By Melissa Lagowski Founder/CEO/Queen Bee Successful financial management is one of the greatest keys to the sustainability of your nonprofit or association. The accuracy of your numbers is crucial for day-to-day funding of staffing, programming and strategic planning. And yet, depending on the source, 40% of nonprofit leaders and 60% of small business owners say they are not good at bookkeeping. Accounting is a highly-regulated area of importance for your organization, and yet most nonprofits do not invest in securing the specialists needed to manage their finances. And even when an association does hire a bookkeeper, leadership might not know...
By Melissa Lagowski Founder/CEO/Queen Bee If your nonprofit or association manages cash flow or oversees the filing of financial documentation on a regular basis, check out these warning signs that indicate when it’s time to hire a new bookkeeper. 1. Missed Deadlines Reconciliations and reporting are on a steady and predictable cycle. Bank statements are issued by the end of the month, so the bookkeeper should be able to reconcile all accounts and provide the monthly reports by the 15th of the following month. Governmental deadlines are also established and follow a regular pattern for submissions. If your filings are...
By: Melissa Lagowski President, Founder and Queen Bee, Big Buzz Idea Group When I first became an Executive Director, I was so excited! I couldn’t wait to roll up my sleeves and dig into the work to make my organization and the community prosper and thrive. But it didn’t take long to realize that running an organization as a team of one was exhausting, though I couldn’t fully understand why the task seemed so daunting. After many years, as I reflect on my first nonprofit role, it now seems so clear: executive directors are expected to wear many hats. How...
