The Townsend Report

Photo by  Richard Horvath  on  Unsplash I have worked on  grant management systems for federal, state, and local governments as well as non-profits for over twenty years.  I have noticed a new emphasis on the requirement for flexibility in creating a system which can be easily modified to handle new grant programs and changes in business rules. Here are my top dos and don'ts from our experience and that of our customers: Whether you are a grantor or a grantee, don't develop a new system for every program .  When a new program is created, it may seem simpler to start from scratch and spin up a new system in order to avoid changes to your existing system.  This approach is an easy trap to fall into, but later you will end up with multiple systems which separately need to be maintained, upgraded, and enhanced.  Creating reports that combine data from multiple systems is needlessly difficult compared to using a centralized, integrated approach from the beginning. Consider yo

Photo by John McArthur on Unsplash The latest version of Serenic NaviPayroll incorporates dozens of new features and enhancements, but the most exciting is generating pay stub emails. This feature automatically sends an electronic version of the pay stub as part of the batch processing for each pay period. You can individually configure employees to receive pay stub emails, or use filters to configure the pay stub feature for all or selected groups of employees. To learn more, see the Sylogist Knowledge Center . 

  Top Portal Types Businesses, schools, governments and nonprofits use web portals in many ways.  The Portal Connector has identified 6 of the most popular scenarios that require web portals: Sales . Customer portals can make it easier to add new products and conduct sales activities with fewer communications.  They offer 24x7 access even when this would not be practical for sales staff. Consider how self-service has changed home and car buying and ask yourself whether your business would benefit from similar sales portal capability.  Profile management . Errors in customer data are expensive, so allowing self-service profile updates can improve the quality of your data along with better customer service.  Form management . Portals can replace email for completing electronic forms.  The data from the forms can flow straight to the database or customer relationship management system (CRM) where it needs to be. Forms with online help and validation also result in better quality data tha

Although the most popular accounting  software  products, from QuickBooks to SAP, handle the needs of businesses in many industries, nonprofits have a business model and therefore accounting standards that are different from those of manufacturers, retailers, healthcare and other  commercial  sectors.    What makes nonprofits so special that their accounting tools must be different?  How can you find out which accounting software will be suitable for your nonprofit organization?     For starters, the essence of being a nonprofit is that, unlike nearly every other business, your organization is driven by goals that do not relate to financial profit.   You are pursuing a mission.   Your success is not measured by a profit and loss statement, but rather by nonfinancial metrics for activities such as feeding the  hungry , improving the environment, conquering disease or whatever your mission may be.      Churches fall under the category of nonprofits.  Unlike for-profit businesses, churche