As a nonprofit, your financial records mean a lot to your board of directors and for your audits. Here are a few tips and tricks for getting the most out of QuickBooks for both.

Each month, you have meetings for your board of directors, where budgets, grants, and fiscal year planning are analyzed. You look at budgets, grants, fiscal year planning and so much more. The great thing about board members is the diverse skillset they bring to the organization.   However, that also means that each member sees financials differently.  As such, consistent and concise monthly reports will benefit everyone.

Be Concise – Use Classes and Customers/Jobs

Two great features that QuickBooks offers are classes and customers/jobs. These features both allow a non-profit to break down income and expenses by grants, events, or programs, while still allowing total expenses by natural classification to be presented as well.

Be Consistent – Memorize Reports

There are some generic reports that QuickBooks offers, but all can be customized by filters. After generating a report, by clicking Customize and the Filters Tab, reports can be created for exactly what you need.  That way, the report can be saved and easily utilized each month to create useful reports. In addition, folders can be created to keep your list of memorized reports organized and grouped.

Set a Closing Date

QuickBooks allows you to set a closing date so users are warned if they are changing a transaction in a period that is prior to that closing date – this warning will ask the user if they are sure that change should be made, and you can also go as far as including a password so nothing gets changed without it.  This will prevent figures already having been audited, reviewed, or compiled from getting changed erroneously.

Voiding Checks

Voiding a check in QuickBooks voids the check on the date that the check was written, not the date you are voiding it. Therefore, voiding a check in a prior fiscal year is not as easy as opening the check and clicking “void.” Instead, voiding checks in a current period should be done with a journal entry.

Account DebitCredit
Checking Account X
Original Check Expense(s) X

When reconciling the next month’s bank statement, check off the original check that was voided and the corresponding journal entry you created so your reconciliation still balances and they are removed from future reconciliations.

Before you have your next monthly board meeting, do not hesitate to reach out to the Ketel Thorstenson, LLP QuickBooks ProAdvisor Team for any assistance.