Nonprofit organizations have unique accounting needs that some general accounting software are unable to meet. They face more stringent requirements in terms of financial planning, budgeting, auditing, and reporting than businesses. To support these processes, nonprofits need dedicated accounting software built exclusively for nonprofit organizations. In this article, we discuss the top six nonprofit accounting software to help you pick one that best serves your organization’s needs.
- Aplos: Best overall accounting software for nonprofits. (3.77 out of 5 points)
- QuickBooks Online: Best accounting software for nonprofits seeking bookkeeping assistance. (3.53 out of 5 points)
- Wave: Best free nonprofit accounting software for treasurers of very small nonprofits. (3.26 out of 5 points)
- Blackbaud: Best for nonprofits relying on large grants for support. (2.80 out of 5 points)
- Nonprofit+: Best for nonprofits relying on numerous small donations for support. (3.53 out of 5 points)
- QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Edition: Best for nonprofits seeking integrated payroll. (3.04 out of 5 points)
How We Evaluated Nonprofit Accounting Software
When it comes to keeping track of income and expenses for your nonprofit organizations, it’s pretty similar to businesses that operate for profit. However, nonprofit organizations are scrutinized more frequently and must meet specific reporting requirements to keep their nonprofit status. We evaluated our top picks based on pricing, ease of use, general accounting features, and the following key features tailored for nonprofits.
- Donor management: Track donor contact details such as address and telephone number, as well as contributions made throughout the year.
- Budgeting/forecasting: Create a budget to track actual donor contributions and expenses incurred against your budget so you can address any issues.
- Accounts receivable: Ability to track money owed to your nonprofit organization based on commitments made by donors in the form of pledges, grants or dues
- Accounts payable: Track money owed to vendor suppliers for overhead costs, such as utilities and rent, and supplies and materials purchased.
- Reporting: Able to generate key financial reports to provide stakeholders detailed information on how contributions have been allocated and used
20% of Overall Score
Larger nonprofits can justify expensive accounting software easily, but there are also some low-cost accounting tools that might be a good fit for your needs. We evaluated pricing based on the monthly cost as well as any limitations on users or transactions.
10% of Overall Score
Most volunteers and nonprofit staff are not proficient in bookkeeping, so it’s important to choose an accounting program that is easy to learn and has good customer support.
30% of Overall Score
While nonprofits need specialized tools, the best nonprofit accounting software should also contain essential general accounting features like A/R, A/P, and reporting.
30% of Overall Score
The best nonprofit accounting solution offers key features, such as donor management, fund accounting, and event management.
10% of Overall Score
Our experts review each software and assign a subjective score based on their evaluation of the program’s features.
Aplos
PROS
- Includes a built-in website builder that requires no coding
- Provides end-to-end solutions for event and donor management
- Creates unlimited donation forms
- Bank integrations for easy import of transactions
- Accepts donations via text, which requires additional fee
CONS
- Requires an additional fee for additional users
- Does not include built-in payroll
- Cannot be used to manage grants and volunteers
- Invoices are not customizable
- No mobile app
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 3.03 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Ease of Use | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| General Features | 4.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Nonprofit Features | 3.13 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Analysis | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
Our Expert Opinion
Aplos is our best overall accounting software for nonprofits because it has an outstanding set of general accounting and key features that are ideally tailored for nonprofit operations. We consider it a powerful accounting software for medium-sized nonprofits because it provides end-to-end solutions for managing donors and members. It includes an integrated customer relationship management (CRM) tool with a secure portal where members, committees, volunteers, and others can engage with one another, share information, and create an online community to match the offline community. The program allows you to enter all transactions and track and manage your accounting and donations at the fund level. If you’re a medium-sized nonprofit, we recommend the Advanced Accounting package with valuable features, such as fixed asset tracking and income and expense allocation. Aplos is also ideal for faith-based organizations with a few employees. See how Aplos benefits churches in our review of the best church accounting software.
Aplos Pricing
- Aplos Suite: $59 per month
- Aplos Suite + Text To Give: $79 per month
- Aplos Suite + Advanced Accounting: Starts at $159 per month
All accounts include two users and extra users can be added for $10 each. All packages include basic features, such as fund accounting, donation tracking, and budgeting.The most expensive plan offers advanced features, like budgeting by fund.
You can try Aplos for free for 15 days with no credit card required.
QuickBooks Online
PROS
- Share data easily with your accountant
- Can customize reports to fit nonprofit operations
- Offers bookkeeping assistance via QuickBooks Live
- Comprehensive mobile app
CONS
- No nonprofit-specific tools
- Requires additional fee to use payroll
- Simple Start is limited to one user
- Expensive for nonprofits with multiple entities
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Ease of Use | 4.13 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| General Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Nonprofit Features | 1.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Analysis | 4.88 | OUT OF | 5 |
Our Expert Opinion
QuickBooks Online demonstrates its versatility by providing customized solutions for almost any industry, including nonprofits. Most nonprofits don’t have a dedicated accounting department to manage their books, thus they need bookkeeping assistance. QuickBooks Online, through its QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping, offers bookkeeping assistance where you’ll get access to a QuickBooks-certified bookkeeper who will take the lead on your bookkeeping duties and generate essential reports for you. You can communicate with your QuickBooks Live bookkeeper anytime through video chat. Alternatively, you can find a local QuickBooks ProAdvisor to help you with your bookkeeping. QuickBooks Pro Advisors are those who have passed the certification exam administered by Intuit.
QuickBooks Online is very easy to use and you can share your data with certified public accountants (CPAs), tax professionals, or others. With the tiered subscription levels, QuickBooks Online can scale as your organization grows or your needs change without having to transfer your data to another software provider. You can compare pricing plan details in our QuickBooks Online comparison guide. While QuickBooks Online lacks industry-specific tools, it’s our overall best accounting software for small businesses.
QuickBooks Online Pricing
- Simple Start: $25 per month with one user included
- Essentials: $50 per month with three users included
- Plus: $80 per month with five users included
- Advanced: $180 per month with 25 users included
Payroll can be added for $45 per month plus $4 per employee.
QuickBooks currently offers a 50% discount for the first three months or a 30-day free trial with no credit card required.
Wave
PROS
- Easy to use even for nonaccountants
- Completely free forever
- Ideal for simple nonprofit organizations
- Bookkeeping assistance available via Wave Advisors
CONS
- Lacks specialized features for nonprofits
- Not a good fit for large nonprofits
- Multiple apps instead of a single full-featured app
- No tools for managing restricted funds
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Ease of Use | 4.13 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| General Features | 4.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Nonprofit Features | 0.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Analysis | 2.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
Our Expert Opinion
Just like QuickBooks Online, Wave has no industry-specific features, but it’s flexible enough to be included in our best nonprofit accounting software. If you are a volunteer treasurer for a small charity, then Wave is suitable software for accumulating your income and expenses. Wave doesn’t offer departmental comparison or analysis, so it doesn’t work if you receive restricted funds. Nevertheless, Wave has a good set of features to streamline accounting for donations, tax receipts, and payroll. Nonprofits with multiple locations can also set up and manage multiple entities with Wave. While Wave is easy to use, even for novice accountants or treasurers, you can seek personalized coaching from a Wave Advisor.
Wave Pricing
Wave’s accounting, invoicing, and receipt tracking features are free. It only charges fees for processing credit card, bank payments, and payroll transactions:
- Accounting, invoicing, and receipt tracking: Free
- Credit card processing: 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction (for most cards) and 3.4% + 30 cents (for American Express)
- Bank payments: $1 per transaction
- Payroll:
- $35 per month plus $6 per employee or independent contractor for users living in tax-service states (Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin). If you live in one of these states, Wave can process your tax payments and file the paperwork with state agencies and the IRS.
- $20 per month plus $6 per employee or independent contractor for users living in the remaining 36 states. These states are self-service, which means that Wave only calculates payroll taxes, but you have to pay and file the required paperwork yourself.
Blackbaud
PROS
- Can track complicated grant requirements
- Robust budgeting capabilities
- Unlimited tracking characteristics for in-depth reporting
- Integrates with other Blackbaud software packages
CONS
- No features for managing donors
- Complicated to use
- No upfront pricing
- Most of the modules are available for an additional fee
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 1.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Ease of Use | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| General Features | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Nonprofit Features | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Analysis | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
Our Expert Opinion
If you’re currently relying on major foundation or government grants for funding, Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT is comprehensive enough to track both simple and complex grant requirements. Blackbaud has powerful tracking levels for monitoring each grant separately, allowing you to create reports about each grant and forecast budgets across multiple grant periods. This helps you gain better overall control of grant finances. With Blackbaud, you can specify how your financial data looks on reports and break your accounting structure down to a very detailed level if required. The program is also ideal for organizations that require consolidated reporting—thanks to its consolidation management module which allows users to merge financial statements across multiple organizations. On the downside, Blackbaud is a bit expensive and complex which requires a lot of training and support to get up to speed on the basic functionality.
Blackbaud Pricing
Prices are not available, but you can contact the provider to request pricing information or a customized quote.
Nonprofit+
PROS
- Extensive list of useful modules
- Powerful donor management capability
- Can add as many users as needed
- Offers tools for managing restricted funds
CONS
- Pricey for small nonprofits
- No built-in tools for managing payroll
- Complicated to use
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 1.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Ease of Use | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| General Features | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Nonprofit Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Analysis | 3.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
Our Expert Opinion
Nonprofit+, by Acumatica, is robust accounting software that is particularly useful for tracking donors. It includes plenty of modules to expedite the different aspects of your nonprofit operations, but we especially like its strong donor management tool, which allows users to easily manage donor contacts and track donation sources. With Nonprofit+, you can track income from donors, generate customized reports by activity, and schedule emails to send out to donors. Nonprofit+ is also a terrific choice for nonprofits that receive restricted funds. It has a restricted fund management module that allows you to define and restrict the uses of restricted donations. Despite having the most comprehensive nonprofit features on our list, many small nonprofits may need to consider an alternative as it’s expensive and a bit complicated.
Nonprofit+ Pricing
Prices are not provided on the Acumatica website. You can sign up for a free product tour to see how it works.
QuickBooks Desktop Premier Nonprofit Edition
PROS
- Integrated payroll available for a fee
- One license allows bookkeeping for unlimited entities
- Supports Form 990 or Form 990EZ
- Creates receipts and tracks pledges
- Class tracking by program
CONS
- Desktop software requires installation and setup
- Limited to five users
- Lacks nonprofit management features
- Difficult to share with an external accountant
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 2.20 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Ease of Use | 2.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| General Features | 4.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Nonprofit Features | 1.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Analysis | 4.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
Our Expert Opinion
QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Edition, as the name itself suggests, is QuickBooks’ tailored desktop software for nonprofits. If you have paid staff in your organization, then QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Edition is worth considering. The program directly integrates with QuickBooks Payroll to help you manage payroll duties like pay schedules, vacation and sick leaves, and accrued balances for each employee. With QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Edition, you can create a customized chart of accounts and track expenses in compliance with IRS Form 990. You can organize donor, tax, and company information in separate centers so things don’t get mixed up while working on the system. One of the best things about the QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Edition is the class tracking feature, which allows you to break down income and expenses across categories further, making reporting by program easier. You can access a number of nonprofit reports, including budget reports and donor reports.
QuickBooks Desktop Premier Nonprofit Edition Pricing
QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Edition has the same price as the QuickBooks Premier standard edition.
Premier 2021 (one-time purchase):
- $649 for one user
- $999 for one user
- $1,399 for three users
- $1,749 for four users
- $2,099 for five users
Premier Plus 2021 (annual subscription):
The Premier Plus subscription requires an annual payment based on the number of users and includes unlimited customer service, a free version upgrade each year, and off-site backup of your data.
- $499.99 for one user
- $799.99 for two users
- $1,099.99 for three users
- $1,399.99 for four users
- $1,699.99 for five users
QuickBooks Payroll can be added to either Premier or Premier Plus starting at $50 per month, plus $2 per employee.
After purchasing QuickBooks Premier, choose the Nonprofit Edition for download. If you are not satisfied with the program, QuickBooks offers a full refund within 60 days of the purchase date.
Bottom Line
We believe Aplos is the best overall accounting software for nonprofits because of its excellent feature set, ease of use, and affordability. You’ll often see advanced features like fund accounting, donation tracking, and event registration in high-cost accounting programs, but Aplos brings them all together at a moderate cost.
