This looks like it might actually be useful for a lot of railroad museums and nonprofits - a new specialized version of Quickbooks for 501c(3)'s that includes fund accounting, donors, and matchup to the specialized IRS forms. We're a QB user ourselves - if you want to know more about the plusses & minuses of the stock package e-mail me. PS - I'm not a dealer and we're not reselling this!!

Intiut promotional offer link
randygustafson@stoneconsulting.com

This is not so much a comment on Quickbooks as it is on accounting in general. I was involved in a non-profit railroad museum that floundered among other things due to poor accounting. Not because the accounting was bad, but because it was impossible to understand. To keep this comment short let me just say that accounding is an art not a science, and the rules for non-profit accounting make it even more arcane. If the reports don't make intuitive sense....insist on getting a report that does. Logic and intuition are far more important that arcane accounting bullshit. And never loose sight of the cliche that "cash is king"...and both insist on and pay more attention to the cash flow reports than to the balance sheets and income statements. In the end only two things matter...an accurate projection of cash in and cash out, and the cash balance in the bank.

jbwest@att.net

Based on my experience with a RR museum's accounting, I think the states and IRS should audit ALL non-profits. Non-profits are too great a temptation for hankey-pankey with the books. If there isn't creative accounting going on, there's probably financial fudging with the wishes of the donors' funds.

> This is not so much a comment on Quickbooks
> as it is on accounting in general. I was
> involved in a non-profit railroad museum
> that floundered among other things due to
> poor accounting. Not because the accounting
> was bad, but because it was impossible to
> understand. To keep this comment short let
> me just say that accounding is an art not a
> science, and the rules for non-profit
> accounting make it even more arcane. If the
> reports don't make intuitive sense....insist
> on getting a report that does. Logic and
> intuition are far more important that arcane
> accounting bullshit. And never loose sight
> of the cliche that "cash is
> king"...and both insist on and pay more
> attention to the cash flow reports than to
> the balance sheets and income statements. In
> the end only two things matter...an accurate
> projection of cash in and cash out, and the
> cash balance in the bank.