This playbook sets out what we find in most non-profit organisations before they move to a single system, what we set up, and the reports owners use once it is running.
Where the money leaks
- Donor reports take weeks of spreadsheet work
- Spending against a grant is known after it is overspent
- Procurement cannot show the approvals behind a purchase
What we set up
- Grant and fund accounting
- Income and spending tracked per donor, grant and project.
- Budget control
- Budget lines checked before a commitment is made.
- Compliant procurement
- Requests, quotations, approvals and committee decisions on record.
- Donor reporting
- Reports in the donor’s format from live data.
- Field offices
- Offices and programmes in one set of books.
- Assets and inventory
- Items bought with grant funds tagged and tracked.
How a normal day runs
- Grant agreed and budget loaded
- Purchases approved against the budget
- Spending recorded per budget line
- Donor report produced
Reports owners use
- Budget against actual per grant
- Burn rate
- Procurement audit trail
- Asset register by donor
Modules involved
Accounting, Procurement, Projects, Assets, HR and Payroll. They share one database, so every entry updates the accounts and the reports together.
Where to start
Most organisations like yours start with accounting, procurement, projects, then add the rest once the first phase is stable.
Questions we are often asked
- Can we report per donor and per project?
- Yes. Every transaction carries its donor, grant and project, so reports can be produced for each.
- Does it stop overspending on a budget line?
- Yes. Budgets can warn or block when a purchase would exceed the line.