Best accounting software for charities UK in 2024

What is charity accounting software?

Accounting software for charities provides the tools and functionality for charities to improve their operations and the performance of their Finance team. Designed to meet the needs of charities, it offers key features such as generating fund financial reports and gift aid claims - missing from generic accounting software.

By opting to use the best accounting software for not for profit organisations, you can improve financial management on a daily basis.

Benefits of accounting software for charities

Accounting software for charities come with many benefits. Especially if you opt for one of the charity accounting software packages specifically designed to meet the needs of not for profits. You can look forward to all of the benefits highlighted below – plus a whole lot more!

• Improve efficiency and save time
• Make reporting easier
• Maximise insight from your data
• Improve compliance processes
• Flex to accommodate growth
• Stamp out ‘guesswork’ and time-consuming data-mining

Discover more about some of the core benefits delivered by charity accounting software.

Tighter control and visibility of funds

Does your charity benefit from multiple income streams? Does it have a variety of projects and departments working with cash? Then choosing a charity accounting software is the answer. It enables you to improve visibility, control cashflow, and see where money needs to be directed.

Produce reports in record time

Using charity accounting software makes it easier to report back to your organisational leaders, stakeholders and third parties.

Whether you utilise readymade reports for SOFA and SORP, you need to unpick VAT exemptions, create a cashflow statement, or you want to budget more effectively, you can do all this (and more) in one click.

Enable stakeholders to manage financial data effectively

Accurately and consistently maintaining financial data will make things easier for your charity and key stakeholders. Key functionality such as automated checks and approval workflows help to streamline financial data processes whilst still maintaining complete control.

Automate standard processes

Charity accounting software provides the built-in functionality to eliminate time-consuming manual tasks. It saves your Finance team countless hours every month, while the automated data flows improve the accuracy of your information and reports by removing the need to rekey.

What is the best accounting software for charities UK in 2024?

There are a number of providers to consider, so narrow down the options to those that focus in on your sector. This way, you’ll have a good chance of finding a solution that more closely fits with your needs now and going forwards.

We’ve looked at the three best accounting software providers for charities and provided a quick summary to help you compare.

The Access Group

With 25+ years of supporting non profit organisations, Access accounting software for charities is proven to simplify accounting processes. It covers the full finance cycle and including fund accounting, core ledgers, partial VAT, audit, corrections, reporting and more.

You can also enjoy additional options such as expense management and workflows. These features make this comprehensive solution is a market leader.

Sage

Sage offers cloud-based accounting software designed for trusts, charities and non profits. This includes weekly and monthly budgeting, donations, quarterly summaries and year end accounts. Other important features include automated admin tasks, transaction and donation reconciliation, and a mobile app.

Xero

Organised via a dashboard, the Xero accounting package for charities includes all the functionality you would expect. This includes cash in and out, expenses management, reporting, and online payroll. There is also an app that staff can use to monitor spend whilst out and about.

Common features of the best accounting software for not for profits

Whilst you’re evaluating what is the best accounting software for charities – and what might best suit the specific requirements of your not for profit – look out for these common features.

Cloud-based software

Have you have considered moving to the cloud? Learn how much of a difference cloud-based accounting software could make to your charity. By allowing staff, stakeholders, trustees and volunteers to submit data, complete tasks, action approvals and view relevant reports remotely and securely - everyone can work from wherever they are and on whatever device they’re on. Total flexibility.

Revenue sources and SORP compliance

The best charity accounting software packages are designed for ease of SORP compliance. Your staff won’t need to spend hours and hours trying to analyse income and expenditure across multiple fund streams.

Automatic expenses and receipt scanning

It’s likely your staff won’t enjoy manually entering data from their receipts and compiling their expenses claims. Some charity accounting software solutions include receipt scanning which speeds the whole process up and boosts accuracy.

Integration with HMRC

Imagine how much easier it would be to automate payroll and VAT submissions to HMRC. The good news is that with a modern charity accounting software solution: you can! It’s common for the latest iterations to integrate with HMRC and meet your Making Tax Digital requirements.

Integration with existing systems

Already using CRM, a membership solution, or a platform for fundraising? Then it will be helpful to assess any new charity accounting software on its ease of integration with what you currently have in place. Any charity accounting software provider worth their salt will be able to advise you on how this might work.

Optional add-ons

While some functionality may be common, not every charity accounting software package is the same. Consider add-on functions that might be useful for your organisation, such as:

• Automated purchase order
• Invoice entry automation
• Expenses management
• Credit card approvals

Things to consider when choosing the best charity accounting software for your organisation

Much as it’s interesting (and quite exciting!) to discover the clever tools available with various charity accounting software packages, also consider the following issues:

Size of your charity

Take into account the number of users you’ll need to licence for your new software, both from a practicality and cost perspective. For charity accounting software, bear in mind that it won’t just be the Finance team who want access. You may want to include funders, administrators and the senior leadership team too for example.

Scalability

Don’t fall into the trap of only considering what you need today. Think about longer term plans for growth and ensure that the charity accounting software you choose is flexible enough to scale as you need. It’s not only inconvenient to outgrow a system – it’s expensive to replace it in a short time too.

Cost of the software

There isn’t a simple answer when it comes to how much you would expect to pay for the best accounting software for not for profit. Cost is important, especially for money-conscious charities. Consider how prospective providers can help you get the best value for money.

Customer support

Introducing and integrating new software into your charity can feel like a big step. Especially if you only have a small IT team (or even no in-house technology expertise at all). Make sure the provider you choose offers the level of support you are likely to need in order to get the most out of your new charity accounting software.

Charity accounting software packages

Looking at the ‘big picture’ is a key part of deciding on which provider you go with for your new charity accounting software.

Once you’ve made that first step, you’ll need the time for assessing various levels of functionality and what support to include.

Choosing the best charity accounting software package for your specific needs will mean going a level deeper. Assess what your staff will use and how much the system needs to deliver to make their jobs easier.

Below are the Access charity accounting software packages which give an idea of what you can expect.

Next steps

Are you ready to find out more about charity accounting software and what it can do for your organisation? Check out the links below and choose your next step.

Explore our charity accounting software further or book a demo to see the software in action so you can see if it's the right fit for your organisation.