Updated for 2024! Use QuickBooks Online for your small nonprofit or religious organization.

Church and nonprofit accounting pose their unique challenges, but QuickBooks Online for Nonprofits & Churches will guide you through the intricacies of QuickBooks Online for your church accounting or nonprofit accounting. No accounting experience? No problem! Alleviate frustration and speed up your bookkeeping with this easy-to-read manual for QuickBooks online.

Learn the steps needed to set up your nonprofit accounting system with these features:

• Master QuickBooks online basics specifically for your nonprofit

• Design an online nonprofit chart of accounts that will yield the reports you need,

• Track the progress of your nonprofit’s grants and programs online

• Import information for customers, donors, and vendors to QuickBooks online

• Receive and record donations, pledges, dues, and other incoming cashflows

• Manage expenses and payroll efficiently

• Reconcile bank and credit card feeds to save time

• Configure budgets that meet your organization’s targets

• Design and run month-end and year-end reports

• Conduct fund accounting

• Handle fundraisers, mortgages, and reserve accounts

• Handle your finances conveniently from QuickBooks online mobile app.

These books are written for non-accountants to understand the basics of nonprofit accounting with step-by-step instructions, loads of illustrations, and no confusing jargon. This isn’t just quickbooks for dummies—this easy-to-read, detailed guide will teach you how to look after the whole financial well-being of your church or nonprofit. Think of the book as a support manual to be referred to anytime you need help.

If you are looking for help with QuickBooks Pro, Premier, or Non-profit versions, click here to see QuickBooks for Nonprofits & Churches A Step-By-Step Guide to the Pro, Premier, and Nonprofit Versions.

QuickBooks Online for Nonprofits & Churches explains the ins and outs of QuickBooks Online. If you are using QuickBooks Pro, Premier, or Nonprofit version, check out QuickBooks for Nonprofits and Churches-A Step-By-Step Guide to the Pro, Premier, & Nonprofit Versions. 

Lisa London, CPA, understands that not everyone thinks like an accountant. That’s why she started The Accountant Beside You series to assist non-accountants in untangling the financial knots that come with running a small business, church, or nonprofit organization. She walks readers through the process of setting up quickbooks from a chart of accounts custom-designed for churches to running the reports for the year-end and preparing for an audit. Take control of your organization’s finances with The Accountant Beside You!

Contents

QuickBooks Online & Nonprofits

Will QuickBooks Online Work for My Organization? 1

QuickBooks Online vs. Desktop 3

Fund Accounting 5

Reporting Differences 6

Differences in Terminology 7

The Case for Internal Accounting Controls 8

Advice for the Governing Body of the Organization 8

Tips, Hints, and When to Let Someone Else Do It 9

Acquainting Yourself with Quickbooks Online

The Layout of the Program 10

The Basics 10

Find and Correct Posted Transactions 12

Using Quickbooks Online Help 13

Lists and Transaction Entry Screens 14

Setting up Your Organization File

Required Information 17

Creating an Online Account 17

Exporting Existing QuickBooks Desktop Data to QuickBooks Online 20

Account and Settings 23

What is the Chart of Accounts?

Designing the Quickbooks Online Chart of Accounts 30

Numbering Structure 31

Naming the Accounts 34

Building the Chart of Accounts 35

System Generated Accounts 36

Adding New Accounts 36

Tracking Restricted Cash 38

Upload a Chart of Accounts 39

Enter Chart of Accounts 41

Editing, Deleting (Deactivating), and Merging Accounts 41

Beginning Balances 44

How do I Track My Programs & Funds?

Using Classes 46

Naming of Classes 48

Entering Class Lists 49

Editing or Deleting Classes 50

Recording the Beginning Balance Entry 51

Donors & People I Owe Money To

Setting up Members and Other Donors 53

Adding Donor Types 53

Adding a New Donor or Member 54

Grouping Donors: Parent and Sub-Donors 56

Viewing & Printing the Donor Contact List Report 57

Setting Up Vendors (The People You Pay) 58

Importing Donor and Vendor List from a Spreadsheet 60

Projects 63

Products & Services—Tracking the Transactions

Product and service types 66

Setting Up New Products and Services 67

Money In—Recording Donations & Revenues

Accounting Controls for Receipts 70

Entering Donations 74

Entering Cash Receipts 77

Entering Donations from a Separate Donor Base 78

Dues & Pledges—Billing and Payment 79

Invoicing and Receipt of Restricted Funds and Grants 83

Miscellaneous Receipts 86

Pass-Through Collections 87

Undeposited Funds 88

Printing a deposit slip 90

Recurring Donations from Credit Cards 91

Money Out—How Do I Pay the Bills?

Cash vs. Accrual Methods 93

Internal Accounting Controls for Paying Bills 94

Controls for Electronic Payments 95

Entering Bills 96

Beginning Accounts Payable Balance 98

Recurring Bills 98

Editing and Deleting Bills 99

Enter Credit Card Charges 100

Paying Bills 101

Online Banking Payments 103

Write Checks 103

Handwritten Checks 106

Bank Drafts 106

Entering Expenses Paid by Credit Card Manually 107

Paying the Credit Card Bill 109

Credits Received from Vendors or on Credit Card 109

Payroll

Entering Employees and Contractors 112

Using Journal Entries To Record Payroll 113

Entering Payroll through the Check Entry Screen 115

Paying the Benefit Contribution 116

Tracking Time for Projects 116

Bank Feeds & Reconciliations

Banking 118

Connecting Your Accounts 120

The Receipts Tab 124

Preparing for the Bank Reconciliation 125

Reconciling the Bank Account 130

Credit Card Reconciliation 134

Reconciling Petty Cash 135

Other Reconciliations 136

Where Do We Stand? —Designing & Running Reports

Types of Reports 137

Navigating the Reports Center 138

Defining the Parameters and Saving Customizations 138

Most Useful Reports 143

Exporting Reports to a Spreadsheet 145

Other Miscellaneous Reports 147

Am I Meeting My Targets? Budgeting 148

The Budget Process 148

Entering Your Budget 149

Entering Budgets by Program or Grant 153

Budget Reports 155

It’s Month End &/or Year-End—What Now?

Month and Year-End Checklist 158

Reviewing Your Transactions 159

Allocate Fund Balances 162

Restricted versus Unrestricted Cash 163

Year-End Adjusting Entries 165

Board Reports 165

Year-End Closing 165

Year-End Donor Acknowledgments 166

Other Year-End Requirements 171

Special Topics

How Do I Account For …??? 177

Fundraisers 177

Record the Sale of Merchandise 178

In-Kind Donations 181

Record a Mortgage 182

A Reserve Account on the Income Statement 183

How Do I??? 185

Invite and Manage Multiple Users 185

Invite an Accountant 188

Send a Thank You from the Receipts Screen 189

Customize Forms 190

Give Feedback to QBO 192

What About …??? 193

Reports I Need for an Audit 193

Tax Stuff 193

QBO Mobile

QBO from your Mobile Device 195

3rd Party Developer Apps 197

Index 200

Save time and money by bundling with other resources to run your nonprofit or religious organization. Click here for the Nonprofit version and here for the Church version.

Book information:

QuickBooks Online for Nonprofits & Churches-A Step-by-Step Guide

2nd edition

Author Lisa London, CPA

ISNI 0000 0004 5059 7909

ISBN 978-1-945561-20-7

Published November 2024 by Deep River Press, Inc.

Copyright 2024Deep River Press, Inc.

250 Pages

Order Information: Setting up an account is not required, but is recommended to make it easier to track your shipments and download any digital files.

E-Books and any digital files are available immediately. You will be taken to a link to download the ePub or PDF version directly to your computer.