What Working With Us Actually Looks Like

Every so often, someone asks what we actually do for our nonprofit clients. The honest answer is pretty unglamorous, and we think that's a good thing. Here's the whole picture.

Why nonprofits come to us

The most common reason is simple: their bookkeeper left. Instead of hiring another in-house person, they decide to outsource. Others come to us in the middle of an audit or review and need help finishing it out. Some are preparing for their first audit or review and want to be ready before it starts.

Grants are another big one. Many organizations reach a point where they have grant money coming in but aren't sure how it's being spent against each grant. And if you have government grants, you're expected to have strong internal controls, including separation of duties. That's hard to pull off when you don't have enough people on staff to separate the duties. Outsourcing solves that.

And a few come to us brand new, because they want to start on the right financial foot from day one.

What the transition looks like

Honestly? Mostly nothing. We pick up where things left off. Payroll keeps going. Bills keep getting paid. Money keeps coming in, and we keep an eye on that side too, pointing out pledges that need a follow-up and making sure grants that were promised actually arrive.

Most staff barely notice we're there. They just realize they have a new person to talk to.

We don't come in and overhaul your processes. We might add a little structure, like "your bill pay day is Tuesday, get everything to us by Monday," but that's about it. If you want to change a process, we'll help. If we see a way to make something easier, we'll mention it. But we're not showing up with a list of things you have to do differently. Everything we do is remote, so there's no one camping out in your office either.

The monthly work

Every month, we run payroll, close the books, and track grant budgets. Then we report out. We work hard to get every client their monthly report by the 15th of the following month so they can see exactly where they stand.

Why the close takes more than a day

This one surprises people, especially if a previous bookkeeper had the books "closed" on the 1st.

Our clients are audited, reviewed, or getting ready for one, which means their books need to be on an accrual basis under GAAP. Accrual means we record things in the month they happen, not the month the cash moves. So we have to wait for all the invoices and bills to come in. We have to make sure revenue lands in the right month, like a pledge that shows up on the 3rd but was actually made the month before, or grant money that was promised last month. We handle prepaids, liabilities, and grant tracking on top of that.

All of that takes about 10 business days, which puts us right around the 15th. It's not slow. It's what a close looks like when it's done right.

Audits (they're boring, on purpose)

Audits aren't stressful for us. We've been through enough of them to know what auditors will ask for, so we usually have the schedules, payroll reports, and statements ready before they ask. The biggest lift is fieldwork testing, when auditors ask for specific receipts. We try to have those on hand, and if we don't, we let the client know exactly what to track down.

We've never had a client get a finding. Every client gets suggestions, but that's the point of an audit. It's supposed to help you get better. Findings are a different story, and we work hard to make sure they don't happen.

Forecasting and cash

Every monthly report comes with an executive summary. It shows where you stand at the end of the month and your cash runway based on your average spending. For nonprofits, we calculate that runway on unrestricted cash only, since restricted funds can't be used to keep the lights on. It answers a simple question: how many months can you run on what you've got?

We also compare where you are against your budget. Funders, boards, and auditors expect one, so if you have it, send it over and we'll track against it every month.

For organizations where cash can get tight, we'll run a 13-week or 6-month cash projection, depending on how close things are running. The goal is no surprises.

What we don't do

We're not going to come in and save you $2 million.

Our clients are nonprofits doing around $5 to $10 million a year, and they already know where every dollar goes. Nobody at that size is sitting on $2 million they forgot they were spending. If someone's promising you that, be skeptical. 🤔

There's no fancy tax strategy either. Our nonprofit clients don't pay UBIT, so there's no tax angle to play. We're also not going to tell you to buy assets for a depreciation deduction. You still have to spend the cash, and you only get back a fraction of it.

The closest thing we have to a "transformation" is revenue diversification. If we see an organization leaning heavily on one type of revenue, we'll talk about other options. We've worked with our clients on building earned revenue, and today every one of them has some. It's not running any of those organizations, but it's a lot better than nothing.

The bottom line

If you want someone to swoop in and transform your finances, we're probably not your people. If you want payroll out on time, books closed right, grants tracked, a clear picture of your cash every month, and audits that are kind of boring, that's exactly what we do. 🙂

About the author

Melinda Kasper, MBA, CNAP, is the founder and CEO of Wolverine Precision Financial Operations Group, a firm specializing in nonprofit accounting, financial operations, and grant management. With a strong record of serving mission-driven organizations, Melinda and her team help nonprofits across sectors strengthen internal systems, ensure compliance, and build financial transparency that supports long-term sustainability.

Wolverine Precision Financial Operations Group is headquartered in West Michigan with an office in Philadelphia, and proudly serves nonprofit clients nationwide.