My former employer was a nonprofit. Their cash flow was dependent
on government and private grants that had strict guidelines on how
they could and could not be used. We utilized QuickBooks to keep
funding streams separate and organized. Out of our 21 employees,
only 6 had access to QuickBooks: our controller, executive director,
bookkeeper, and the three senior directors. I was a director and was
responsible for my program’s budget, meaning I needed to ensure
funds spent followed proper guidelines, we didn’t go over specific
budget lines, and I provided required documentation for any
purchases made. When a purchase was made, I provided our
bookkeeper with the receipts, which grant account and budget line
the purchase was under, and any other supporting documents. She
would document the transaction in QuickBooks once all paperwork
was provided. I did not have access to QuickBooks. Our controller
sent me a P&L statement from QuickBooks each month for my
program and was to review it before our monthly meetings. This was
a control to ensure purchases I made were properly documented and
if any budget lines seemed to be over or under. Other data collected
for reporting outcomes was done by each program through google
sheets or excel.
Since the scale of our agency was small, the need for a more intricate
AIS was not looked into. If I were the accounting manager, I would
look into a EPS software. There were data points not recorded and
information that directors needed from the accounting department
that went unanswered for days. I believe if they were able to invest
in software such as Salesforce, they’d be able to work more
efficiently. The finance department had the challenging job of
ensuring specific funding streams were spend in accordance with
government regulations. I interacted with many partner agencies that
provided us with a fee for our services. Since I did not have access to
QuickBooks, I was unaware of status of payments unless I asked our
controller. If we had EPS I could have looked up our partner’s
payment status before any meeting. Likewise, our controller could
see when I was meeting with a partner to inform me of any payment
changes. There was a lot of back and forth of missed opportunities to
communicate needs.
