I was the last person to write to this list, back on 2009-07-13, saying:
> I am also using an ad-hoc methods for Conservancy as well that have
> worked out quite well. For accounting, I use:
http://ledger-cli.org
...
> This wouldn't work if a non-hacker tried to edit the text files and
> commit them to SVN -- which is how I keep history -- but this works
> quite well and it is actually ... flexible and usable (from a software
> versatility perspective).
Related to that, I've begun documenting how Conservancy uses Ledger CLI
to keep our books. That effort is ongoing, but I'm doing the work in
public and welcome participation:
https://www.gitorious.org/ledger/npo-ledger-cli
As we've proceeded with that effort, Conservancy ultimately came to the
conclusion that there isn't an adequate software solution for non-profit
accounting generally, and certainly nothing exists for fiscal
sponsorship. Ledger CLI "works" for us, in so far as: if a hacker who
can use Emacs, version control, and the command line keeps the books,
we've got a great solution, but we can't hire a bookkeeper without
investing in substantial training on those tools.
Meanwhile, Conservancy reached out to other non-profit fiscal sponsors
outside of the FLOSS Foundations community, and we've found that they
struggle with the same challenges.
Thus, Conservancy has ultimately the well-researched conclusion that
serious Conservancy has thus today launched a fundraising campaign
(already endorsed by many of the organizations represented on this list)
to fund a software developer for one year to make a start at this
problem. The first phase will revisit and reevaluate all known Free
Software solutions for accounting (a survey Conservancy previously did
in 2007), and pick one to build upon to make a workable NPO accounting
system. Details on our fundraising campaign and plan are on
Conservancy's website: https://sfconservancy.org/campaign/
I also welcome everyone who wants to work on this problem to join our
mailing list. This list reached consensus many years back that detailed
discussion of software solutions for non-profit was slightly off-topic
for this list, so I hope to pick up discussion of this thread over here:
http://lists.sfconservancy.org/mailman/listinfo/npo-accounting
We felt it made the most sense to create another list, given that this
list was pretty dormant anyway, and also because we'll be specifically
discussing just accounting software, not necessarily other software
needs of NPOs. I'd suspect this list could remain -- should it become
active again -- the place to discuss more generally the issues of
software for non-profits. I'll make an effort to encourage
cross-posting of any threads that are clearly of interest this list.
Anyway, Conservancy welcomes any sort of help -- be they in the form of
volunteer labor and/or donations -- from this community.
--
Bradley M. Kuhn, Executive Director, Software Freedom Conservancy
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