Convincing Your Nonprofit Board to Outsource Accounting.

Monday, April 28, 2025

Convincing Your Nonprofit Board to Outsource Accounting

So, you’ve decided to outsource your nonprofit’s accounting—great choice! Outsourcing offers numerous benefits, including improved financial organization, cost savings, and more time for your team to focus on the mission.

Now, the final step is getting your board on board. The key is to present a clear, thoughtful case that shows how you reached your decision. We recommend highlighting the administrative burden of managing accounting in-house, explaining how outsourcing alleviates that burden, and compiling a concise report to share with your board members.

Review the Administrative Burden of Accounting

If you’re looking for an accounting solution, chances are you’re already facing some form of administrative burden with your current approach. Be sure to consider both the challenges you’re experiencing now and those that may not be immediately obvious.

For example, if your staff requires a lot of time on reconciliations because they lack accounting expertise, your financial reports may also be less accurate. Include these concerns in your report to the board and, wherever possible, back them up with data.

Try to pull concrete data that can be used to quantify the burden accounting has for your organization. For example, ask yourself questions like:

Who is currently handling your accounting tasks? How many staff hours are being used?
If you have an in-house accountant, what is the cost of their salary and benefits? Are you satisfied with the quality of their work?
Does your current accounting resource have experience and skills required to work within the nuanced world of nonprofit accounting? Are they experts in commonly used nonprofit accounting technology?
Have financial missteps resulted in missed grant opportunities, delayed donor reporting, or other funding setbacks? Can you estimate the value of those missed opportunities?

Quantifying the cost of your current accounting process will demonstrate the potential value of outsourcing. This data-driven approach can be especially helpful when addressing concerns from board members who may be resistant to change.

If you don’t have this data on hand, ask your team to track relevant metrics. For example, they could log the time spent on accounting tasks each month or review recently missed funding opportunities to estimate the impact.

Once you’ve outlined the problem, you’re ready to show how outsourcing your accounting can relieve that burden and improve efficiency.

Ready for a proposal to present to your board?

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Highlight How Outsourcing Relieves the Burden

Getting your finances in order can resolve a wide range of challenges for nonprofits—including many of the concerns outlined in the previous section.

Once you’ve identified your organization’s current accounting pain points, take time to evaluate how outsourcing could solve them. Don’t hesitate to reach out to the accounting firm you're considering to ask how they’ve addressed similar challenges for other clients.

For example, Jitasa offers:

Dedicated support at no extra cost: Our clients are supported by a full team of accountants, always available to answer questions. Thanks to our fixed-fee structure, you’re never charged extra for the time spent seeking advice or clarification.
More value, lower cost: Hiring an in-house accountant can be costly—and you're relying on the expertise of just one person. At Jitasa, you gain access to an entire team of nonprofit accounting experts for less than the cost of a single employee.
Nonprofit expertise: We work exclusively with nonprofits, so grant management, funder reporting, and board-ready financials are second nature to our team.
Proven results: We’ve helped thousands of nonprofits streamline their accounting. In fact, many of our clients have unlocked new funding opportunities simply because their books are finally in order. Our success stories speak for themselves.

You’ll also want to mention to your board how you came to the conclusion of outsourcing rather than other options. Many newer organizations find that relying on volunteers or in-kind donors to provide accounting services is the best way to get up and running. However, they quickly surpass the stage where this is a viable option, meaning the two most logical choices are:

Hiring an in-house accountant – often expensive and better suited for the largest organizations.
Outsourcing to a specialized provider – the most cost-effective and scalable solution for the majority of nonprofit organizations.

Outsourcing strikes the right balance—bringing professional support, affordability, and nonprofit-specific knowledge that grows with you.

Put Together a Business Case and Schedule a Meeting

Once you’ve gathered information about your current administrative burden, how outsourcing solves those concerns, and why outsourcing is the best option, the next step is to organize it into a clear business case to present to your board. The more complete your presentation, the easier it will be for them to make an informed decision—so don’t forget to include a recommendation for a specific provider.

Naturally, we hope you’ll choose Jitasa as your outsourced accounting partner. But what’s most important is being able to confidently explain why your chosen provider is the right f it for your organization. Your board will want to see that you’ve done your due diligence.

In your report, be sure to include:

A list of the providers you considered and your criteria for selecting them.
A summary of your evaluation process and why you believe the recommended provider best meets your organization’s needs.
A breakdown of the proposed services and fee structure.

Provide printed copies for board members to take home, in case they’d like additional time to review the information before voting. Once you've presented your case, formally ask the board to hold a vote on moving forward.

Wrapping Up

Convincing your board to embrace change can feel daunting—especially when it comes to something as important as your organization’s finances. But when you present the full picture—the opportunities outsourcing offers, along with the supporting facts and figures—it becomes a much easier case to make.

Stay open to the questions and perspectives your board members bring to the table. With thoughtful discussion and thorough preparation, we’re confident your team will arrive at the right decision.

We’re confident that decision will lead you to Jitasa, so we’ll say it now: Welcome to the Jitasa family!

Ready for a proposal to present to your board?

Chat With Sales Team