If you’re running a non-profit, you can say confidently that you’re a busy person. You have a lot to do, and not a lot of time or resources to do it. That’s why you need to rely on the best resources available, no matter what they are. You can’t afford to waste money on an inferior product. You need to keep up, you need to know what works — now. And when it comes to finances, you can’t afford to waste time. Non-profit organizations don’t have the luxury of large accounting teams. Oftentimes, you need to rely on a small handful or people, or even just yourself. For those moments, you need the right kind of budgeting and forecasting tools. You need something that fits you — but how do you know what’s right?
Easy to use
The most important thing about choosing budget and forecasting tools is that you need something user friendly. Again, you’re busy, you have about five hundred things that need to be done yesterday. You do not have time to struggle with software that is difficult to use. For years, Excel spreadsheets were the go-to for financial forecasting, but they’re cumbersome and frustrating, and not time efficient. Instead, choose a software that is intuitive, and easy to understand.
Easy to collaborate
Even if the software is easy to use, you shouldn’t have to use it alone. The best kind of budgeting and forecasting tools are the kind that is easy to teach and collaborate with. One great example of what this means is cloud technology. Before, you needed key personnel to send and update you with their info. That usually meant a lot of time wasted tracking people down, hounding them for updates. Now, with the cloud, collaboration is a breeze! Simply make a report that can be shared with multiple people, and they can update it from wherever they are.
Easy for change
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the forecasting job is over once your budget plan is made. Often, you need to go back and update the plan as priorities shift or new information becomes available. Don’t worry, this is normal. The right kind of budgeting and forecasting tools make it easy for you to update when needed. You don’t need to “lock yourself in” to one plan at the start. Another helpful feature is when software makes it easy for you to make multiple projections simultaneously. That way, you can make more accurate predictions depending on things like donor or member fluctuations or unexpected lack of (or excess of) funds.
Questica’s non-profit budgeting solution is the easy to use, easy to collaborate and easy to change software that you’re looking for. Our budgeting and forecasting tools provide you with all these notable features and more. If you are interested in trying our advanced budget management system for yourself, you can request a demo for yourself or sign-up for one of our free monthly webinars. Make the right choice for your forecasting tools, with Questica.
