Fund accounting

Functional fund accounting is crucial to achieving transparency and impact for non-profit organizations like yours, @jantco. Indeed, QuickBooks Online (QBO) can meet these specialized needs, which is critical to supporting your mission. Let's explore how QBO can manage and streamline your non-profit's financial processes.

Fund Accounting and Non-Profits, any tax-exempt organization that qualifies under Section 501 of the United States Internal Revenue Code, operates as a non-profit and engages in Fund Accounting. Non-profits must categorize their financial information into various categories or funds and utilize standardized non-profit reports to present information about these funds.

These funds have specific restrictions on how resources can be used. They are instrumental in measuring the revenues and expenditures associated with particular activities. Each organization is responsible for properly collecting, disbursement, and controlling all money related to the funds it receives.

To learn more details, please check this article: Fund Accounting for non-profits.

Moreover, you can scan this article to learn how to track fund donations via credit card, bank transfer, or cash in QuickBooks Online: Track funds you receive from donors in QuickBooks Online.

Do you still have questions about Fund accounting? Don't hesitate to reply to this thread; I'll gladly answer them. Take care and have a great day ahead!

So I understand the fund/class accounting in the P&L, but are you suggesting that the Balance Sheet accounting for specific causes/projects be accounted for as a sub-account of a bank account?  Is this your work around since QBO can't do a Balance Sheet by class?

So I understand the class accounting in the P&L, but are you suggesting that the fund tracking on the Balance Sheet be accomplished by sub-accounts of the bank accounts?  This is the work around since QBO can't do a Balance Sheet by class?

Yes,@jantco. Since QuickBooks Online (QBO) doesn't support filtering the Balance Sheet report by class, creating sub-accounts under a bank account is a practical alternative. Let me discuss how this works below.

When you run a report in QBO, it uses a header or detailed information to display data. The report uses header data, while classes are linked only to transaction details. Therefore, running a balance sheet by class isn't possible as headers aren't linked to classes, resulting in inaccurate data.

If you have multiple funds, you can put the total amount of all the funds in one bank account on your chart of accounts, but you can keep track of each fund separately using multiple sub-accounts.

Each fund you want to track can have its sub-account. Every transaction you link to one of the sub-accounts you create is reflected in the parent account.

To set up sub-accounts, here's how:

1. Go to Transactions, then choose Chart of Accounts.
2. Click New.
3. Enter the account name
4. Select Save account under ▼ the dropdown to choose Bank Accounts.
5. In the Tax form section ▼ dropdown, select Checking.
6. Enter the fund name in the Account name field.
7. Select the Starting date and opening balance to add that information.
8. Once done, click Save.

Moreover, you can also run a Profit and Loss report by class or location since location is saved on a transaction and linked to both the header and detail of the transaction. To know more about this, check out this article: Run a balance sheet by class or location in QuickBooks Online.

If there's anything you want to add to your report that's unavailable within QuickBooks, you can also export it to Excel. From there, you can personalize your data further manually.

Drop a comment below if you have follow-ups about running a Balance Sheet in QBO or other QuickBooks-related concerns. I'll be around to assist you.

Exporting to Excel is only a solution because QBO can't do it right.

However, are you suggesting that using locations can be a workaround for not being able to create a BS by class?  Use locations instead of classes?

I acknowledge it's important that you export your transactions in QuickBooks Online (QBO). Let me share the information that will work for you, Jantco.

In QBO, filtering or grouping the balance sheet by class is impossible since the headers are not associated with classes. Although you can add a column for classes, this will not yield accurate results, as the headers are categorized as "Not Specified" rather than being sorted by their assigned class.

Unlike filtering by class, you can filter both your balance sheet and profit and loss by location because when you save a location on a transaction, it's linked to both the header and detail.

Here's how to run a balance sheet by class:

1. Go to Reports.
2. Search and open the Balance Sheet.
3. In the Display columns by ▼ dropdown, select Locations.
4. Click Run report.

On the other hand, location filtering is possible on the balance sheet. This is because when a location is saved on a transaction, it is linked to both the header and the detail of the transaction.

Check this article that guides you to let you see all the payments for one location and deposit them as a group: Set up and use location tracking in QuickBooks Online.

If you have other concerns or any related questions about exporting transactions in QuickBooks Online. Just comment below, and I'll be here for you.

Thanks for your help.

I'm glad to see you received the info you were looking for here in the Community, jantco. 

You may also be interested in a new service from Intuit called QuickBooks Live Expert Assisted. With this program you can connect with live accountant agents who can offer an extra hand with more complex accounting issues. This link provides additional details: QuickBooks Live Expert Assisted 

Please feel free to reach back out if you have any other questions. The Community always has your back!