outsourced accounting – Beck & Company

When is TotalAccounting a Smart Move for Nonprofits?

Not all organizations feel comfortable utilizing a third party accounting expert. Understandably, some executives desire to maintain these processes in-house. However, there are many benefits to outsourcing the day-to-day accounting operations of your organization. Ask yourself the following questions to see if TotalAccounting may be the right next step for you.

Do you struggle to raise funds?
Is operating on a leaner budget a dream and not a reality?
Does your organization need a better way to keep costs down?
Is the right person performing each accounting processes?

Now that you have determined your need to explore outsourced accounting let’s take a look at some examples of how something like TotalAccounting is an efficient and wise solution for you:

Utilizing a third party accounting solution allows you to work with highly educated, accounting experts without having to hire a full time accounting staff. Staffing high level experts in this field is expensive and may not be the best decision for your staffing budget at this time.
Additionally you are able to utilize this expertise on an as needed basis. Everything from accounts payable, to audit oversight, to CFO level expertise is available at any time.
The financial reports you can receive from your outsourced team will provide valuable business intelligence to help you make the best possible decisions for your organization.
A third party team can add to your internal controls, creating accountability and transparency with financial operations.
With tax laws and regulations constantly changing, an outsourced team will help to ensure you are operating within compliance of laws and regulations.
A TotalAccounting partner can present recommendations on best practices so your organization can run at optimum efficiency and effectiveness.
Save money on technology. Utilizing an outsourced accounting team means you don’t have to invest in expensive software programs and maintenance.
Save time and money on staffing. An outsourced accounting team means you won’t have to hire, train, fire, or manage an accounting department.
When it comes time for the annual audit, your outsourced team will save you countless hours and headache’s as they will be fully ready for the audit process.
Think of it like a buffet; you can pick and choose the tasks you would like to have your third party accounting team work on. Leave the rest on the table for another time.
As your organization grows you can scale the services you are outsourcing according to your growth. This means your accounting team can grow with you at a minimal cost of time and money to your organization.

Here at Beck & Company, Certified CPA our TotalAccounting service team can help you reduce your back-office overhead and improve your processes so you can spend more time focused on your cause. We have a broad base of managerial accounting and systems experience and a deep understanding of nonprofit process and technology that enables us to apply knowledge from the past, together with up-to-date best practice know-how to help you solve your challenges and capitalize on the opportunities you face. We partner with you in each of your engagements, getting to know you and your unique challenges and objectives intimately. This combination enables us to develop tailored solutions to increase your effectiveness and help you achieve the goals of your mission. Contact us to today to learn more about TotalAccounting and begin partnering with us today.

Benefitting with Outsourced Nonprofit Services

The partners and staff of Beck & Company, Certified Public Accounts are dedicated to providing high quality professional services to our clients. We will maintain the highest moral, ethical, and professional standards. We realize that we can only be as successful as our collective clientele; therefore, we dedicate all of our resources to the long-term success and general well-being of our clients. Over the past few weeks we have taken a deeper look into the services offered here at Beck & Company, CPAS. We have delved into the different client accounting and audit services. Today we wanted to focus on our Nonprofit Services.

At Beck & Company we specialize in not-for-profit accounting and auditing. We understand the unique challenge of balancing the needs of your various stakeholders – contributors, members and your board, too. We have experience serving not-for-profit organizations such as unions, homeowner’s associations, religious organizations, charities, and social service organizations. Our Nonprofit Services team is committed to assist you with your back-office accounting and financial needs so you can focus on your mission. Our nonprofit specialists provide professional advice and assistance in a number of areas, including:

Financial Statement Audits
Reviews or Compilations Accounting
Bookkeeping Services
Tax Preparation and Reporting

In addition we provide CFO Services such as business planning, budgeting, cash flow analysis, executive search, and information security.

At Beck and Company, CPA’s we offer controllership services like monthly close, financial statement preparation, financial policy review and development, operational procedure review and improvement and accounting staff evaluation and management. Additionally we offer not-for-profit Account Services which include bookkeeping services such as Accounts Payable and Payroll. Audit Services, Tax Solutions, Transaction Support, Enterprise Resource Planning and SAS 70 and SSAE 16.

Danny Gray, Secretary Treasurer, Fairfax Fire Fighters and Paramedics knows first-hand the benefits of our nonprofit financial services. He stated, “Beck & Company, CPAs is truly exceptional. The fact that they have stood by our side through three different Presidents and several Secretaries and Treasurers proves that they are committed to their clients. After all, we are firefighters, not accountants. We depend heavily on the firm, and they do not disappoint. Beck & Company, CPAs has become an extension to our organization; it really has been – and continues to be – an exceptional relationship.”

Today, many nonprofits are moving toward outsourcing their accounting services. There are five primary reasons why nonprofit organizations would consider outsourcing their finance and accounting functions:

Reduce costs and save money on internal staffing
Gain a higher level of specialized accounting expertise
Save time while maintaining accurate with meaningful financial information
Improved business processes and controls
Eliminate risks associated with poor internal hires

Outsourcing is oftentimes a good fit within smaller organizations who don’t require a full-time accounting staff, but needs someone with an accounting specific education and experience. Or when the organization can’t afford or would prefer not to afford accounting staff. Whatever your reason we here at Beck and Company, CPAS are different because we’ve been where you are – either in our professional experience in running our practice and business or we’ve seen situations similar to yours when working with clients much like you. Our broad base of managerial accounting and systems experience and our deep understanding of business process and technology enable us to apply knowledge from the past, together with up-to-date best practice know-how to help you solve your challenges and capitalize on the opportunities you face. Our creative and innovative team of experienced professionals with senior or owner involvement in all client engagements ensures you know you have direct access to specialized expertise on which you can rely and trust.

Increasing Accountability and Transparency through your Nonprofit Accounting Service

Trust is a precious commodity in the nonprofit sector—are you doing all you can to keep it?
Restrictions around the use of government grants continue to rise, and private foundations and corporations are asking organizations for specific measurable outcomes resulting from grant awards. Pressure is continually added by tightening federal regulations. There are talks of a possible requirement to add performance measures to the IRS Form 990, along with the chance of federal funding becoming subject to comply with OMB Circular A-133, thus requiring annual audits.

Compounded with stories of the misuse of funding grabbing headlines, the temperament of the donor community, although positive, is more cautious than in yester years. Not only is being accountable in aspects of your organization’s financial and program management an absolute necessity, but it is imperative now more than ever.

Accountability is not just the responsibility of the CFO or the Executive Director, but of all staff, your accounting services firm, board members who are involved in the financial management, fundraising, and program planning and implementation. Make sure money raised is being used for the purposes you outlined in your solicitations, and communicate it clearly and often to your donors. This can be as simple as sharing success stories in your donor newsletters or making your annual report available on your Web site, but also as complex as reporting on fulfi lling grant restrictions, program outcomes, matching requirements, and the impact or difference made by your organization. At the end of the day, however, tangible proof, such as clear tracking of donor restrictions and funds spent from the fi nance office, will underscore the organization’s accountability and transparency, and will help to build a case for continuing and future support.

Accountability also means keeping the lines of communication open with your supporters through the good and the bad. During an AFP Meet the Funders workshop, grant-makers and donors expressed the desire for communication—especially when plans go awry. “It’s not an opportunity to take the support away,” said one participant. “It is an opportunity to learn what roadblocks the program or project is facing, and figure out how we can work together to overcome it.”

It is no secret that donors and the grant-making community network and talk. Your actions and communications can reinforce their decision to give to your organization and may help them bring others to the table. On the other hand, your actions and communications, or lack thereof, can create a divide that is hard to overcome. A study published by the Public Agenda found “once an organization became tainted in [donors’] minds, they never gave to that particular organization again.”

Part of being accountable is also to have the right infrastructure in place to assist with the reporting, tracking, and communications. Annual audits are a must, and being able to give auditors, grantors, and stakeholders a clear trail to verify the accuracy of financial statements and donor intention is critical. As you look for ways to satisfy the demands of outcome measurements, be sure that your accounting system not only tracks and reports outcome measurements on financial statements, but that it can also be used to budget outcome measurements for accurate forecasting. In terms of your organization’s effectiveness, information on outcome measurements can be factored into financial data and presented to external and internal constituents, showing a powerful snapshot of your accountability and program performance with the funds you are receiving.

Likewise, keeping donor information in a comprehensive system allows for acknowledgement of donations in a timely manner, storage of communication histories, usage of donor profiling, creation of reminders for following-up, and the personalization of communications with the programs and projects that energize your giving community.

At the end of the day, it’s the people in your organization or the nonprofit accounting service firm you are using, who are dedicated to your mission, that use these tools to demonstrate the accountability, transparency, and stewardship needed to keep the organization’s integrity intact—and keep your donors and grantors contributing to your cause.

Non-profit Accounting Success Step 4

Resources and Skills Properly Leveraged to Economies of Scale

As previously mentioned in our blog, many smaller nonprofits don’t have access to a CFO or Controller. Furthermore, the requirements for someone with that level of talent might only demand 5-10 hours per month. Some nonprofits end up spreading these functions throughout the organization to either under or over qualified personnel, forcing the back-office to no longer leverage the appropriate economies of scale.

In order to justify having a full time Controller and CFO the nonprofit must be much larger. By partnering with an accounting firm to perform these functions your organization will be better positioned to access only the CFO and Controller-type skill sets you need, tailor fit specifically to your specialized needs. The third-party accounting firm can scale these functions across their business, passing on the value directly to the nonprofit.

Does your accounting need to be handled faster, cheaper and by a qualified person? Maybe it’s time to consider Beck & Company CPA’s. Contact us today for a free consultation.

Non-profit Accounting Success Step 3

When is Third-Party Accounting a Smart Move for Nonprofits?

As nonprofit organizations struggle to raise funds and are forced to operate on leaner budgets, some have found that engaging with an accounting service provide to complete certain back-office functions is a good way to keep costs down while maintaining support of their cause and/or community. Working with a service provider is not a new concept. For many years, both nonprofit and for-profit organizations have transferred projects such as accounting, finance and bookkeeping to third-party firms. Yet, a more recent trend has seen an increase in organizations partnering with third-parties to complete accounting processes. What used to be viewed as a strictly internal management function is now routinely performed by a outside CFO and accounting firm.

Working with a contracted CFO or accounting firm is much more than a preference for having someone else perform your detailed, routine tasks. It’s much more than saving money and cutting operating costs. It’s a strategic opportunity to save on overhead while increasing the amount you can spend on those you serve – something every nonprofit would find beneficial. According to analysts, nearly $4 billion will be spent on finance and accounting outsourcing this year as services spending reverts to pre-recession levels.

So, when should a nonprofit engage with an outside accounting partner? When accounting needs to be done better by qualified personnel, faster, and cheaper than the in-house staff resources can do it. Simply stated, it is vital for nonprofit organizations to have their accounting transactions processed correctly, quickly and within certain time constraints, all the time. Having an outsourced team dedicated solely to your accounting functions, rather than in-house staff that may have several duties competing for priority, increases the likelihood that your accounting will be done undistracted, and by people who are qualified to complete the transaction efficiently.

Non-profit Accounting Success Step 1

Understanding Mission vs. Back Office

Your mission is the heart of your organization. Your focus should be on the cause you support, and your ability to evolve as needs change. However, you must at the same time manage your organization effectively.

Your organization is made up of two key areas, your mission and your back-office. Your mission is the fuel that propels your organization forward and it encompasses fundraising, community outreach, donor communication and messaging, not to mention meeting the needs of the cause and/or community you serve. While your back-office includes the stabilizing functions such as: HR, payroll, benefits, accounting, finance, grants, donation processing, regulations, IT, and tax. These supporting functions stabilize your vision and provide the resources necessary to support your mission.

Mission vs. Back-Office

Your purpose and first priority is your mission. The more time your staff and volunteers can spend on your mission the better. However the back-office supports the mission, and typically needs specialized expertise. The back-office can inhibit or enable growth, and is the primary place to look for accounting process improvements and cost reduction. The more streamlined and cost effective the process – the more time and money you can spend directly on your cause. This is where the option of using a third party comes in. Engaging with a high level accounting service provider to complete back-office processes can be a great way to reduce costs while at the same time improve both quality and efficiency.

Nonprofit executives acting as Controllers, CFOs acting as Bookkeeper, and Accountants acting as HR Managers, all create inefficiencies and risks. All too often nonprofits are forced to hire over qualified people to handle basic needs which unnecessarily increases overhead costs. Worse yet is asking under qualified staff to take on tasks which they are not trained to handle which increases liability and provides delayed, inadequate or inaccurate results.

Supporting Your Mission vs. Managing Processes

Many organizations do not need and/or cannot afford a full-time Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Controller. What nonprofits often do is place the CFO/Controller responsibilities with the Director of Finance and Operations or with the most capable finance/accounting executive on staff. The problem with this approach is that the person placed in charge may not have the right skill set or experience to fulfill the role of CFO. Partner with a service provider to complete the accounting functions bridges the gap between the back-office and the mission without having to hire over or under qualified people.

4 Steps to Accounting Success

Accounting is a very broad topic, and organizations have many different options and services to complete these functions. Nonprofit organizations are constantly looking for ways to make their dollars go further and partnering with a third party that provides high level accounting and transactional services can be a great option to do just that. If you have considered working with an outside CFO or accounting firm as an option, but aren’t sure if it is right for your organization – this whitepaper will help you gain the insight you need in order to make the best decision for your organization.

Over the coming weeks, we will cover 4 steps to establish a successful accounting practices including:

Step 1: Understanding Mission vs. Back Office

Step 2: Reducing Costs with Back-Office Process Optimization

Step 3: When is Third-Party Accounting a Smart Move for Nonprofits?

Step 4: Resources and Skills Properly Leveraged to Economies of Scale