QuickBooks for Nonprofits – Benefits, Discounts, and FAQs
Knowing how financially healthy your nonprofit is and being able to track your expenses, income, and various funds are crucial to the growth of your nonprofit. Plus, it helps you create annual reports and maintain transparency with donors. QuickBooks is the ideal tool for you to achieve all this and more - and through its powerful integration with Donorbox, this tool becomes even better and more efficient for the holistic growth of your organization. Learn everything in this article.
61% of nonprofits report they don’t have enough unrestricted funds to operate for three months. Do you know if your nonprofit is financially healthy? Do you have the tools to find out?
QuickBooks is an excellent tool for nonprofits looking to get a handle on their finances and accounting practices. With easy features and smart integrations with other software like Donorbox, QuickBooks is the way to go for nonprofits who need accounting help.
If you want to learn more about QuickBooks for nonprofits, you’ve come to the right place!
In this article, we’ll talk about the basics as well as the benefits of using QuickBooks and the best QuickBooks nonprofits discount and pricing. We’ll also walk you through two easy ways to integrate Donorbox with QuickBooks.
Let’s first look at why using QuickBooks is so important.
QuickBooks for Nonprofit Fund Accounting
QuickBooks is an accounting software created by Intuit that makes easy-to-use tools to track expenses, income, receipts, and more. It’s a fantastic tool for nonprofits because it makes fund accounting easy.
Fund accounting is a system of accounting used by nonprofits where any money donated for a specific use is tracked and used appropriately. Having powerful software like QuickBooks to help you keep track of your income and expenses is vital for nonprofits!
Not every nonprofit has a dedicated accounting manager. You might be relying on volunteers to help you track and manage your expenses. And that’s okay!
QuickBooks is user-friendly with intuitive tools and tons of resources online to make training easy. You can create user keys for anyone working on your accounting and personalize access levels for each. If you use QuickBooks Online, they can work from anywhere.
2. Instant financial reports
Having a birds-eye view of your finances is great, but sometimes you also need to zoom in and see all the details. QuickBooks has a variety of reports you can instantly run to see the whole picture of your organization’s finances.
This also helps you steward relationships with major donors and granting institutions, since you can send them reports for total financial transparency.
3. Lots of automation
One of the best features of QuickBooks is how much work it handles for you – automatically!
For example, if you connect your bank account, QuickBooks can begin to categorize your expenses for you. You can also schedule reports for board members and executive leaders to run whenever you want.
With a Donorbox integration, all donation information automatically shows up in your QuickBooks account, too. This means your donors have a seamless donation experience through Donorbox, while you have a seamless accounting experience on the backend!
This is why so many organizations use QuickBooks for nonprofits.
4. Easily tag donations to a specific fund
When you receive a donation, you can easily mark it as belonging to a specific fund or campaign. This helps with your fund accounting and accountability to donors.
It’s so important to properly track donations and spend donated funds where they were meant to be spent. Donorbox helps with this, too, since you can allow donors to designate their donations on the donation form. You can also sort donor and donation data by campaigns on your Donorbox account, which helps manage funds and keep them separate.
5. Makes filing IRS Form 990 a breeze
While not every nonprofit has to submit an IRS Form 990, if you do you know how much of a pain it can be.
QuickBooks for nonprofits simplifies this process! It’s easy to gather all the information required by the form without spending too much time searching for it. It’s all in one place!
This last benefit is a big one – QuickBooks offers significant discounts for nonprofits through TechSoup.
An important note – as of 2022, TechSoup will only provide QuickBooks Desktop to organizations that have received QuickBooks Desktop in the past. This is because Intuit is changing the way they support certain versions.
To receive the discount, you must have official 501(c)(3) status and follow the other requirements listed here.
4 Best QuickBooks Products for Nonprofits
Here are the 4 QuickBooks products nonprofits use, along with their discounted pricing from TechSoup!
These products boast the following benefits for nonprofits:
Chart accounts with all information needed on your Form 990
Budget wisely by comparing actual expenses to income
Have separate organization systems for donors, grants, employees, and more
Use business planning tools to grow your organization
And more. Read this section to decide which product is a good fit for your nonprofit.
1. QuickBooks Online Plus
Features:
Direct email integration
Import data from CSV or Excel files
Attach receipts to customer files
All data is automatically stored in the cloud
Access via mobile devices
Business reports
Integration with Donorbox
TechSoup pricing:
1-year subscription with a $75 admin fee.
2. QuickBooks Online Advanced
Features:
All features of QuickBooks Online Plus
Custom reports
Custom user profiles with unique permissions
Self-paced online training
TechSoup pricing:
1-year subscription with a $160 admin fee.
3. QuickBooks Premier Editions
Features:
Choice of editions upon installation – you can choose the Nonprofit Edition
Email integration to send invoices and estimates
Import data from CSV or Excel files
Attach receipts to customer files
Calendar to see important tasks in a daily, weekly, or monthly view
Integration with Donorbox
TechSoup pricing:
1 user license (includes Nonprofit Edition): $39 admin fee
3 user licenses (includes Nonprofit Edition): $84 admin fee
4. QuickBooks for Mac
Features:
Attach receipts to customer files
Invoice many customers at once with batched invoicing
Import data from CSV or Excel files
Integrates with Mac software
Dedicated Mac resources to make things easy
Integration with Donorbox
TechSoup pricing:
$50 admin fee.
QuickBooks and Donorbox – The Key to Successful Nonprofit Accounting
Connecting your Donorbox account to QuickBooks is the best way to make your fundraising and accounting seamless. That means that any time you receive a donation, it will automatically show up in QuickBooks – without any work from you!
Here’s how to integrate QuickBooks with Donorbox in 2 easy ways:
1. Integrating with Zapier
Zapier helps you connect Donorbox with QuickBooks Online in just a few steps.
Set up the Zap with an initial trigger and action. Here, you’ll see the trigger is “New or Updated Donation” in Donorbox, while the action is “Find or Create Customer” in QuickBooks Online. –
Step 3 – Connect Donorbox to Zapier to use the Zap
The information needed to continue with the Zap will include –
Your Donorbox email
Your Donorbox API key that you got after enabling the Zapier integration
You’ll be able to test the connection after this.
Step 4 – Enter QuickBooks Online account details
Next, you need to input the QuickBooks Online account information –
QuickBooks login details
The action event in QuickBooks Online
Step 5 – You’re ready to start streamlining!
Once your Donorbox account is connected with your QuickBooks Online account via this Zap, you’re ready to start the following actions –
Locate your supporters in QuickBooks Online
Create sales receipts
Create expenses
As a result, you’ll be able to do the following –
See full donation amounts
Corresponding processing fee deductions
Automatic updating of data every time you receive a new donation
Here’s a detailed step-by-step guide to help you set up the Zaps for all the above actions.
Need more help? Check out this video that walks you through everything you need to know about Zapier and Donorbox integration!
This method connects QuickBooks (Online and Desktop) to Donorbox donations via Stripe with Commerce Sync.
For this integration to work, you will need a couple of things in place –
A Donorbox account with donation data
Your Donorbox account connected with Stripe
If you need help getting started with Donorbox, read this guide – and sign up for free to start fundraising in just 15 minutes!
Step 1- Connect to Commerce Sync with your Stripe Account
Click this link to start the activation process at Commerce Sync.
From there, you’ll be prompted to log into your Stripe account.
Next, give Commerce Sync access to your Stripe account by clicking “Connect my Stripe Account.”
Once you do that, Commerce Sync will link with your Stripe account.
Step 2 – Connect Commerce Sync with QuickBooks Online
After your Stripe account is connected, you’ll be prompted to select which accounting software you want to connect with.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to do it with QuickBooks Online, but you also have the option of connecting with QuickBooks Desktop.
Here’s the screen you’ll see. Select QuickBooks Online.
You’ll then be prompted to sign into your QuickBooks Online account if you aren’t already.
Next, click “Connect” to confirm you want to link your Commerce Sync account with QuickBooks Online. This will authorize the connection!
Step 3 – Start organizing your data
You will be prompted to select whether you want your sales separated by customers or lumped together in a daily summary. We recommend keeping sales separated by customers since that is usually how nonprofits track their sales.
Now all your Donorbox donations will be logged in QuickBooks online! You’ll be able to do the following:
View Donorbox donations in QuickBooks
Request a special historical transfer
View your payout from Stripe in the form of deposits in QuickBooks
Learn how to activate the above actions in this step-by-step guide on Donorbox and QuickBooks integration using Stripe with Commerce Sync.
Conclusion
Managing your nonprofit’s account can help you remain fiscally healthy and demonstrate financial transparency – which is so important for fundraising.
QuickBooks for nonprofits is a fantastic product to help you manage your income, expenses, invoicing, and more. Plus, strong integrations with Donorbox makes for seamless fund accounting. Your donations will automatically appear in your QuickBooks account!
Ready to get started with Donorbox? Sign up today and join the 80,000+ organizations raising millions of dollars through donations. Learn more about our products and features here.
For more tips on accounting and financial documentation, fundraising and events, donor management, and other insightful topics, check out our Nonprofit Blog. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a collection of our best resources in your inbox every month.
Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]
1. Is QuickBooks free for nonprofits?
While not fully free, TechSoup offers a significant QuickBooks nonprofit discount with one-time fees ranging from $39 to $160 depending on which product you choose.
2. How to use QuickBooks for accounting at my nonprofit?
To use QuickBooks for your nonprofit, you’ll need to link it to your bank account. This will help the program automatically start to categorize your spending.
You should also integrate it with your fundraising platform. There are two easy ways to integrate Donorbox with QuickBooks – through Zapier or Stripe with Commerce Sync. This will automatically load any donations you receive.
Fund accounting is the best practice when it comes to nonprofit accounting, and QuickBooks helps you track income and expenses to ensure all funds are going to the right place.
3. Is QuickBooks easy for nonprofits? Does it require training or expert help?
Yes, QuickBooks is very easy for nonprofits! It doesn’t require any training or expert help, but there are plenty of online resources to help you learn everything about this tool.
QuickBooks Online Advanced also comes with self-paced training so you can become an expert.
4. Can I use QuickBooks with my fundraising software?
Yes! QuickBooks integrates with several fundraising software options, including Donorbox.
Integrating Donorbox is super easy with two different routes – through Zapier or Stripe with Commerce Sync. We’ve outlined the steps for both integrations in this article.
Disclaimer: By sharing this information we do not intend to provide legal, tax, or accounting advice, or to address specific situations. The above article intends to provide generalized financial and legal information designed to educate a broad segment of the public. Please consult with your legal or tax advisor to supplement and verify what you learn here.
Lindsey spent years wearing many hats in the nonprofit world. Whether she was helping arts nonprofits with their messaging and content, planning a fundraising gala, writing an NEA grant proposal, or running a membership program with over 400 members, she learned how to navigate – and appreciate! – the fast-paced world of fundraising. Now, she loves sharing those hard-earned lessons with the Donorbox community.
Lindsey Baker Bower
