Most nonprofit board members get far too much material prior to their regular meetings, and certainly the financials are prime offenders. Face it: Most of your board members don’t take the time to slog through a five, ten or even twenty (yes, I’ve seen these) page financial report. While your board treasurer and members of your finance committee should go through the financials with a fine tooth comb, is that really necessary for other members? What most board members really need to see is a summary of income and expense against budget, a cash flow projection for the coming six months (also in summary) and a set of balance sheet generated ratios, again compared to goals and past performance.

Remember, any board member should be able to see any number they want, and right away. This kind of differentiation of reporting is intended to allow board members to perform their fiduciary responsibilities efficiently without being buried in numbers.

What about your staff? Does each member of your management team need to see the detailed financials for the entire organization? I don’t think they do. What each manager really needs is a report of her or his area of responsibility in detail and then summary information about the organization as a whole. And, of course, a cash flow projection; everyone needs to see that far too infrequent report.

My philosophy about financial reports is that they should be constructed to fit the varying needs of their intended audience. In reporting your numbers, one size definitely does not fit all. Ask board and staff members what kind of displays they really want. Show them some options and stay flexible. Some people love numbers as numbers. Others get more out of numbers as pictures (graphs and charts). Take a look at the options provided in your Serenic Software and begin a conversation with the end users of your financial reports about ways to accommodate their needs. They’ll be happier, the oversight will be cleaner and you’ll save a few trees to boot.

Since the release of Navigator 2009, I have had on my task list the need to update our Serenic Navigator Decentralized Technical White Paper.  If you are familiar with this white paper, then you understand the implications of the new Dynamics NAV 3-tier architecture for the   decentralized deployment of Serenic Navigator.  The recent announcement of NAV R2 further reveals how Microsoft is moving Dynamics NAV into the “cloud.”  How does this impact your organization if you have already or are getting ready to deploy Navigator in a decentralized environment?

NAV R2 will basically eliminate the need for Citrix or Terminal Services.  As mentioned in the press release, “this allows for remote or roaming users to take advantage of the richness and Microsoft Office integration of the RoleTailored interface and the many integration features connected to local resources, such as the operating system and Microsoft Office.” As the underlying architecture for Serenic Navigator (Dynamics NAV) continues to evolve, the deployment options have become even more flexible.

When I first wrote the decentralized white paper three years ago, the following options were available:

• Citrix or Terminal Services to deploy the NAV classic client
• Serenic Portal Services
• Data Backbone Replicator 4.21

Today, we have multiple clients around the world that run Serenic Navigator using these options.  One particular organization can open Microsoft Excel at headquarters, hit refresh and know the accounts payable balance for their Swaziland operating company.  They can do this daily.  Since the introduction of Navigator 2009 and with the upcoming release of NAV R2, completely new and exciting options are now available:

• NAV role-tailored client deployed using Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V)
• Serenic Portal Services that now uses native NAV web services
• Excel templates utilizing web services
• RapidiOnline (formerly Data Backbone) Replicator OnDemand

Now more than ever, the technical challenges of deploying software across the world have greatly been reduced.  The toolbox has definitely expanded and we haven’t even mentioned SaaS J–yet.

Until next time…

In the prior post, I discussed the strategic things do in a crisis. Now, let’s turn to some tactical tasks that can really help your organization.

• Once you have the best-case, worst-case and middle-case scenarios prepared by your crisis team, go to the board and choose a path.
• Run weekly cash flow projections that show receipts and disbursements out six months. Remember CASH=OXYGEN. Thus, your case projection is your most important financial report in a crisis.
• Inform creditors and vendors that you may well be late with payments, but that you have a plan. All vendors would rather get a small regular payment than none at all, and they definitely want to know you have a plan.
• Review all your contractual obligations. Is your office or vehicle lease amendable? Your other contracts? Does cutting one program affect the funding for another? Find out what you can and what you can’t cut.
• Be available to staff and volunteers to talk. This means being visible in your organization. Don’t hide behind your open door policy. As a leader, you are iconic, and never more so than in a time of crisis.

Finally, remember to take care of you, the leader. It’s natural to think you have to work hardest, longest, and take on all the decision-making. That’s a fast track to the ER, and in the interim, you don’t make very good decisions. Get your sleep, your exercise, eat right and do something that relieves stress. You’re the leader—the people that work and volunteer for you, to say nothing of the people your nonprofit serves, depend on you.

Crises come in all shapes and sizes. For most nonprofits, they have their root in money—and not enough of it. A contract gets cut, a grant reduced and things get far too interesting far too easily. Use the ideas here and you’ll at least have a strategy to get your nonprofit back on track. Remember, mission first.

My name is Celeste Bacon, I am the Training Coordinator for Serenic Software. I have been involved with Serenic‘s training program, now called SerenicEd, since I started with the company a little over eight years ago. When I began working at Serenic, Financial Management Implementation and Navigator Sales were the only two training classes offered, and, they were only available to partners once a quarter in Lakewood, CO. Now, I am very pleased to say, that we have several fund accounting classes scheduled each month, we are beginning to create more offerings for both partners and nonprofit clients, and we are conducting international classes in London!

The change that I am most excited about, however, is the addition of self-study training products. We just released our first self-study accounting class, titled Year End Processing. This hour-long tutorial covers the steps of closing the accounting periods and running the close income statement process. You can choose to run this training session at your convenience and if you need to leave the lesson at any time, you can pause it and pick up right where you left off. The Year End Processing self-study includes screen shots of the software to help you maintain context, and also includes embedded tutorials, which are little movies that illustrate specific processes. At the end of the training, there is a questionnaire to confirm whether you gleaned everything possible from the lesson, or if there are sections you may want to review again. I have to say, the response to this class has been great and we are all working hard to create more topic-specific products. In fact, the next self-study product which will cover Workflow, is already underway!

That is all for now…Be on the lookout for future announcements about new trainings, and feel free to contact me anytime at cbacon@serenic.com for more information or to register for a class!

When your nonprofit hits the wall (or, more recently, the wall falls down on your head), what’s the best leadership strategy? In this and my next post, we’ll take a look at a sequence of actions that can act as a checklist when (not if) a crisis presents itself to you. Before we go through my list, though, always remember the point of your nonprofit is to do good mission. That’s just as true in a crisis as in other times. Mission first, last and always.

When you confront a major crisis, start strategic and then move tactical. This is harder than it sounds. As leaders, we tend to want to fix something NOW when a problem pops up. When the problem is huge, we fix more small stuff faster, but often don’t stop and think through the larger mission issues before we start acting. Start Strategic.

Form a team of staff, board and outsiders to ask the following questions:

• How bad is the problem—really? (Rumor mills need to be checked out)
• Are programs or, worst case, the organization at risk?
• What guidance does our vision, mission, values, strategic and marketing plans give us as we decide how to proceed?
• Should we consider a new business model and/or merger?

Now, talk to peer organizations in the same position as you. Make sure you don’t reinvent the wheel. Then, once the data is in, create a best-case, worst-case, and middle-case for action.

Communication is key, but also a trap. Make sure you tell people (staff, volunteers, funders, the people you serve) what you know. What you know, not what you hope. What you know, not what you think may possibly perhaps sorta happen. The rumor mill can be deadly even if well intentioned. For example, if someone in a staff meeting asks, “Will we need to cut staff?” and you don’t know yet, but in trying to make them feel better say, “I sure hope not.”–what they hear is: “STAFF IS BEING LAID OFF!!!” What. You. Know.

In my next post, we’ll talk about a list of tactical things you can do.

We, at Serenic, were thrilled to once again be featured as an exhibitor during the 2010 InsideNGO Annual Meeting for finance, grants and contracts. As usual, it was a great time for us to connect with our users and attract potential clientele who shared insights and concerns about their current financial solutions.

This year’s meeting turned out to be great success across the board! Sessions for the 2010 InsideNGO included Stay Ahead of the FASB Curve, Cooking up a Sub-Award, and Indirect Cost in a Cap Environment. We also recently teamed up with InsideNGO to deliver a great webinar.  We look forward to many educational events with them again (and again!).

However, the most common obstacle faced by many of our prospective users  was the lack of integration between  financial software HQ’s and their field office solutions, who’s software often lacks multi-currency capabilities—thus, forcing organizations to use multiple applications to track their projects’ finance and awards. As you can imagine, this can be a real drag because many NGOs  end up having to duplicate their efforts, taking time away from work just to manage and sync their various software applications! Luckily, people were very responsive to our discussions about how Serenic Navigator can consolidate their efforts and overcome these challenges.

As it turned out, this year’s Microsoft World Wide Partner Conference happened to coincide with the InsideNGO Annual Meeting, giving top Serenic executives, like Randy Keith (President and CEO) and Chris Stevenson (VP of Sales), as well as members of Serenic’s Africa-based partner, TechnoBrain, to come out and press the flesh with InsideNGO attendees.

One of the attendees, Denise Graves, Budgeting Administrator at Jhpiego, actually won the $80 Visa Gift Card in our raffle—congrats, Denise! Use it wisely

All in all, the 2010 InsideNGO Meeting was a huge success. Thank you to everyone who attended the sessions, shared their experiences and discussed with us at Serenic their specific needs. It is through these kinds of constructive exchanges that we are able to improve our products in order to better serve you, the clientele.

Brooke and Ryan holding down the Serenic Software booth!

Brooke with Tanya Johnson, Finance Manager at Family Health International

The gentlemen from TechnoBrain, Ltd, our Africa-based partner! Left to Right: Thomas Cullen (VP, US Sales & Marketing), Manoj Shanker (Group CEO), Mahesh Patel (Chairman), Clint Cuny (CEO, USA)

Did you know that how a problem is described may be the key to finding the solution quickly? When it comes to support technicians, for example, issues could get replicated and resolved more expeditiously when the beginning processes are more efficient.

Let me explain—with an analogy!

“Joe’s Auto Shop” receives 2 cars to repair on a Monday morning.

The cars are dropped off with the following problems: (As dictated by the owner)

Car 1 – “Something is dripping on my clean garage floor”

Car 2 – “There seems to be a brown puddle under the car between the driver and passenger floor mats.  After watching for a few minutes I see the drip coming from a large bolt under the engine.”

Steps to fixing Car 1:

1. Ask mechanic to check oil pan bolt on Car 2
2. Spend 15 minutes quizzing the owner on where the drip is located, color, drip frequency. (no luck)
3. Drive into shop and place on the lift
4. Place large cardboard mat under car (5 min)
5. Go check Car 2 while waiting for something to drip on the cardboard
6. Come back after Car 2 is parked in the lot (5 min) and locate drip mark on cardboard (right between driver and passenger feet under a large bolt)
7. Tighten and clean the bolt (5 min)
8. Take another customer and come back in 15 minutes to find the bolt is still clean
9. Lower the car and move to the parking lot

(Total wait time = Approx. 40 minutes)

Steps to fixing Car 2:

1. Drive into shop
2. Place on the lift
3. Locate bolt under the center of the driver and passenger’s feet
4. Tighten and clean the bolt (15 minutes so far)
5. Go get Car 1 up on a lift
6. Come back in 5 minutes to find the bolt is still clean
7. Lower the car and move to the parking lot

(Total wait time = Approx. 20 minutes)

Although the problems were identical, one owner saved themselves time, and likely a few dollars, by making a closer observation at home before bringing the car in for repair. The mechanic was able to use the time efficiently to solve the problem.

This example can be applied to any situation involving problem solving—especially when you are having difficulty with your nonprofit accounting software.  Often, support requests come in with very little information for the support technician to troubleshoot, and this adds time to the process.  For example, instead of expressing “I am getting an error message when I print checks,” it would help for the support tech to know at what point you’re getting an error message, as well as what the error message says—screenshots are a big help and timesaver here!

Describing your problem thoroughly can save you time and money with a doctor, plumber, electrician, mechanic, or your friendly neighborhood Software Support Technician—helping you get to your end result with ease.

Last week I was asked by a controller new to his position if the auditors would be easy on them because they were a nonprofit organization. I must admit I was really surprised by the question and calmly explained that no, nonprofits are not given a “break.” In fact, the requirements on nonprofits were onerous and especially complex if the NFP was receiving grants from any governmental organization.

I explained the alphabet soup of regulations including: GAAP, FASB, A-133, A-122 and so forth. I further clarified that he was also responsible for specific US HUD regulations, because his organization received HUD funds for housing. After a lengthy conversation, I felt bad for the new controller—his life just got a lot more complex in terms of accounting.

Later, when I got home, I thought about how financial controls have changed in my career—no jokes about doing T-Accounts on cave walls. I can remember when federal cash advances were actually cash advances.  Life was so simple: we would estimate the cash needs for the month and draw it all down. When I first started working for a community health center, we actually kept the finances in 13 column ledger books. Our first computer used Microsoft’s first spreadsheet program, called Multiplan, and then we moved to Lotus 1-2-3—life was good.

I also remember a few examples of why, at least in my opinion, the regulations got so extensive, and the requirements on audits expanded to include so much internal control compliance review.

In the St. Louis area, a vast network has formed as a result of the extensive need for nonprofit services. Most of them provide great services and managed their financials correctly, but a few were a financial mess.  Let me give you a few examples.

• Example 1: Organization A had two sets of books, one for the auditors, and one the Executive Director carried in the trunk of his car.  The police found the second set of books when he had a heart attack and crashed his car on the interstate.

• Example 2: Organization B was an early adopter of a new computer system. They didn’t test the quality of their back-up tapes and kept no paper trail of activity.  When their hard disk crashed, the organization lost all of their financial and client data.  It was no surprise that they went out of business.

• Example 3: Organization C used their CPA firm to first prepare the financial records and then audit them. I will never forget the audit opinion: “The audited financial statements bear little or no resemblance to the organization’s financial statements.” Can you imagine that happening today—and this was one of the Big Eight CPA firms, now called the Final Four or Big 4?

Yes!  Nonprofit audits are extensive and rightfully so; bankruptcies and the issues discussed above should not be allowed to happen and if the audit work can give the donors and grantors a level of confidence in the NFP’s books and controls, we are all better off.

As every reader knows, the board members of a nonprofit organization are fiduciaries, personally responsible for the activities, resources and well-being of the organization. There are many great resources online about better boards, better policies, etc., but in this space, I want to go over some key components of current best thinking about boards as fiduciaries.

Have Turnover

• A permanent board is not a good idea, and nearly all accrediting bodies require that boards have terms and that new members come on with some regularity. This is challenging for many organizations, but it’s essential to have new perspectives on your governing body. Train your board regularly about your organization—don’t just have one night’s orientation each year.

Have Quorums

• You can’t do business without a quorum and, for individual board members; not being at a meeting is no defense if the board does something stupid or illegal.

Have Access to Information

• Make access to information easy and in readable form. This is particularly true for financial reporting. Talk to your board about what they want to see, and then make sure it’s in understandable form for non-financial experts. Also, have a passworded section of your website just for your board members with access to much more information than you want to give them in print.

Have a Conflict of Interest Policy

• Not having a conflict policy is a deal-killer for many funders. Review it every year (including discussion of what it means) and have all board members sign annually.

Have an outside Audit and an Audit Committee

• If your organization is of any size, you need an outside audit with a management letter, and it needs to be delivered to your audit committee directly, not through your paid staff.

These five items are not the complete picture, but they are the big issues in improving the fiduciary capabilities of your board.

–Peter Brinckerhoff (biography), a Serenic Software Blog content contributor

A few weeks ago, I was in Copenhagen, Denmark to participate in the second Software Design Review (SDR) for NAV ‘7’.  The agenda is made up of multiple sessions where product managers and developers from Microsoft interact with select partners on functionality they plan to incorporate into future releases—a very iterative and productive process.  Unfortunately, I am unable to elaborate on the details of NAV ‘7’ , but the sessions did inspire me to write this blog.

I have been working with Dynamics NAV since version 2.6 when Dynamics NAV was marketed as “business your way.” Back then, Steve Ballmer made statements like, “I want to be Denmark.” This referenced the success of vertical solution offerings based on Dynamics NAV in Denmark, and therefore, a business model Microsoft needed to replicate worldwide.

After concluding the SDR, I really had to ask myself whether the current Microsoft Dynamics tag line of “People-Ready™” really does the NAV product line justice.  I kind of like the old messaging, as I think it better promotes the capabilities of NAV.  In fact, I predict that there is going to be an increase in the number of organizations not only using NAV as an ERP product, but adopting the underlying Dynamics NAV framework as a development platform.

Microsoft develops NAV based on these five basic values:

• Simplicity
• Productivity
• Continuously take advantage of Microsoft technology
• User experience leadership
• Rapid time-to-value

From what I could tell, NAV ‘7’ stays true to every one of these values. I look forward for when this version is available, so Serenic can continue to take advantage of the underlying NAV framework to further enhance or build new accounting software solutions for our nonprofit market.  Some really cool stuff is making its way into the underlying framework!

Until then, as a current (or future) nonprofit, NGO or public sector organization using Navigator, I might suggest that you consider expanding the vision of what this framework can do for you. Serenic and our partners have many nonprofit clients who have utilized the base Dynamics NAV framework within Serenic Navigator to incorporate functionality that displaced internally-built Microsoft Access, Excel or other 3^rd-party solutions, thereby enabling a more truly integrated overall solution—this premise being that you have a centralized development environment and can deliver a unified user experience (our most recent 2009 version made this proposition even more appealing).

I don’t know that people will be standing in line at midnight like they did when Windows 95 was released, but the future looks bright for the Dynamics NAV camp and I would suggest that any investment in the NAV framework will be supported well into the future.