RSMUS.comAs a financial management platform suited to the unique needs of nonprofits, Sage Intacct has evolved from good to better. Years of listening to nonprofit accountants has given the developers behind Sage Intacct a keen understanding of what features these money managers need and want. Most of Sage Intacct’s quarterly releases have included new, improved, and/or expanded features specifically for nonprofits. The 2024 R1, which went live in mid-February, was no exception.
That update coincided with another release from Sage Intacct: 2024 Nonprofit Technology Trends Survey the 2. It showed that for the third year in a row, the nonprofit leaders surveyed cited a lack of process automation and organizational efficiency as their greatest internal challenge. Essentially, nonprofits are spending too much time doing too much manually, according to the survey, and the problem isn’t getting any better.
That’s why the 2024 R1 matters so much for nonprofits. It includes forms and operational flows designed around how nonprofits work on everything from grant making to vendor contracting. Sage Intacct can now automatically move data, run calculations, and complete tasks that nonprofit accountants used to handle themselves. These pre-built flows are available out of the box or fully tailored, making them both accessible and powerful—exactly what nonprofits say they’ve been missing.
For a prime example of what these automations can accomplish, look to the grant management process. Now, instead of manually moving grant funds from restricted to released, the process can run independently. Here’s how.
How to Automate Net Asset Release in Sage Intacct
Automating a cumbersome and risky process takes just three steps in Sage Intacct:
- Enable – Check “Enable Nonprofit Restriction Release” in the Configure General Ledger Advanced GL options section.
- Grant – Give specific users or roles permission to “Generate Restriction Release” in the Company area.
- Generate – Enter the purpose, revenue parameters, and qualified expense information for the release in the section under General Ledger labeled “Restriction Release.”
Sage Intacct uses this information to create a Restriction Release journal entry for verification automatically. It also creates a snapshot, attached to the journal entry, with all the numbers and transactions used to generate the release.
Why it Helps Nonprofits to Automate Net Asset Release in Sage Intacct
Automating manual processes gives accountants back their valuable time. Doing just one restriction release can be distracting, and the time commitments only multiply when there are multiple grants being managed. Automating this process prevents accountants from wasting time on data management and lets them focus on more important or valuable activities instead.
Another big advantage is accuracy. Whenever it takes keystrokes and mouse clicks to complete an accounting workflow, errors will creep into the process, putting the grant and the nonprofit both at risk. Automation can move at amazing speed and scale without making these same mistakes. Eliminating human error from the equation puts nonprofits on stronger financial footing.
So does the fact that each restriction release generated by Sage Intacct comes automatically with a paper trail. Accountants have transparency into grant spending to see potential issues earlier. They also have an easy tool to prove compliance with grant requirements. Even if the need for the snapshot isn’t immediately apparent, the fact that it exists helps nonprofits follow higher standards for governance and oversight—which helps with securing future grants.
RSM – Sage Intacct Experts for Nonprofits
With its user-friendly interface and fully customizable functionality, the automation in Sage Intacct represents the best way to handle grant accounting. This is just one of multiple accounting workflows that Sage Intacct can now automate.
Empower accountants to work more productively, efficiently, and accurately to see the nonprofit become more effective than ever. Sage Intacct provides all the tools. RSM provides all the training, tactics, and techniques to use those tools to the fullest.
Contact us to get started.
