Ijaz and Associates offers a full range of outsourced accounting services to nonprofit organizations, ranging from total operation and management of the finance function to higher-level CFO support. Organizations in every growth phrase – from startup to maturity – can benefit from our expert outsourced accounting assistance. Since the CEO or Executive Director is generally focused on the organization’s mission, programs, or fundraising initiatives, managing in-house accounting, especially during the early and middle growth phases, often leads to mediocre results. Our flexible outsourcing arrangement generally costs less than maintaining a full in-house accounting function, and it provides the peace of mind that it is being done correctly.
Benefits
Outsourcing can result in a significant cost savings. Results will vary from organization to organization, but we can demonstrate that the cost of outsourcing will not exceed the true cost of maintaining the function in-house and will result in a major lift in the quality of financial information and internal control. The main benefits are listed below.
For further information, please review the Outsourcing Benefit Impact Table and a Sample Cost-benefit Analysis.
- Allows the CEO and other senior staff to focus on mission and programs with minimal distractions.
- Provide relevant, accurate, and timely financial information to various stakeholders (internal management, Board, donors, funders), resulting in better decisions.
- Operate within a system of internal control that reduces risk of fraud and inadvertent misallocation of assets, while satisfying audit requirements.
- Reduce internal accounting staff needed to handle routine data entry and information retrieval tasks, which allows for greater productivity across functions and deferring the need for a full-time financial professional.
- Minimize internal staff diversion and external fees for audit preparation tasks.
- Facilitate transition to a professional in-house staff when growth requires that step.
- Assure continuity of the financial function upon personnel turnover.
- Eliminate the need for separate server-installed software and related IT maintenance costs.
- CEO and Board have access to Board governance documents and implementation assistance.
- Board and CEO receive knowledgeable advice, mentoring, and challenging from a trusted financial professional.
- Enjoy certainty and peace of mind that financial management is working.
Is Outsourcing For You?
The Ideal Candidate for Outsourced Accounting
Most small- to mid-size nonprofit organizations will benefit from outsourcing their accounting processes at some stage in their journey. Here are a few distinguishing characteristics that make an organization an ideal candidate for our services:
- The CEO and Board want to minimize administrative overhead, but at the same time, understand their fiscal responsibilities and risks, want to follow best practices, and set a high standard for financial reporting relevancy, accuracy and timeliness.
- The organization is between startup and middle-age with operating budget from $250,000 to $3,000,000.
- The financial tracking and reporting requirements are moderately complex and require some specialized nonprofit accounting expertise and software tools that otherwise may not be readily available or affordable.
- The organization requires an audit, or expects to reach this point fairly soon.
- Management is focused on the mission, programs and fundraising, leaving little time to focus on financial management.
