A new
survey, released by
Digital Business Insights, has highlighted the difficulties NFPs have with financial reporting. While most people agreed that popular programs like MYOB and QuickBooks were good overall, some of those surveyed commented that their needs weren’t being met, especially when it came to reporting to government funding bodies.
“MYOB cannot cope with Divisional Reporting.” – Disability Service, Victoria.
The report, which surveyed 1,485 NFP organisations, showed that 83% of NFPs use an accounting package of some kind, with MYOB accounting for 56%. That’s around 831 NFP organisations that resort to external applications for their board reporting and grant acquittals.
Read Full Report
Some organisations using add-on solution Calxa, integrating with their accounting application, shared an altogether different experience. Calxa steps in where the likes of MYOB are limited, solving many of the reporting problems.
Leanne Dreves, Chief Financial Officer at ACT for Kids says, “We were frustrated with MYOB reporting capabilities. We have upwards of thirty different budgets at any one time. Because of the nature of grants that we receive from the government, they all need reporting on separately… With Calxa, we can prepare a budget for each individual program, one for each head office department and one for fundraising. It gives us immense flexibility and up to date knowledge of our budget status that we didn’t have before… Time taken to prepare a budget has dropped by 75%”.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Daniel Learoyd at Health Workforce Queensland, “Bringing the managers into using Calxa was a most significant event. It allows us all to work together as a team.” Their organisation in particular enjoys the efficiencies gained within their Finance Department by being able to delegate tasks. “All managers have responsibility for a part of the operation. Now they can see how it all interrelates and where their program fits into the big picture. We have recruitment, locums and training, and by working together more effectively and transparently, the whole organisation is more effective.”
When asked what advice she would give to someone else, Leanne said: “Using a product like this increases productivity enormously… I couldn’t manage the budgets from this office without Calxa. Without the product, I would have to double my immediate staff.”
Calxa Premier is available as a donation through DonorTec. NFPs with annual turnovers of less than $1 million are encouraged to apply.
About the Survey
The 2011 Not-for-profit ICT report was commissioned by Connecting Up and is the 5th time that the non-profit sector has been surveyed. The latest national survey of just under 1,500 organisations was completed in October 2011 for this report. The 2011 non-profit ICT report identified the difficulties NFPs faced with financial reporting. While most people surveyed agreed that popular programs like MYOB and QuickBooks were good overall, some of those surveyed commented that their needs weren’t being met, especially when it comes to reporting to government funding bodies.
About Act for Kids
ACT for Kids is a NFP that provides free services to treat and prevent child abuse. The organisation was started in 1988 and employs 180 staff. There are more than 46,000 confirmed cases of child abuse in Australia each year. That’s almost 1 case every 10 minutes where a child is suffering from neglect or physical, sexual or emotional abuse (often by people they know and should be able to trust). Act for Kids gives children all the skills, care and confidence they need to turn their tiny hearts around and lead a normal life. The organisation is also there for mums and dads, healing the hurt that abuse and domestic violence causes the whole family.
About Health Workforce Queensland
Health Workforce Queensland is a non-profit organisation with its head office in Brisbane that helps support and retain rural and remote General Practitioners working in Queensland. The organisation was started in 1991 by the Department of Health and Ageing, and employs 31 staff.
About the DonorTec program…
Calxa Australia has partnered with
Connecting Up and
TechSoup New Zealand to provide $1,000,000 worth of budgeting software to grassroots Not-for-Profit organisations across Australia and New Zealand. Through the alliance, Calxa makes available its Calxa Premier budgeting and cashflow forecasting software free of charge to smaller Not-for-Profit organisations that meet the eligibility criteria. We hope this program will allow grassroots organisations achieve the same productivity increases as their larger counterparts – freeing up resources to be directed towards core services. Everyone expects NFPs to spend more of their resources on service delivery and less on administration. This is Calxa’s way of helping them realise this goal while still providing the reporting needed to achieve good governance. NFP organisations with turnover under $1m are encouraged to apply.
About Calxa
Calxa Australia delivers the leading
budgeting and
cashflow forecasting software for not-for-profit organisations and small businesses throughout Australia and New Zealand. The Calxa software integrates with accounting systems such as MYOB, QuickBooks and Xero, producing error-free reports quickly and easily. The company’s headquarters are in Townsville, Queensland.
