Nonprofit organizations often enter and manage key financial data in places other than their accounting system—and require that the data flow into the general ledger.

But getting the data from those systems—for managing fundraising, membership, grants, or services—into the accounting system is rarely as straightforward as we would like it to be.

In this episode part 2, three of Build's experts lead a discussion on how nonprofit development and accounting teams can better work together in managing financial data.

The Questions

We shared our thoughts in answer to the following questions:

1. What are some of the key problems with how nonprofits manage gift records that make life hard for Accounting? 1.a Our donation/membership/grants are first recorded in the Financial Edge in our accounting office, then given to development to record in Raiser's Edge. Is this process being done backwards?
2. What should we be thinking about when planning a CRM to ERP integration to help make sure the data flows properly?
3. We're thinking about changing our CRM and/or ERP system to help solve our financial data flow problems. How should we approach this process? And what systems should we consider? 3.a Have you ever had two nonprofits who needed essentially the same application share the development cost? 3.b What items in the new FASB financial reporting rules have the biggest impact on nonprofit GL structures and GL feeds from the CRM system?