Posts Tagged ‘grant’

Because Quickbooks budgets only span a single fiscal year, a common problem facing nonprofits using QuickBooks is how to deal with budgeting multi-year grants. Here are step-by-step instructions for how to use jobs and estimates to accomplish this:

1. Turn on the estimates function at Edit > Preferences > Jobs & Estimates > Company Preferences. You may also want to turn on progress invoicing if you will be invoicing the grant in stages.

2. Create a Customer for each granting agency and a job for each individual grant. Go to the Customer Center and click on New Customer & Job.

3. Create double-sided service items for each expense category of the grant. Go to Lists > Item List, click the Items box and select New. Make sure to map them to both a revenue and expense account by checking the box next to “This service is used in assemblies or is performed by a subcontractor or partner”.

4. Create an estimate for each grant. Go to Customers > Create Estimates. Select the Customer: Job you created for the grant. Add a line for each expense category you created and enter your budget expense in the Rate column. You can use the Markup column to add a % for overhead expenses, but most granting agencies like to see this broken out in a separate line.

5. You can send your estimate to your granting agencies as a grant proposal by selecting either print or email. You can customize it–change columns, headers/footers, etc.–by selecting Customize, and then Additional Customization.

6. Once the grant is accepted, you might want to consider turning it into a sales order so you can keep track of grant proposals vs. accepted grants. First, turn on the sales order function at Edit > Preferences > Sales & Customers > Comnpany Preferences. Once you do, you can turn an estimate into a sales order by clicking on the little down arrow next to Create Invoice.

7. Make sure to use the items you created for each expense category on all your purchase transactions. All the purchase forms (Enter Bills, Write Checks, Enter Credit Card Charges) default to the Expenses tab, but there’s an Items tab just to the right. Select the Items tab, enter the item for the expense category you’re paying and enter the customer:job for the grant. If it is a reimbursement grant, keep the Billable box checked. You may also need to turn on the “Create Invoices from a list of time & expenses” function at Edit > Preferences > Time & Expenses > Company Preferences. Note: You can have both Expenses and Items on the same purchase form if you are making a payment for both grant and non-grant expenses.

8. If you are making purchasing or using subcontractors on behalf of the grant, you might want to consider using purchase orders. First, turn on the purchase order function at Edit > Preferences > Items & Inventory > Company Preferences. Once you do, you can turn an estimate into a purchase order by clicking on the little down arrow next to Create Invoice.

9. You can turn an estimate into an invoice by selecting Create Invoice. However, if you turned an estimate into a sales orders you should create the invoice from the sales order instead. Otherwise, the sales order will always remain open. If it is a remibursement grant, you should create the invoice at Customers > Invoice for Time & Expenses.

10. Use the Job Estimates vs. Actuals Detail report (Reports > Jobs, Time & Mileage) for your grant budget report. You can change the title of the report by clicking on Modify Report and selecting the Header/Footer tab. Other useful reports (depending on what additional functions you turned on) are Open Purchase Orders by Job and Unbilled Costs by Job, both also found under Jobs, Time & Mileage, and Open Sales Orders by Customer (Reports > Sales).

If you are a mother and you would like to go back to school to finish your college degree, you should be able to do so now with the assistance of numerous college scholarship programs from the federal government. These money grants will be beneficial most especially to mothers as most of the new scholarship programs are made just for women. US President Obama has focused on improving educational grants and scholarships to encourage Americans to improve on their skills and credentials, and the first step to doing this if you are not a college graduate is to get that tertiary degree. Being a mother, it is not really easy to tackle another undertaking, like returning to school. Aside from the time issue which is difficult to juggle, managing your finances to cover your college expenses can be quite a challenge, especially if you do not have extra money saved up for a big monetary need like this. But with the scholarship programs being offered, you can now think of getting your degree with less worry on the financial aspect. The government has funded a lot of scholarship grants made especially for mothers, and if you are one of the lucky recipients of these programs, you can get as much as $10,000 to assist you in your college fees. However, it costs a lot more than that amount to finish a college course.

The good news is you can apply for multiple scholarship programs, and receive more than one scholarship assistance for your college education. Whata??s more, if you are determined to reach your goal, you can also get a part-time job which these programs can offer with your scholarship, to help pay for the other expenses you will incur. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity because unlike study loans, scholarship grants are money assistance that you wona??t need to repay in the future. Rest assured, the money you get will be given for free, so no more worrying about huge loans piling up for you to settle in the future. You will also be relieved to know that your time issues can also be solved through online college education. With a lot of schools online that offers college degrees, you wona??t have to go to your campus everyday to attend classes. You can do your school works right in the comfort of your own home, and you will only be required to visit your campus a few days a month. So what are you waiting for, grab this opportunity and register online now!

Delaware Valley Friends School gets solar panels with state grant
In an effort to save money and energy, Paoli’s Delaware Valley Friends School (DVFS) joined forces with four other local independent schools to pursue grants through the Philadelphia Area Independent School Business Officer Association (PAISBOA) to have solar panels installed. July 7 it was announced that their efforts paid off.

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