Having a fund accounting system can considerably streamline your finance operate. You have got automation, workflows, and dashboards instantly after implementation.
However you’re able to take it a step additional.
Instruments like Energy Automate and Energy BI can prolong your fund accounting and rework your nonprofit accounting software program into an much more highly effective instrument. Leveraging these applied sciences helps you save much more time and extract much more actionable insights out of your knowledge.
Extensibility initiatives like these will be intimidating to get began. Fortunately, low-code and no-code options make embarking on these initiatives extra accessible than ever, permitting you to customise your fund accounting software program with out intensive technical experience. From automating experiences to enhancing knowledge visualization, this course of empowers your group to realize higher accuracy and effectivity, in the end driving your mission ahead.
This weblog publish will information you thru a structured 60-day plan to efficiently launch your fund accounting extensibility challenge, enabling you to optimize your operations and make extra data-driven selections.
Week 1: Analyze Your Enterprise Processes
First, perceive your present enterprise processes. Spend the primary week detailing the key workflows that your group depends on. Search for areas that contain repetitive guide duties, bottlenecks, frequent knowledge entry errors, or person frustration.
Visually map these processes that will help you establish inefficiencies and alternatives for automation or enchancment. Use this course of map to pinpoint the place enhancements will probably be most impactful. Contain group members to get sensible insights and be sure that the recognized areas align with day-to-day operations.
This foundational understanding will information the event part, making certain your challenge meets your organizational targets. And having this course of map will make your subsequent extensibility challenge go even quicker.
Week 1: Plan for Profitable Outcomes
When you are analyzing your enterprise processes and understanding the problems, additionally establish what success will appear to be. Are you attempting to shut your books quicker, scale back errors, or create higher knowledge storytelling?
Spend the primary week additionally verifying you’ve got methods to trace these metrics constantly—or setting them up if you happen to don’t—making certain your challenge stays aligned with its targets. Common assessments will assist you to spot areas needing additional enchancment and supply tangible proof of success to stakeholders. This ongoing analysis not solely retains your challenge on observe but in addition ensures you possibly can exhibit its worth clearly and convincingly.
Week 2: Supply Examples and Templates
In week two, you progress from “the what” to “the how” of your extensibility challenge. Discovering related examples and templates can considerably speed up your challenge’s progress. These sources present confirmed frameworks which you could adapt to your group’s particular wants, saving you the effort and time of ranging from scratch.
Search for profitable case research and discover ready-made templates so you possibly can perceive what works properly and keep away from frequent pitfalls. Be part of communities (just like the Microsoft Energy Platform) and ask others what’s labored for them. Templates may help standardize your method, making certain consistency and reliability all through the challenge.
Moreover, many examples include detailed documentation, providing step-by-step steering that may make clear complicated processes and assist you to implement greatest practices. This strategic method empowers you to construct on current data and create efficient options tailor-made to your group.
Week 2: Acquire Finish-Consumer Enter
When you are gathering greatest practices and templates, additionally collect enter out of your group.
Gaining suggestions out of your end-users is essential for a profitable challenge. They’re those interacting with the system every day and might supply sensible insights into what works and what doesn’t.
Share your course of maps within the format that works greatest on your viewers—a PowerPoint presentation or a Visio diagram, for instance—and ask for his or her enter. This collaboration ensures that the enhancements you intend to implement are aligned with precise person wants, lowering the danger of unexpected points. Their suggestions can spotlight potential issues and supply modern options that you could be not have thought of.
By involving end-users early on, you additionally foster a way of possession and buy-in, which will be crucial for the graceful adoption of recent processes. Make sure that to combine their options into your planning part, refining your method to handle the real-world challenges they face. This step not solely improves the accuracy of your challenge but in addition boosts person satisfaction and engagement.
Weeks 3 and 4: Develop and Take a look at the Preliminary Model
In weeks three and 4 you start placing the items collectively.
Begin by constructing the preliminary model of your answer, specializing in probably the most crucial options recognized throughout your planning part. This method ensures that you just tackle the important thing ache factors first, delivering instant worth to your group.
Have interaction your group within the testing course of to make use of various views and guarantee complete protection. Deal with bugs and efficiency points early on to avoid wasting time and sources in the long term. By iteratively refining the answer, you possibly can guarantee its stability and effectiveness earlier than transferring on to broader implementation. This hands-on growth and testing part is essential for making a dependable, high-quality product that meets your group’s wants.
Week 5: Have interaction with Neighborhood and Consumer Networks
Plan on spending week 5 understanding the kinks.
If you encounter obstacles, reaching out to neighborhood boards and person networks can present invaluable help and sensible options. These networks consist of people who’ve confronted related challenges and might supply recommendation primarily based on their experiences. Utilizing these sources helps you rapidly resolve points that may in any other case delay your challenge.
Consumer teams and boards devoted to your fund accounting system and Microsoft Energy Platform are significantly helpful. They typically function discussions on greatest practices, troubleshooting suggestions, and modern methods to make use of the software program. By collaborating in these conversations, you achieve entry to collective data that may improve your challenge’s success.
Asking questions and searching for recommendation from seasoned customers can present new views that you just may not have thought of. These interactions can result in discovering instruments and strategies that simplify complicated duties, making your challenge extra environment friendly. Moreover, contributing your individual insights and options helps construct your fame throughout the neighborhood and fosters collaborative relationships.
Have interaction with these networks repeatedly to remain up to date on the most recent traits and developments, making certain that your challenge incorporates present greatest practices. It additionally creates alternatives to community with friends, which might result in future collaborations and help. Leverage the collective knowledge of neighborhood and person networks to beat hurdles and drive your challenge ahead efficiently.
Week 6: Take a look at Your Undertaking on a Small Scale
In week six, take a look at your challenge on a small scale. This method minimizes danger and ensures that any changes will be made with out disrupting your total group.
Begin by deciding on a particular division or group to pilot the challenge. Monitor the efficiency intently, taking note of person suggestions and system conduct. This real-world testing part gives priceless insights into how the answer performs beneath precise circumstances.
Collect detailed suggestions from the pilot customers to know their expertise and establish any extra enhancements wanted. Use your most popular survey instrument—like Microsoft or Google kinds—so you possibly can simply analyze the suggestions. This focused method lets you refine the answer, making certain that when it’s deployed on a bigger scale, it meets person expectations and performs reliably.
Conducting a small-scale take a look at not solely boosts confidence within the new system but in addition enhances general person satisfaction by addressing any points early on.
Weeks 7 and eight: Use Suggestions to Enhance Model 2
Plan to spend the final two weeks refining your answer. Analyze the suggestions fastidiously to establish frequent themes and particular points that want addressing. Prioritize adjustments that may have probably the most vital affect on person expertise and operational effectivity. This ensures that your changes are each significant and sensible.
Incorporating person suggestions not solely enhances the answer but in addition boosts person satisfaction and adoption charges. By addressing their considerations and options, you create a system that really meets their wants. It’s important to speak the adjustments made primarily based on their enter, reinforcing their worth within the course of.
As you implement these refinements, keep an iterative method. Develop the improved model in levels, permitting for steady testing and suggestions. This cycle of enchancment helps catch any new points early and ensures the answer stays aligned with person necessities.
Finally, integrating person suggestions into Model 2 transforms your challenge from a fundamental implementation to a tailor-made answer. This method not solely meets present wants but in addition positions your group to adapt to future challenges.
Construct on the Momentum
Your profitable implementation of your fund accounting extensibility challenge has streamlined operations and enhanced knowledge accuracy. These enhancements translate to elevated effectivity and person satisfaction, contributing to the general productiveness of your group.
As you progress ahead, keep the momentum by constantly assessing the efficiency of your newly applied system. Common evaluations will assist establish areas for additional enhancement and make sure the system evolves along with your group’s wants. Partaking with the neighborhood stays essential; these interactions present ongoing help and entry to new concepts and greatest practices.
There are all the time new options in your fund accounting and different programs that may additional optimize your processes. Give your group an hour or two a month to experiment and be taught each new performance and potential different extensibility initiatives. Regulate technological developments and rising traits that might supply new alternatives for enchancment.
Able to be taught extra about how Blackbaud prospects are utilizing the Microsoft Energy Platform to increase the performance of their merchandise? Be part of the Energy Platform neighborhood and begin asking questions!
Heather McLean, Principal Product Supervisor for Innovation at Blackbaud, offered foundational experience for this text.