Overcome the NFP sector’s unique challenges and streamline the way your accounting team, fundraisers and volunteers work. AccountsIQ allows you to achieve transparency, consistency and SORP compliance with slick, digital processes and low cost of ownership.
Gain full transparency with detailed expenses tracking, linked to funds and easily segregate income streams. Work with our platform experts to create your unique, multi-dimensional coding framework and set up the exact reporting you need.
Swap costly upgrades, expensive hardware and heavy implementation costs for one single affordable monthly subscription. Built in the cloud, AccountsIQ integrates seamlessly with other apps, allowing you to streamline processes, reduce errors and save time.
Transform the way you work with AccountsIQ’s automated processes. Spend more time on strategic work and less on repetitive administrative tasks. Go digital with approvals, expenses, bank feeds, reconciliation, document storage, FX, consolidation and more.
This multi-dimensional reporting is perfect for our setting. It has revolutionised our potential to do our job here in the centre. That is to stand over these charitable funds and know exactly what’s going on with the funds of each charity.
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AccountsIQ is Enclude’s preferred accounting platform for its charity clients. IT charity consultancy Enclude was formed with the aim of helping other charities adopt technology to improve their financial management processes.
IT charity consultancy Enclude was formed with the aim of helping other charities adopt technology to improve their data management, communications, CRM and financial management processes. Sylvester Murphy is Enclude’s CEO and also implementer of cloud-based financial management system AccountsIQ, Enclude’s preferred accounting platform for its charity clients.
Describing his reasons for selecting AccountsIQ, Sylvester says, “We undertook research a number of years ago in conjunction with a group of charities including the Irish Charities Tax Reform Group. The purpose of that exercise was to assess the impact of emerging legislation and SORP requirements and try to identify a suitable charity accounting software package for the sector. AccountsIQ, a web-based accounts system, emerged as a great candidate from this research. We approached them and they were delighted to assist in structuring an offering for the sector.”
Over 1,000 charities are registered with Dublin-based Enclude all of whom are seeking to improve their digital capabilities and enhance their IT systems and business solutions.
The requirements for financial management systems can vary across charity sectors and over time. In choosing a financial system, Boards and management teams are seeking solutions that are accessible, affordable and scalable. Increasingly, organisations are seeking systems that will also offer the potential for integration with other systems such as a CRM and Payroll systems.
Smaller charities can realise the benefits of improved management and controls by moving from spreadsheets to fully fledged accounting databases. For charities with incomes in excess of €500,000 with higher transaction volumes, automated processes such as bank reconciliations will save a significant amount of time. Charities in the €1-5M bracket might need to map payroll data and other expenses across different programmes and cost centres, requiring more complex coding structures. Larger charities in the €5M or greater bracket will also benefit from workflow automation and the capability to handle multi-entity organisations with groupwide data consolidation and reporting.
Sylvester adds, “We find AccountsIQ unique in that it can meet the needs of both small and very large charities. We have been able to become proficient in implementing one financial software system which, although it is often adapted differently, fundamentally suits the needs of the widest range of charities.
The Charities Act of 2009 represented a significant milestone for the charity sector in Ireland. It reformed the law relating to charities in order to ensure greater accountability and a Regulator was introduced. It triggered an ongoing narrative across the sector around transparency, governance and the need for improved systems to better manage reporting and compliance. One way in which charities could enhance public trust and confidence was through improved reports: financial reporting had to become more sophisticated, requiring charities to review their accounting models so that they could report across a variety of operating categories. Sylvester adds,
One challenge our Irish charities had in complying with the 2009 legislation was in moving away from very ‘flat’ accounting structures and introducing multi-layered reporting on income and expenditure by SORP heading and cost centre such as programmes, projects and branch location. AccountsIQ’s flexible coding structure and GL structure allows charities to classify their programme expenses with little extra effort.
In addition to the sector’s specific reporting requirements, AccountsIQ holds many standard, template reports within the system itself. It is also possible for information to be manipulated in Excel should charities need to create particular reports for specific stakeholders.
In addition to complying with the 2009 Irish Charities Act, many of Enclude’s clients also have entities based in different jurisdictions which need to comply locally as well as centrally. These accounts need to be consolidated in a consistent manner (and currency) for group reporting, all of which is handled within AccountsIQ’s integrated consolidation module. Sylvester adds, “Prior to using AccountsIQ for consolidation, the work done in spreadsheets by our multi-entity charities was hugely complex and time-consuming.”
Non-profit organisations are often structured and resourced with staff and volunteers which may be part-time and working remotely. Commenting on the suitability of cloud apps in these scenarios, Sylvester says,
Cloud-based business apps like AccountsIQ give charities robust tools coupled with tremendous flexibility in how services are delivered and managed. You can access the software anytime and from any device. Also, the system allows you to define user profiles which means that you have very strict controls over who can access the system and to what degree. Providing remote access to people like external accountants or auditors can also help charities negotiate lower fees.
Over the years, Enclude has developed a tried and tested implementation model supported by the customer success team at AccountsIQ. A phased implementation approach usually works well, allowing the charity to make steady progress at a manageable pace and to spread the costs over time.
The initial phase includes defining the data structure and chart of accounts so that data from previous systems or spreadsheets can be imported and correlated. “This ensures that fundamental reporting requirements will be met. With AIQ in place we then tend to look at potential for further enhancements such as integration with the organisation’s CRM solution.”
Where charities have implemented a cloud based CRM solution to manage their client service programmes, donor management and fundraising activities, he says it is possible to achieve further levels of efficiencies and control by integrating data feeds between the CRM system and AccountsIQ. “We have worked with a number of Charites, who have automated the processing of their donations from their web site into their CRM and onwards into their AccountsIQ financial management system.“
Enclude’s clients which use AccountsIQ are supported in the first instance by Enclude. More complex issues requiring level 2 support are escalated to Enclude’s customer success manager at AccountsIQ.
On the quality of support, he receives from the AccountsIQ’s team, Sylvester says,
The services team and support at AccountsIQ is very good and that is particularly important in the charity sector as we seek to transition the digital divide and build trust and competence in cloud solutions. The entire support process is managed within the system itself and there is a range of “How To” guides and online Help tools.”
AccountsIQ’s CEO Tony Connolly says, “It is great to see the Cloud making such a positive impact in the Charity sector. It is a pleasure to work with the team at Enclude which finds ways to make digital transformation achievable for other charities by providing experience, skills and resource.”
AccountsIQ’s ease of adoption and time-saving benefits enable Whale and Dolphin Conservation to weather a perfect storm
Wildlife charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) inspires global actions to achieve its vision of a world where every whale and dolphin is safe and free. A combination of campaigns, research, education, and other conservation activities underpin WDC’s strategy to achieve its goal. With Headquarters in the UK and offices around the globe, WDC is funded through voluntary donations and grants by individuals, trusts, corporate partners and other stakeholders who share WDC’s commitment to the protection of whales and dolphins.
In early 2020 WDC’s Finance Director Jane Bryan ran into ‘a perfect storm’ of challenges for her department:
We had a tortuous experience with Sage. My first task was to find a new accounting system. We had a ticking clock. The need was very clear: we need it in, we need it working, and we need it quick.” – Yvonne Hanks
After narrowing down a long list of potential accounting platforms to a shortlist of five, AccountsIQ became the obvious choice for its charity-compliant feature set and great customer support at a price they could afford.
With other vendors I was handed over to sales people who didn’t really understand our needs. With AccountsIQ it was reassuring to speak to people who understood things from an accountant’s perspective. 99% of what we needed we felt AccountsIQ could offer.” – Yvonne Hanks
WDC implemented AccountsIQ for its two UK entities: the UK charity as parent and its UK trading company as subsidiary. Jane and Yvonne worked alongside AccountsIQ’s support team to set up the software so that it was charity compliant from the start:
When we set up AccountsIQ, I felt like we set it up properly. What we’ve done, it works. We’ve done the VAT returns. We’ve done internal reporting. And I’m confident we’ll be able to do external reporting for the SORP.” – Jane Bryan
Jane and Yvonne have both experienced time-saving benefits from the numerous automations and paper-saving processes in AccountsIQ:
I love the GL explorer – it’s a huge time saver. With the VAT return we used to download huge amounts of information and manipulate the data to find out our partial recovery rate. With the GL explorer, the information is already there for business and non-business income. We can tell our percentage at any point in time rather than at the end of every quarter which means the information is so much more accurate than it otherwise would have been.” – Jane Bryan
Jane and Yvonne credit AccountsIQ’s user-friendly features and substantial help resources with helping them get up to speed quickly with the platform. This includes:
These features make it easy to train new users, even when staff are working entirely from home.
We’ve always had people working from home, but where I’m really confident is with our new hires. Training can be very time-consuming but, with AccountsIQ, I’m confident that with a little bit of help they’ll be able to learn the tool largely on their own. The help documents and AIQ Academy e-learning platform mean our new hires can answer most of their questions themselves. This is better for them and better for us.” – Jane Bryan
People previously had to have a comprehensive knowledge of the organisation before putting invoices in the system. The way AccountsIQ is structured, because you can set up defaults for any supplier, and default BI codes by general ledger codes, you can have a fairly inexperienced user come in and quickly learn the system.” – Yvonne Hanks
We chose AccountsIQ for its easy implementation, excellent help notes, competitive price, and honest support. They seemed very experienced in migration from Sage Financials, very responsive, and I was able to have an ongoing relationship with the same people. Compared to other suppliers, it didn’t feel like people were selling the moon and not delivering. AccountsIQ has set us up to do internal and external reporting and VAT returns more quickly and more accurately than ever before.” – Jane Bryan
Innovative approach to multi-dimensional reporting killer AccountsIQ feature for Arts charity, Artichoke Trust
Artichoke Trust is a charitable organisation which works with artists to create large-scale public art events across the UK. Artichoke’s ambitious outdoor art projects include the Lumiere light festivals and Antony Gormley’s One & Other Fourth Plinth commission. As a charity managing multiple projects at once, each with varying budgets and funding sources, Artichoke Trust has unique accounting requirements when it comes to project accounting which need to be SORP compliant. In particular, it requires a granular level of detail to ensure accurate recording of core project costs as well as the ability to record project costs against phases.
Neil Goulder, Director of Finance & Operations at Artichoke Trust, had been using Sage Financials as his accounting tool but admits it had a “number of serious shortcomings”. When he learned of Sage’s plan to withdraw the product, it was an opportunity to look around for alternatives which might better fit his particular requirements in Project Accounting and provide the structure he needs for SORP compliance. Neil says,
I started to look for a good Cloud-based replacement that is strong on dimensional reporting and analysis codes. Among a dozen candidates was AccountsIQ. I took a peek at a demo system and really liked it. Great, scalable product, with an innovative approach to multi-dimensional coding.
Strong dimensional analysis is key for Neil. AccountsIQ allows for up to six customisable dimensions linked to a unique BI code, plus an infinite number of codes that can be assigned to each dimension. Reporting is possible across all dimensions and codes. AccountsIQ’s key strength is that only valid permutations of Analysis Codes can be used when data is input, which significantly reduces the risk of human error when it comes to tracking costs. Neil explains,
Dimensions are really important to us. We looked at Sage 50, but that only had two dimensions. We needed at least four, covering cost centres; projects; project phases; and individual light installations. There are some very expensive systems which can do it but there aren’t many affordable systems which offer this level of flexibility. That was an absolute ‘must’ from our point of view. AccountsIQ is the only product I’ve seen that allows you to create these ‘conditional’ dimensions.
AccountsIQ features an automated bank reconciliation functionality that has helped Neil speed up the period end reconciliation process.
I really like the way the Bank Rec module works. The system with Sage Financials was so overcomplicated we never used it and worked in spreadsheets instead. AccountsIQ is very straightforward. I like the way it recognises past transactions and fills in as much of the information as it can, which really speeds up the process.
Neil is able to upload paperwork against transactions which makes it much easier to provide information to auditors and also facilitate a mostly paperless environment. Ultimately, AccountsIQ enables Neil to keep all of his data in one place, largely automated, without the need for other spreadsheets or manual processes.
With smart use of the dimensions coding structure, I can get every piece of information needed into AccountsIQ so that I don’t have to maintain control accounts manually in Excel. It saves us a huge amount of time.
AccountsIQ’s Excel Add-in offers further efficiencies for Neil, allowing him to use a real-time data link from AccountsIQ to create tables in Excel which are fed into the SORP compliant statutory accounts prepared in Word. This means updates are refreshed instantly as changes are made to Statutory accounts.
AccountsIQ is brilliant at accommodating the structure needed for the SORP. We pull the information into our format live from AccountsIQ through Excel. It’s an incredibly quick and efficient process.
Having initially set an ambitious release target of two weeks, Neil was able to implement AccountsIQ at Artichoke Trust in a record-breaking two days. This was in large part due to Neil’s own tenacity in getting to grips with the BI codes and how they could best be mapped to his needs. AccountsIQ’s development team gave Neil access to a test system so he could model the BI codes before going live. He had also exported and cleaned the static data from his old accounting system such as customer information, bank account details, and the nominal ledger structure. This level of preparation allowed Neil to go live with AccountsIQ so quickly. He says,
I hoped we might break all records and implement it in a fortnight as our new accounting year started on the First of April. I signed a contract Wednesday morning and we went live at 4:30 the next day.
The elements that have really made a difference are AccountsIQ’s innovative implementation of analysis codes, the attaching of invoices, and the bank reconciliation module. These are things I didn’t have before, and they work beautifully. These features have made the biggest difference to the way I work, giving me the information I need. Of all of these, BI codes are the absolute killer feature that puts AccountsIQ head and shoulders above the competition.
