I need a basic and free accounting software to help me set up our charity in Kenya, help!!!

[Themasterandmargaritas]

I am setting up an NGO dealing with mental health issues and we have almost completed our registration with the gov. We are a teeny tiny set up and I need to run the organisation properly so it is 'transparent and accountable'. Is there a basic accounting software I can use and if so is it free? It needs to be OS based.

TIA

Use excel if you really are that small, or Open office equivalent if it needs to be free.

Microsoft accounting express is also free but is only PC compatible and you need to know how to set it up for the correct nominal codes.

How much do you think your turnover is likely to be? because under £100k you don't even need to be using the accruals concepts in your accounts. A simple income against expenditure is sufficient which is easy enough to do in excel.

In an ideal world mrsp, we need annual funding of 50 million Ksh, which is about £450,000. We have yet to find it though.....so I am being optimistic

I think you are right, if I start off with a simple OO spread sheet, income vs expenditure then when we get the funding I can always migrate to a package.

In terms of auditing or submitting annual accounts, would my basic spreadsheet suffice to give to a set of accountants?

Can you tell I'm new to all this?

With a Gross income of less than £500k you don't need to be audited but you do need to have your accounts independently examined.

Having your accounts drawn up by an accountant would satisfy this requirement and a well kept spreadsheet would be enough, along with the hard copies of evidence.

I'd set up 4 pages, with the headings supplier ledger, bank payments, bank receipts and customer ledger (depending on what you'll be doing)

Supplier ledger, you list the company name on the invoice, invoice number, date, amount and what it was for.

Bank payment, you list the date paid, cheque number or if it was made by internet banking, amount and what it was for (if it was a purchase payment for an invoice then list the invoice number)

Bank receipt - date, amount, what it was for, if it was in response to an invoice you sent out then match it to that.

Customer ledger - invoices you send out to customers (including grant making organisations)

Don't forget to check your bank statement against the listed transactions each month and if you get funding you can always work the cost of business support into any application.

In terms of packages, I use Sage for our charity and it works very well but we are quite a bit bigger.

That is so wonderfully helpful. Thank you so much.

What sort of charity do you run?

I work for a local branch of Women's Aid, so domestic violence services.

Look at GnuCash. I haven't tried it, so I can't tell you how good it is.

Thanks Cruel I will investigate.