Being able to accept payments is important for all organisations, especially nonprofits, but many charities might encounter certain issues when processing payments. An overview of such problems and possible solutions is provided in this post.
Taking payments is an important staple of every organisation – especially Not-For-Profits. Then why is this process just so hard to get right?
The simple idea:
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Money comes in
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Arrives in bank
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Send out receipts
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Use money as needed
The reality:
Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. Money often comes in from many places and may arrive in more than one bank account, and need to be coded to different accounting codes from tracking and reporting. Receipting is not applicable to all transactions always, and there are different ways of receipting depending on giving individuals and organisations. And there are bank fees associated with payment gateways which means the money that arrives in your bank is not always the same as what was donated, making receipting even trickier:
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Money comes in from here, there and everywhere
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Some straight away, some not
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Some full amounts, some not
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Sometimes as a single lump sum from multiple donations, rather than individually
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The money has to be matched/reconciled to the correct contact, bank account, account code, etc.,
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You don’t always have the information on hand to put a random figure to a person easily – especially when it comes in as a lump sum
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Sometimes a person may do a single donation, but it needs to be split to more than one account code – perhaps because half is a general donation, and the other a targeted donation for a building fund or something similar
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Banks fees have to be calculated for each and added to each accurately so that receipting will be accurate
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Receipting needs to be handled carefully, and accurately
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You have to track how people want to be receipted. Under their company name? As a couple? As a couple, but with separate evenly split receipts?
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Are they wanting a receipt for every donation? Or is an End of Financial Year Combined receipt sufficient?
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Often one receipt format/template is just not enough. A one-off receipt would need to be worded differently from a combined receipt. Same if it goes to an organisation or to an individual. And perhaps even needing different receipts for different types of incomings.
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Tracking, reporting and spending this money has to all be managed as well
The solution:
The unfortunate news is that there’s no magic bullet to this mammoth task and no quick solution: the beast is just too broad. But there is also good news! There are options out there that get you in a much better position, and can help manage and tame this beast. Doing this manually with spreadsheets and Word documents is not the way to go.
Having a strong accounting software like Xero, and a versatile CRM like infoodle means that you can tick all of these boxes above. They help you to manage the process, make sure things are not missed, and speed up the process all round. Giving you more time to spend doing what matters, and not stuck in administrative snowstorms.
The Reality with a Solution:
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Payments are taken in a controlled manner using infoodle Forms
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infoodle has all the information, so it reconciles to the correct people with the correct amounts – understanding bank fees, and receipting requirements.
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infoodle sends this information to Xero, so that your accounts team has the information as well for easy and efficient reconciliation.
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Bulk send out your receipts in a few clicks from infoodle
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Run advanced reports that you can tailor to your needs and requirements
Click here for more information about processing payments.
To find out how infoodle can help you manage your finances, start a trial book a demo.
