Recommendation Six | Evaluate Opportunities for System Integrations
The majority of both groups see some importance in having an integration between the fundraising and accounting system. Identify where there is opportunity for improved efficiencies and reducing duplicate data entries in two systems. Less manual work equals less room for errors and more reporting consistency.
There are many key advantages to integrating your accounting and development systems including:
Reduced Manual Error. The less data that is being keyed and rekeyed, the less chance of having errors that require additional time and effort to reconcile.
Reduced Time. In addition to being error prone, duplicate data entry can take a lot of staff time to complete. By automating these processes, time can be spent on other, more critical areas.
Streamlined Coding. By integrating your systems, your Chart of Accounts (COA) can be incorporated behind the scenes into your development software so that when an entry is made in the system, the coding automatically occurs helping to streamline the process and reduce errors.
Improved Controls. With your chart of account setup and defined by accounting, and then overlaid onto the development system, you have better control and consistency on the coding improving the data that flows between systems.
Timely Access to Data. When systems are integrated, it keeps them up to date with the most recent data providing access to timely information for both departments.
While automating the integration between systems is often the most desirable, sometimes that is not always possible. If that is the case, there may be other options available to help connect your systems. We covered data integration in a previous post, but here is a recap of some of the important points.
Data Integration allows you to interface data from one software application to another software application. By mapping information coming from the first system to the corresponding fields in the second system through a definition file or template you can easily transfer data electronically. This mapping file becomes the key that talks to both systems. This type of data integration may be something you can use to eliminate some of your more time intensive manual processes.
Some Key Points on Data Integration:
As you setup your integration it will be critical that you test the process to insure that the import is working correctly and achieves your goals. Depending on the systems you are integrating you will usually have some functionality for error handling as well.
Whatever method you implement, the advantages of integrating your financial and fundraising systems are numerous and can help to improve the dynamics between the two departments.
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