Most organizations still rely on balancing their spreadsheets with a highlighter, cautiously marking as they go along. When it comes to reconciling bank accounts, they do the same. For anyone that’s performed a bank reconciliation, you’re all too familiar with how grueling the process is.

Don’t get me wrong, reconciliations are both beneficial and necessary. However, look at it from this standpoint: on the one hand, you balance your accounts. That’s good. On the other hand, money is spent doing it. Since most organizations reconcile once a month, that cash adds up.

It takes 60 seconds for the ball in New York’s Times Square to drop 141 feet and officially ring in the New Year. That’s not a lot of time to consider all the goals you want to accomplish in the next 365 days, let alone the ones you didn’t achieve the previous year.

Nevertheless, as you’re contemplating your upcoming quarter-one goals, it’s important to not overlook the things you could have done better last year, including your year-end financial close. With the end of the year closing in, we’re giving you our top four pro tips for ensuring your books are closed well before that ball drops.

December is already here, if you can believe it, and for nonprofits around the country that means it’s the giving season. Some donors give because the holiday spirit moves them while others are looking for a last-minute tax break. Either way, this is a critical time for these organizations. Our friends at NeonCRM did some fundraising research about the giving season and found that nearly one-third of annual giving occurs this month. Their study found some other interesting statistics as well: 28% of nonprofits raise up to half of their annual funds from their year-end donation campaigns. And most surprising to me was that while more than half of nonprofits start planning their year-end appeal in October, nearly two-thirds of donors do zero research before giving. So, while many people plan on giving this month, they aren’t looking into the groups they donate to. The research can be a little overwhelming if you aren’t familiar with nonprofit operations, but there are a few tips you can use to ensure your donation goes to a worthy cause.

When Tim Worstall, Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute and Forbes contributor, called Microsoft Excel “the most dangerous software on the planet,” he had a good reason.

Nonprofit organizations have unique challenges they have to face in today’s world. Everything from donor retention to keeping track of all the funds coming and going from your organization can be tricky. As a leader in your nonprofit, you are often the one to face these challenges and are responsible for successfully overcoming them.

Here are three common challenges nonprofit leaders face today.

Your nonprofit organization adds some good to this world. You, your employees, your volunteers, and those your organization serves, all know how much good your organization does. They know where your revenue goes and they trust you will continue to use it wisely. But what about potential donors, grantors, and certain governing bodies? How do you present your organization’s financial information to them?

Your nonprofit organization means everything to you. The work you do matters and as a leader of your nonprofit, it’s your fiduciary responsibility to make a choice that will keep your nonprofit out of the hands of fraud. But you can only continue your work if you have money to support it. How do you manage the money your nonprofit receives, but still keep it safe from embezzlement?