Over the coming months, I’m documenting my journey of setting up QuickBooks Online for a charity. In the first step, I signed up with TechSoup which is a fantastic organization that exists to help connect charities with affordable, quality tech. I also submitted my charity to be approved to receive donations.
Add Charity to Your Account
You may end up going back and forth with TechSoup to verify your nonprofit status. Once you get the approval email, go back to TechSoup.org and login. Go to your account, and add your organization to the count. You’ll need your Activation Code. This is from the first email you received when setting up your charity.
Now you can buy QuickBooks for Cheap!
I recommend the QuickBooks Online Plus. This is normally $85/month. You’re getting it for $75/year. Wow! This is not like a regular store where you buy an online product, and it’s available immediately. It will take 2-3 days for the donation request to go through.
Already on QuickBooks?
A few years ago, I was paying the $85/month (it may have been $75/month back then). I signed up the charity with TechSoup but wasn’t able to easily transition to my subscription through TechSoup. I didn’t read the instructions back then.
If you are already on QuickBooks Online, you need to upgrade to QuickBooks Online Advanced first. Then you can transfer over to QuickBooks Online Plus through TechSoup.
If you are on the desktop version, it looks like you can import your data right into QuickBooks Online Plus. There may be some limitations. When I made the switch back in the day, I remember importing the Chart of Accounts, but I think I wasn’t able to import the transactional data.
Useful Links
- Tech Soup: https://www.techsoup.org/
- Signing up with TechSoup: http://jctaccounting.com/2022/12/23/signing-up-for-cheap-software-through-techsoup/
How was your experience switching from QBO to to Techsoup QBO? I read that reconciled transactions are not reconciled in the new company, and bank feeds need to be set up. I’m about to make the switch to techsoup, any gotchas or tips? Thanks.
Hey Tom, I have not done it personally so I’m not going to be much help. My biggest tip…set your expectations low. It sounds like the switch should be super simple, right? It’s still a lot of work but much less than starting from scratch.
If it was me, I would make the change on a weekend after I already reconciled. Print out your Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet (or export to Excel) as well as the Reconciliation Report. That way when you re-connect the bank accounts, you should be able to reconcile quickly…just keep an eye for uncleared transactions. After the reconciliation is complete, run financial statements and look for any differences.