Aplos Accounting is a cloud-based management system that is designed for churches and nonprofits. Aplos facilitates the management of financial transactions, donation tracking, comprehensive report creation, and nonprofit regulatory compliance.
Users can easily create custom financial reports, track donations, and keep a check on budgeting from anywhere. The software helps nonprofits, churches, and small businesses manage complex accounting processes.
The software offers tools for online donations, tracking contributions, transactions, and payroll, and generating real-time reports such as fund-specific reports, balance sheets, and income statements.
Aplos Accounting provides a user-friendly interface, ensuring that even those with minimal accounting experience can easily navigate the platform.
Is Aplos Software Cloud-Based?
Yes, Aplos is a cloud-based software. Users can access the software from anywhere with an internet connection, using their accounting and bookkeeping tools.
There is no need to install the software on local computers. It provides real-time collaboration, automatic updates, and secure data storage.
Features and Benefits of Aplos Accounting
Fund Accounting: The software allows the organization to track the funds, ensuring transparency and compliance with donor requirements and financial regulations.
Chart of Accounts: The users can create a flexible chart of accounts according to their nonprofit structure.
Donor Management: The software allows nonprofits to track contributions, manage donor information, and create tax-deductible receipts.
Multi-User access: Organizations can provide different levels of access to users based on their roles, which enhances security and enables collaboration among multiple team members.
Integration: The software integrated with third-party platforms enhances its payment processing, payroll, and accounting capabilities
Aplos Pricing Information
Lite
Core
Advanced
$79.00Per Month
1. Fund Accounting 2. Financial Reporting 3. Donation Tracking 4. Contribution Statements 5. Online Giving Forms & Widgets 6. Event Registration 7. People CRM Database
Starting at $189.00Per Month For organizations tracking budgets and financials for grants, programs, departments, or multiple locations.
1. Fund Accounting 2. Donation Tracking 3. Online Giving Forms 4. Financial & Giving Reports 5. Event Registration 6. Budgeting 7. Accounts Payable & Receivable 8. Recurring Transactions 9. Pledge Tracking 10. Partner Integrations 11. Budgeting By Fund, Project, Campaign, or Department 12. Budgeting & Reporting 13. Fixed Asset Tracking 14. Income & Expense Allocations
And More…
8 reasons Aplos software is perfect for non-profits and small businesses
1. Tailored for Nonprofits and Small Businesses
Aplos Software is specifically designed to serve the unique needs of nonprofits and small businesses, unlike many other accounting tools that take a one-size-fits-all approach. For nonprofits, it focuses on essential tasks like tracking donations, managing grants, and ensuring complete transparency over where funds are used. Small businesses also benefit from its easy-to-use system for handling daily financial tasks.
Nonprofits often rely on grants and donations to fund their operations. Aplos allows these organizations to easily track both restricted and unrestricted funds—helping them follow rules about how certain donations can be spent. Clear and easy-to-read reports are generated, so organizations can show donors and stakeholders exactly how money is being used.
For small businesses, this helps them keep track of different revenue sources and stay organized, saving time and effort for their core missions.
2. Simplified Fund Accounting
Managing multiple funds can be challenging, especially for smaller nonprofits without a dedicated accounting team. Aplos solves this problem by simplifying fund accounting. You can manage multiple sources of income (like grants, donations, and membership fees) while ensuring the funds are being spent correctly.
This is especially important for nonprofits that need to show exactly how different types of funds are used. Aplos keeps track of revenues and expenses, making sure restricted and unrestricted funds are managed properly. By automating this process, Aplos reduces the chance of errors that can happen when using manual accounting methods.
This is a huge benefit for small organizations that need to ensure financial reporting is accurate but may not have the resources to hire full-time accounting staff.
3. Donor Management and Communication Tools
For nonprofits, building and maintaining strong relationships with donors is key to their success. Aplos makes donor management simple by organizing all donor information in one place, tracking every donation, and making it easy to generate contribution statements at tax time.
The software also integrates with email marketing tools, so you can send personalized updates and thank-you notes to donors—keeping them engaged and excited about your cause. Regular communication is essential to maintaining good relationships with donors, and Aplos helps you do that easily.
For small businesses, these features are also helpful for managing customer and vendor relationships, ensuring streamlined communication and keeping track of important details.
4. Intuitive and User-Friendly Interface
Aplos is built for people who aren’t accounting experts. You don’t need advanced financial knowledge to navigate the software. It’s designed to be easy for everyone—whether you’re a nonprofit leader, a small business owner, or a volunteer.
The dashboard is clean and user-friendly, offering a clear overview of your organization’s financial status. Even if you have little or no experience in accounting, you’ll be able to learn the basics quickly. Plus, the software offers helpful guides and tutorials to walk you through every step, so you don’t feel lost.
5. Affordable Pricing and Scalability
One of the best things about Aplos is its affordability. It’s priced to be accessible for nonprofits and small businesses with tight budgets, without compromising on essential features. You get access to a full suite of tools for accounting, donor management, and reporting—at a fraction of the cost of other platforms.
As your organization grows, Aplos grows with you. It’s scalable, meaning you can add more features and functions as needed, making it an ideal solution whether you’re a small nonprofit just starting or a business looking to expand.
6. Additional Features You Might Find Useful
Customizable Reporting: Aplos allows you to customize your financial reports so you can see the data that matters most to you and your organization. You can create detailed reports for board meetings, audits, or even just for your own review.
Online Giving: For nonprofits, Aplos offers easy-to-set-up online donation forms that can be embedded directly into your website. This allows you to accept donations easily and track them seamlessly in the software.
Team Collaboration: Aplos supports multiple users, so your team can work together in managing finances. You can set up different permission levels, ensuring that sensitive financial information is protected.
Support & Training: Aplos offers excellent customer support, including access to webinars, training videos, and a responsive customer service team to help you whenever you need assistance.
7. Cloud-Based Access
Aplos is cloud-based, meaning you can access your financial data from anywhere with an internet connection. This feature is especially useful for small businesses and nonprofits that may have remote workers or volunteers who need access to financial reports or donor information. Cloud-based access ensures that data is always up-to-date, and users can collaborate in real-time without worrying about managing software updates or data backups.
8. Robust Reporting Features
Aplos makes financial reporting easy and customizable, allowing organizations to generate reports that provide insights into their financial health. Whether you need to create a balance sheet, income statement, or custom reports, Aplos offers flexible options that allow you to track financial performance by project, department, or fund.
Nonprofits can also generate reports required for compliance or grant applications, making the software an invaluable tool for managing finances and meeting reporting requirements.
Aplos Accounting Capabilities
Support for Multiple Currencies
Aplos facilitates multi currency transactions for global charitable organizations. Users can use different currencies to record asset transactions, revenue, and spending. Aplos automatically computes exchange gains and losses for financial reporting and translates foreign currency balances.
Accounting Statements
Aplos provides pre-made and editable reports for the analysis of financial information. Standard reports for nonprofit organizations, like the cash flow statement, statement of activities, statement of financial position, budget vs. actuals, and more, are included in the program.
Users can also build personalized dashboards and reports filtered by program, date, fund, region, etc. The reporting provides transparency into financial performance to aid in data-driven decision-making.
Ledger General and Accounts Chart
Aplos makes setting up and maintaining charts of accounts and general ledger. Users can monitor financial transactions across various funds and programs. Transactions are automatically categorized by the software for reporting purposes. In order to align their accounts with their programs and financial structure, users can establish unique accounts and arrange them in a hierarchy.
Aplos Accounting Products
Fund Accounting: It ensures that restricted and unrestricted funds are properly managed and reported.
Reporting: This offers customizable reporting tools to meet the nonprofit’s accounting and regulatory needs.
Marketing & Communication: Alpos helps organizations engage with donors, members, and stakeholders through built-in communication tools. It simplifies sending newsletters, event invitations, and personalized messages.
Donations: Aplos provides tools for managing and tracking donations, making it easy for nonprofits to receive online contributions and manage donor relationships.
People Database: Aplos includes a comprehensive people management tool to store and manage contact information for donors, members, volunteers, and other stakeholders.
Event Registration: Aplos helps organizations manage events and registrations, whether for fundraising events, volunteer gatherings, or community activities.
Website Builder: Aplos offers a simple, drag-and-drop website builder to help nonprofits and churches build and maintain their online presence without needing technical skills.
Aplos Accounting Pros & Cons
Pros of Aplos Accounting
User-Interface: Aplos is designed with simplicity, making it accessible to users with limited accounting experience. The interface is clean, intuitive, and easy to navigate, reducing the learning curve for new users.
Online Donations: Aplos provides tools for creating customizable online donation forms and managing events. Donations are automatically tracked and organized, simplifying bookkeeping and reporting for fundraising.
Automated Features: Aplos automates recurring transactions, donation tracking, and payroll processing through integrations. This saves time and reduces the chance of errors in financial management.
Cons of Aplos Accounting
Limited Integration: Aplos integrates with popular platforms like QuickBooks, PayPal, and Gusto. However, its integration options are not as extensive as some other accounting software, which limits flexibility for organizations relying on different third-party apps.
Mobile App limitation: The Aplos mobile app provides basic functionality but needs some advanced features compared to the desktop version. Users who depend on mobile access for detailed accounting tasks may find this limiting.
Customizability: While Aplos provides basic functionality for most nonprofits, larger organizations or those with more specific needs may find the platform needing more customization options for complex financial processes or tracking.
Alternatives of Aplos
QuickBooks Online – There is a version of the popular accounting program QuickBooks designed specifically for charitable organizations. Financial reporting, donor management, and basic fund accounting are all supported.
Sage Intacct – Sage Intacct provides mission-driven companies and nonprofits with cutting edge cloud-based accounting solutions. It offers thorough financial reporting, compliance, and strong fund accounting.
Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT – Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT accounting software is designed specifically for government and nonprofit institutions. It provides strong functionalities for donor contributions, grants, and limited money management.
Wave Accounting – For small enterprises and charitable organizations, Wave Accounting is a free cloud-based accounting program. It is appealing to small NGOs since it provides basic accounting capabilities at no cost, even though it lacks certain features that are special to nonprofits.
EZ Fund – With capabilities for fund accounting, grant monitoring, and compliance reporting, Fund EZ is accounting software designed for NGOs.
Services Aplos Accounting Offers
Nonprofit Bookkeeping Services – Aplos offers nonprofit bookkeeping services that cover restricted or unrestricted funds, creating reports, and looking into fund accounting.
Church Bookkeeping Services – Aplos offers specific accounting services, such as tracking offerings and tithes, creating contribution statements, and budgeting for ministries and churches that help users manage their finances easily.
Implementation Services – Aplos helps businesses configure their accounting software by offering features like system modification, training, and continuing support to guarantee a seamless transfer and appropriate deployment of their bookkeeping systems.
How to Set up AplosPay and Manage Payment Processing
Step 1: Access AplosPay Setup
Log in to your Aplos account: After logging in, navigate to the “Fund Accounting” tab on the dashboard.
Locate AplosPay: In the menu, find and click on AplosPay under the “Online Payments” section.
Begin the setup process: You’ll see a button to start the setup for AplosPay. Click on it to start.
Step 2: Complete Payment Processing Application
Aplos uses WePay as its payment processor, so you’ll need to provide some essential information to enable the service.
Fill out your organization’s details: Provide basic information such as your nonprofit’s or business’s name, tax ID, and business classification.
Add bank account information: You’ll need to link your organization’s bank account so that donations or payments can be transferred directly.
Routing number
Bank account number
Bank name
Provide responsible party details: For security purposes, the system will ask for details about the person responsible for managing the account. This is often the organization’s director, finance manager, or an authorized individual.
Verify your identity: As part of compliance with financial regulations, you’ll need to verify your identity using a government-issued ID (driver’s license, passport, etc.).
Once all the details are filled in, Aplos will submit your application for review. This process typically takes 1-3 business days.
Step 3: Enable Payment Options
After your AplosPay account is approved, you’ll be able to configure how payments are accepted across various channels:
Online Giving: You can accept donations directly through your website or via email campaigns. Set up a donation page that integrates with AplosPay, allowing donors to use credit cards, debit cards, or bank transfers (ACH).
Customize donation amounts
Add recurring donation options
Enable campaign-specific donations
Event Registrations: If you’re hosting events, AplosPay can handle ticket sales and registration fees. Use the event management module to create events and add payment options through AplosPay.
Product or Service Sales: If your organization sells products (like merchandise) or services, AplosPay can process these transactions as well. Set up your store within Aplos and use the integrated checkout.
Step 4: Manage Payments
Once AplosPay is live, managing transactions is simple:
Transaction Tracking: Every transaction processed through AplosPay will automatically appear in your accounting records, allowing you to track income by donor, product, or event. This real-time integration ensures accurate financial tracking.
Refunds and Disputes: You can issue refunds directly through AplosPay. In the case of disputes, the system provides guidance on resolving issues through WePay, including customer service support.
Payout Schedule: AplosPay will transfer funds to your linked bank account, typically within 1-2 business days of receiving payments. You can check your payout history and scheduled payouts from the AplosPay dashboard.
Fees and Processing Costs: AplosPay charges processing fees for transactions (typically 2.9% + $0.30 per credit card transaction or 1% + $0.30 for ACH transfers). You can review all fees in the AplosPay reports to understand your net revenue after processing costs.
Step 5: Generate Reports
Aplos offers robust reporting tools to help you monitor payment processing activity:
Transaction Summary Reports: These reports provide an overview of all transactions processed through AplosPay, including donations, event registrations, and product sales.
Payout Reports: Track when and how much was transferred to your bank account from AplosPay.
Donor or Customer Reports: Generate detailed reports to see which donors or customers have made payments and their payment history over time.
Step 6: Security and Compliance
AplosPay complies with financial regulations to ensure the safety and security of your organization’s funds and donor information. The platform offers PCI-compliant payment processing, meaning that all data is encrypted and stored securely.
Two-factor authentication: Enable two-factor authentication on your Aplos account to add an extra layer of security.
Data Encryption: All payment data is encrypted, and sensitive details like credit card numbers are never stored on Aplos servers.
IRS Compliance: Aplos generates the necessary forms and reports for IRS compliance, such as year-end donor receipts.
Aplos VS QuickBooks
Aplos is designed for nonprofits, churches, and small groups and is excellent at creating reports tailored to nonprofits, handling restricted and unrestricted finances, and incorporating internet contributions and event registrations, whereas QuickBooks is an all-purpose accounting program that is appropriate for various companies, including NGOs.
Aplos offers a more customized approach to managing donor relationships and nonprofit finances, while QuickBooks offers additional integrations and customization choices.
Why Should You Use Aplos Accounting
Organizations should use Aplos Accounting for the following reasons mentioned below:
