Best Accounting Software for Nonprofits in 2026: Fund Tracking, Grants and Low-Cost Options

Accounting software for nonprofits comes down to one question: do you need true fund accounting, or can classes, projects or tags inside a small-business package do the job? Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT and Sage Intacct are the two products here built around fund accounting and grants. QuickBooks, Xero, Zoho Books and Wave suit smaller charities that track funds in a general ledger, and ERPNext, Dolibarr, Bigcapital and GnuCash cover the open-source and self-hosted route.

Few tools in Enlisted's catalogue are written only for charity treasurers, so this guide says plainly which picks are nonprofit-specific and which are general tools that need setting up. Picks are grouped by job, and each one lists what its own pages support. Nothing here is accounting, tax or legal advice, and reporting rules differ by country.

What nonprofits need from accounting software

A nonprofit's books answer different questions from a shop's. The owner of a business wants profit; a board, a funder and an auditor want to know where restricted money went. Vendor pages for this audience keep returning to the same few jobs:

• Tracking by fund, program or grant. Money given for a specific purpose has to be reported against that purpose, not mixed into one pot.
• Nonprofit statements. Blackbaud lists templates for a statement of financial position, a statement of activities and a statement of cash flows, and QuickBooks describes the same first two reports on its nonprofit page.
• Donor paperwork. QuickBooks mentions yearly donation statements and Zoho Books mentions payment receipts for donors.
• Return preparation. QuickBooks and Xero both talk about preparing the annual return, with QuickBooks naming the IRS Form 990.

How much of this a small charity needs depends on how many restricted gifts and grants it holds. That is the line between the two groups of picks below.

How we picked

Each product does a core accounting job: a general ledger, bills and invoices, or nonprofit fund tracking. For hosted products Enlisted reads the vendor's own nonprofit pages and the pricing model, and for open-source projects it checks the licence, GitHub activity and self-hosting support. Tools that only handle fundraising or donations without a ledger are listed separately and labelled as such. For the method, see how Enlisted ranks tools, or browse the finance category and the ERP category.

Best accounting software for nonprofits that need fund accounting

These two are sold to organizations with grants, restricted funds and board reporting. Both are closed-source hosted products with pricing quoted by sales rather than published.

1. Blackbaud: best for grant-funded organizations and larger charities

Blackbaud is a company that sells cloud software to nonprofits, schools and foundations, and its Financial Edge NXT product is the part that does fund accounting. Blackbaud's product pages list a general ledger, projects, grants, endowments, payables and receivables, fixed assets and banking, plus sub-funds so revenue, expense and equity can be carried against a restricted fund.

For grant work, the vendor describes detailed grant records, budgeting and allocations, and calculation of reimbursement requests from the grantor's rules. Blackbaud also sells fundraising and donor tools such as Raiser's Edge NXT, so the same vendor can cover both sides if you want one supplier. See the Blackbaud listing for the full product family.

• Best for: organizations with grants, endowments or restricted funds and finance staff to run them.
• Watch out for: there is no published price or self-serve plan, so a small volunteer-run charity should expect a sales conversation, and the wider Blackbaud catalogue means you need to ask which modules you are actually buying.

2. Sage Intacct: best for nonprofits with several programs or entities

Sage Intacct is a cloud financial management system from Sage that the catalogue describes as aimed at mid-sized businesses that have outgrown entry-level bookkeeping. Sage's nonprofit pages describe fund accounting to separate revenue across funds, grant tracking and billing, nonprofit revenue recognition, and multi-entity consolidation across currencies and locations.

That suits a charity that runs several programs, chapters or legal entities and needs consolidated reporting. It is more system than a single-site treasurer needs. The Sage Intacct listing shows the licence and pricing model, and the NetSuite alternatives guide covers the wider mid-market field.

• Best for: multi-entity nonprofits and foundations that have outgrown entry-level accounting.
• Watch out for: pricing is by quote, and the product targets organizations with real finance processes, so a one-person bookkeeping job will find it heavy.

Best small-business accounting software that charities adapt

These four are general accounting products with a nonprofit page or a nonprofit use case. They track funds through classes, projects, categories or tags, which is lighter than true fund accounting.

3. QuickBooks: best-known option, with a dedicated nonprofit page

QuickBooks is Intuit's accounting software family for small businesses, and its nonprofit page is the most detailed of the general-purpose tools. It describes categorizing revenue and expenses by fund or program, budgets by fund or program, donor and grant tracking, importing transactions from donation apps such as Fundly or DonorPerfect, and tagging expenses to fundraising, programs or administration for Form 990.

Intuit's help article on fund accounting describes using class tracking plus bank sub-accounts to separate funds, and says class tracking needs the Plus or Advanced tier. The nonprofit page adds that discounted products are available through TechSoup and recommends Plus or Advanced for churches. Compare it with other options in the QuickBooks alternatives guide.

• Best for: charities whose accountant or bookkeeper already works in QuickBooks and that can live with class-based fund tracking.
• Watch out for: the features that matter for funds sit on higher tiers, it is closed source with no self-hosted version, and classes are not the same as a fund accounting system.

4. Xero: best for sharing books with a board and an outside accountant

Xero is cloud accounting software that connects to your bank, your accountant and other apps. Its nonprofit page describes recording donations, grants and fundraising payments, watching spending in real time, and sharing financial snapshots with boards, donors and advisors, and it says reporting helps prepare the annual return.

Xero's app store lists nonprofit-oriented add-ons, including infoodle, a donor and volunteer CRM, and Xero says tracking categories can segment transactions by impact area or fundraising campaign. Nonprofit discount rates are offered after your status is verified. The Xero listing has the licence and pricing model, and the page of Xero alternatives lists other hosted and open-source options.

• Best for: small charities with a part-time accountant who prefers bank-feed-driven bookkeeping and wants board members to see the numbers.
• Watch out for: there is no free plan, only a trial, and Xero's nonprofit page does not describe restricted-fund accounting, so ask how your funds would map to tracking categories.

5. Zoho Books: best for projects and donor receipts on a tight budget

Zoho Books is online accounting from Zoho that covers invoices, bills, bank reconciliation and reports. Its nonprofit page describes accepting donations in multiple currencies, sending receipts to donors, and creating separate expense accounts and categories for funds, plus projects that let you attach expenses to individual undertakings and report on them.

Zoho lists a free plan for micro businesses, with limits you should read on its pricing page, and the free tier gives a small charity a way to start without a contract. A sister product, Zoho Expense, describes tagging expenses by grant, program or fund.

• Best for: very small charities that want a free starting point and project-level reporting inside a larger app suite.
• Watch out for: the nonprofit page does not describe restricted funds or grant tracking, so confirm that projects and accounts can reproduce the fund reports your board expects.

6. Wave: best free starter plan for a volunteer treasurer

Wave is accounting and invoicing software for small businesses with a free Starter plan, and it runs a nonprofit page saying it supports organizations recognized as nonprofits by a body such as the IRS or Canada's CRA. The tool covers income and expense tracking, receipt scanning, invoices and online payments.

The details matter for charities. Wave's help centre says it has no separate donation-tracking feature, and that you can track donations by fund with a custom tag on each transaction, but tags are a feature of the paid Pro plan. Card payments on the free plan also carry a per-transaction fee. See Wave alternatives if you outgrow it.

• Best for: tiny charities and clubs with simple books and a volunteer keeping them.
• Watch out for: fund tags need the paid plan, there is no fund accounting as such, and there is no self-hosted version.

Best open-source and self-hosted accounting for nonprofits

Open source removes the per-user licence and lets you keep records on your own server. The cost is time: someone must install, back up and update it, and none of these four is written only for charities.

7. ERPNext: best open-source system with a nonprofit module

ERPNext is a free, open-source ERP built on the Frappe framework, with accounting alongside inventory, projects, HR and more. Frappe publishes a page for non-profits that lists accounting, donor and donation tracking with certificates for tax deductions, grants management, memberships, volunteer management, project budgets and custom reports, and it describes the non-profit functionality as a module.

The software is GPL-3.0 and can be self-hosted, with a paid hosted service on Frappe Cloud if you would rather not run a server. Check the documentation for how the non-profit module is installed in the current version. Browse more systems in the ERP category.

• Best for: charities with technical help that want donors, members, grants and accounting in one system they control.
• Watch out for: an ERP takes real setup time, and a treasurer who only needs a ledger will find it more than needed.

8. Dolibarr: best for associations and foundations with members

Dolibarr is an open-source ERP and CRM web application whose own description names foundations among its users. Its membership page for associations and foundations lists member records, subscriptions, automatic renewal reminders, online collection of membership fees and follow-up of donations, alongside invoicing and purchasing.

It is a PHP application under GPL-3.0 or later, with installers for Windows and Linux and a Docker image. The membership page does not describe accounting depth, so check the accounting module against your reporting needs before you commit. The Dolibarr listing has install options.

• Best for: membership-based associations and small foundations that want to host their own system.
• Watch out for: the accounting side needs checking against your statements, and a broad ERP means more modules to configure.

9. Bigcapital: best open-source ledger with a hosted option

Bigcapital is open-source accounting and inventory software for small businesses, with a double-entry engine, invoices, bills, expenses and financial statements. You can self-host it with Docker under AGPL-3.0 or use the paid Bigcapital Cloud.

Nothing in its listing is specific to nonprofits, so a charity would design its chart of accounts to reflect funds and programs. That is a reasonable job for a bookkeeper who knows nonprofit accounting. More general options are in the free accounting software guide.

• Best for: a small charity with a bookkeeper who wants an open-source ledger and the choice between hosting and cloud.
• Watch out for: no fund or grant features are listed, and AGPL-3.0 terms apply if you modify and run the code for others.

10. GnuCash: best free desktop ledger for a very small charity

GnuCash is free double-entry accounting software for individuals and small businesses, licensed under the GNU GPL and available for Windows, macOS, Linux and other systems. It uses a checkbook-style register while keeping balanced books.

Enlisted's listing for GnuCash includes no fund or grant features, so a treasurer would model funds in the chart of accounts. It has no hosted version, so board members and the accountant would work from exported reports or a shared copy of the file. If your needs are mostly personal-style bookkeeping, the Quicken alternatives guide covers similar desktop and budgeting tools.

• Best for: a one-person treasurer with a small, simple set of accounts and no budget.
• Watch out for: it is a desktop program with no donor or grant features, and online collaboration is not part of the product.

Best for donor and member records alongside your books

11. CiviCRM: best open-source donor and membership system to pair with a ledger

CiviCRM is an open-source constituent relationship management system for nonprofits, advocacy groups and NGOs, released under AGPL-3.0. Its site lists contributions and donations, memberships, events, case management, email and reports, and it runs standalone or inside WordPress, Drupal, Joomla or Backdrop, with partners offering hosting.

It is not accounting software, and its own site does not describe a ledger or accounting integration. Treat it as the donor side of the stack and keep your books in one of the tools above. Related guides: free CRM software and website builders for nonprofits.

• Best for: charities that need supporter, gift and membership records on their own server.
• Watch out for: it does not replace an accounting system, and self-hosting needs technical skills or a paid support provider.

Related tools that are not accounting software

BetterRetain AI recovers failed Stripe subscription payments and names nonprofits among its users, which can matter if your recurring donations run through Stripe. It is a payment-recovery tool, not a ledger. For payroll and HR, see the guides to payroll software for nonprofits and HR software for nonprofits.

What nonprofits should check before buying

Two or three requirements decide most choices, and the vendors' own pages show where tools differ.

• How funds are tracked. Blackbaud and Sage describe fund accounting directly. QuickBooks uses classes and bank sub-accounts, Xero uses tracking categories, Wave uses tags, and Zoho Books uses projects and accounts. Ask each vendor to show a restricted gift and a grant report in your own terms.
• Which plan unlocks it. In QuickBooks, class tracking and budgets by fund sit on the higher tiers, and in Wave, fund tags need Pro. A free or entry plan may not include the feature you are buying the product for.
• Discounts and eligibility. QuickBooks points nonprofits to TechSoup, Xero offers nonprofit rates after verification, and Wave states which kinds of organization it supports. Confirm your legal status qualifies before you plan around a discount.
• Who will run it. A volunteer treasurer needs an interface they can hand over. An open-source system needs someone to host, back up and update it, so plan for that before the person who set it up leaves.
• What your auditor and accountant accept. Ask for the statements they expect and make sure the tool can export them.

Which accounting software should your nonprofit choose?

• Grants, endowments or restricted funds with finance staff: Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT or Sage Intacct.
• Several entities or programs needing consolidation: Sage Intacct.
• A small charity already using an accountant on QuickBooks: QuickBooks, on a tier that includes class tracking.
• A bank-feed-driven setup shared with a board: Xero.
• A free or low-cost start with projects and donor receipts: Zoho Books or Wave.
• Members, donors and accounting in one self-hosted system: ERPNext or Dolibarr.
• A simple open-source ledger: Bigcapital or GnuCash.
• Donor and member records on your own server: CiviCRM, paired with a ledger.

For a wider look at free and open-source ledgers, read the free accounting software guide.