Accounting for Good | Firm Owner | Helping Nonprofits Build Strong Accounting Functions for Sustainable Growth, Grant Compliance & Audit Readiness
In-house Accounting team not performing well? FIRST THINGS FIRST...ROLES My experience has been that small to mid-sized non-profit organizations typically have a team of about three to six people. This usually consists of your bookkeeper, staff accountants, senior accountant, and then the controller to whom everyone else reports. These roles make up the non-profit fiscal department. There is also the contracts and grants manager. This role is important because depending on the type of programming that you manage and what your funding sources are, you’re quite possibly going to have different contracts that have certain requirements; which require a dedicated person to manage. The cost to build your team can add up quickly, especially as you begin to add new team members. Throw in professional development training for your team to grow their skillset, and it can get expensive. The “growth period” in an organization, especially rapid growth, can be the “acid test”. Take it all in though! This is actually a great time to identify if you have established clear roles and responsibilities and if your processes and procedures are standardized.
