always been done that way. Hosting the same event, running the same fundraiser, and enacting the same donation drives may be safe, but it may be unprofitable. Assess and evaluate the effectiveness of every activity before adding it to your task list.
- Do we cling to favorite projects? Sometimes you keep tasks on your list simply because you enjoy doing them. These may be tasks that could easily be delegated to others, but because you love doing them, you keep them. Be objective during your evaluation of your work and see if you’re clinging to any projects because you have emotional investment in them.
- Does this activity serve constituents? Align your activities to the needs of your constituents and you’ll find your priorities falling into place more easily. When the focus is on meeting your nonprofit’s goals, you’ll set your sights clearly on the tasks aligned with your mission.
Three Stress-Busting Nonprofit Accounting Tips
In addition to sorting your tasks based on the question above, the following three tips can help you prioritize your time.
- Establish your group’s vision and purpose: When you create, establish, and share your group’s purpose and vision, it is easier to align the tasks of the accounting department with that purpose. Extraneous tasks fall by the wayside. It’s easier to say “no” to tasks that do not fit the group’s ideals, and that helps you prioritize and organize easily.
- Diversify income: Just as in the for-profit world of investing, you want to diversify your income streams. Avoid relying on one grant or a single angel donor for all of your funds. Make sure you’re always cultivating new sources of income for your nonprofit organization. Partner with the fundraising team to ensure that they understand this concept too.
- Measure results: Prioritize around those activities which generate the best results for your organization. Put your energy into those tasks with greatest chance of a good return on your time investment.
Better Time Management Enables You to Grow Your Margin
A strong nonprofit organization uses its margin to support its mission but you can’t focus on tasks that increase your organization’s margin when too many other tasks compete for your time. With this method, you’ll once again become master of your schedule, and your organization will flourish.
Beck & Company: Accounting for Nonprofit Success
If you struggle with your accounting for nonprofits, Beck & Company can help. We are a CPA and business advisory firm dedicated to the nonprofit sector. Our many years of experience can help you update your financial compliance or handle all types of accounting for nonprofits. Please contact Beck & Company today for further details.