Is your charity using the right software?

Charities can often suffer from a lack of investment in digital technologies, which is often attributed to tight control on expenditure.

We’re finding a number of our charity clients are affected by the upcoming end-of-life status of various Sage products on 30 September 2022 and QuickBooks Desktop on 1 February 2023. This can result in urgent changes to systems and processes, which can add to the already substantial work of trustees and bookkeepers.

Although forced change is often unwelcome, it does create opportunities to review processes. We would encourage you to get in touch with your usual EQ contact to discuss your options before making a decision. Selecting a system which appears suitable, only to discover that another change is necessary in the near future, either due to changes in legislation or the organisation’s requirements, can be both infuriating and expensive. We have seen a number of situations where clients have purchased upgraded versions of their existing package with promises from vendors that there will be no change to their user experience and functionality, only to encounter a significant learning curve which is more complex than changing to a package better suited to their organisation.

Cloud accounting makes things easier for bookkeepers, trustees and accountants – with the ability to access the accounting records remotely and various add-ons available to reduce your workload. It brings functionality that even the smallest charities can utilise without worrying that their systems are out-dated.

As a Platinum Partner of Xero, and an accredited accountant partner of Sage, we can find a solution which best serves your needs and assist in implementing a new system in your organisation.

With the deadline for affected Sage customers just over a month away, and not much further for Quickbooks customers, contact a member of our EQ Charities team at charities@eqaccountants.co.uk, or call one of our offices, if you would like to discuss anything mentioned above in more detail.