Project Pros Guides a Nonprofit to Financial Confidence

Project Pros works alongside a nonprofit organization that is mission-driven and growing quickly, but lacked the accounting structure needed to support long term sustainability and audit readiness. While the organization was deeply focused on impact, its financial systems and reporting had become increasingly difficult to manage without professional accounting guidance. Project Pros partnered with leadership to educate, correct, and continuously support their financial operations while strengthening internal understanding of nonprofit accounting best practices.

When Project Pros began working with the organization, there was limited familiarity with GAAP principles and how they apply specifically to nonprofit accounting. The organization’s QuickBooks Online system was synced to a CRM that also functioned as its accounting management system, which resulted in only journal entries flowing into QBO. This setup created significant challenges for accounts receivable reporting, as detailed customer-level data was not available within the accounting system. Project Pros worked with leadership to explain the implications of this structure and provided guidance on how to improve reporting accuracy while maintaining operational workflows.

The organization also did not have depreciation schedules in place for its equipment, which affected the accuracy of financial statements. Project Pros educated the team on capitalization and depreciation requirements, developed depreciation schedules, and incorporated them into the accounting records. At the same time, accounts receivable had grown to nearly one million dollars, with invoices dating back more than five years that had never been written off despite being uncollectible. Project Pros reviewed aging reports, explained best practices around write-offs, and helped leadership clean up A/R balances to reflect a more accurate financial position.

Vendor payments presented another challenge, as overpayments and duplicate payments had occurred over time. Project Pros helped identify these issues, explained how they impact cash flow, and implemented controls to reduce the risk of future errors. Budgeting was also a major pain point. All budgets were created outside of the accounting system and did not align with actual financial data, making forecasting unreliable. Project Pros worked with the organization to bring budgeting into the accounting system, educating leadership on how to use budgets as a real-time planning and decision-making tool.

Several balance sheet and reporting issues further impacted accuracy. Certain profit and loss expenses, including fuel reimbursements and payroll-related items, were incorrectly recorded on the balance sheet. Project Pros provided education on proper account classification and corrected these entries so the financial statements accurately reflected operations. Reconciliations were nearly six months behind, and there were no reliable cash flow reports available. Project Pros worked through the backlog, brought reconciliations current, and introduced cash flow reporting to give leadership better visibility into the organization’s financial health.At the same time, the organization was preparing for an upcoming audit without having accurate financial reports. Project Pros helped leadership understand audit expectations, improved reporting accuracy, and supported audit readiness by cleaning up the general ledger and ensuring documentation was properly maintained. Additional challenges were identified in the CRM and QBO integration, including duplicate transactions, missing data, and inconsistent general ledger codes between systems. Project Pros educated the team on proper system alignment and worked to standardize coding and improve data integrity across platforms.

Today, Project Pros continues to support this nonprofit as an ongoing accounting and advisory partner. Leadership now has a clearer understanding of nonprofit accounting principles, access to accurate and timely financial reports, and systems that support transparency, forecasting, and compliance. This case reflects Project Pros’ role as educators and long-term partners, helping mission-driven organizations strengthen their financial foundation so they can focus on the work that matters most.