Accurate. Conscientious, honest and punctual, definitely takes great pride in her work.
Call (417) 323-2629 or have me call you.
I’m Diane Jones. I’ve kept books for more than 30 years, over 20 of them as the accounting manager for one company, and I’m a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. I work from the Springfield, Missouri area, over Zoom and phone, with nonprofits anywhere in the U.S., and in person around Springfield when that helps. Most nonprofit files I see were kept by a volunteer treasurer doing their best with a business chart of accounts. The numbers are usually close to right. What’s missing is a way for the board to see restricted money apart from general money. I put that in and keep it working every month.
What nonprofit books need
A for-profit file answers one question: did we make money. Yours has to answer a second one. Did each dollar get spent the way it was given? QuickBooks Online does both when it’s set up for it.
- Programs and funds tracked with classes, so every gift and every expense carries a label for the program or fund it belongs to
- Restricted and unrestricted gifts kept separate, with restricted balances that show what’s still owed to a purpose
- Grant tracking, so you can show a funder what was spent against their award without rebuilding it from receipts
- Board-ready statements, the Statement of Activities and the Statement of Financial Position, straight out of QuickBooks
- Budget versus actual, by program, so the board sees where the year is running ahead or behind
Restricted gifts and grants, kept honest
A donor gives for the food pantry, and that money belongs to the food pantry until it’s spent there. A funder awards a grant for a youth program, and at the end they want a list of what the award paid for. Both are easy to lose track of when everything runs through one checking account.
I put restricted gifts and grants in their own classes the day they arrive and reconcile those balances every month, so what you still hold for a purpose matches what the bank says you have. Then a funder report is just a filtered report out of QuickBooks. The board can see how much of the bank balance is free to use.
The monthly rhythm
Nonprofit books run on the same monthly bookkeeping schedule as every other file I keep. I enter every transaction and classify it to its program or fund, and I reconcile the bank and credit card accounts. If you have staff, I record and reconcile every payroll transaction from your payroll provider. Then the reports go out by mid-month: the Statement of Activities, the Statement of Financial Position, and Cash Flow, plus a budget versus actual by program when you have a budget to hold it against.
Your executive director gets a file that’s current. Your treasurer gets a report that came straight out of the books, in the Google Drive folder we share, by the 15th.
What your board or treasurer receives
- Statement of Activities, by program and fund, for the month and the year to date
- Statement of Financial Position, with restricted net assets shown apart from unrestricted
- Cash Flow, so the board knows what’s actually in the bank and what’s spoken for
- Budget versus actual, by program, when you have an approved budget
- Grant summaries on request, showing what was spent against each award
The reports are set up so a board member who’s never read a financial statement can follow them.
Year end and the Form 990
Your CPA prepares and files the Form 990. The handoff goes fast when the file is clean. I send them a reconciled file with contributions, grants, and program expenses already classified, restricted balances tied out, and 1099s prepared and e-filed for any contractors you paid, which is an add-on billed per form. Most of what the return asks for is already sitting in the reports. If you don’t have a CPA, I work alongside several firms and I’ll introduce you.
If you have an audit or a financial review coming, reconciled monthly books cut down the questions.
Who this fits
Small nonprofits, associations, ministries, and community organizations. A paid director or a working board, a few programs, some grants, and a treasurer who’d rather read a report than build one. If the books are behind, even by a few years, that’s fine with me. A cleanup or catch-up project gets you current, with a fixed quote in writing before I start.
Monthly bookkeeping is a flat monthly fee, quoted in writing after a free review of your file. There’s a written engagement letter before any work starts, and either side can end it with 30 days’ written notice. The pricing page explains how I build the quote. The free call is where we start.
Reviews
5 out of 5 stars
5 out of 5 stars
What people say about working with me
Diane is very competent and dependable. She has been working in the bookkeeping, finance, and records area for many years and does great work. Her services are recommended.
Questions
Questions I hear a lot
Do you prepare our Form 990?
Your CPA prepares and files the Form 990. What they need at year end is a reconciled file with every gift, grant, and program expense classified and the restricted balances tied out, and I’ll send it to them directly if that’s the arrangement you want. That’s most of what the return needs. If you don’t have a CPA, I work alongside several firms and I’ll introduce you.
Do we need nonprofit-specific software?
No. QuickBooks Online handles fund and program tracking for most small nonprofits with classes and its standard reports, QuickBooks Online is where most of my nonprofits are, and I work in other platforms too. Your donor or giving platform stays where it is. I work from its exports and reconcile them against the bank.
Can you give me a ballpark cost?
Yes, in writing, after a free review of your file. Monthly bookkeeping is a flat monthly fee, and a cleanup gets a fixed quote. What moves the number: how many transactions run through an average month, how many bank and card accounts you run, payroll, and how many funds, programs, and grants need tracking. Send me three to six months of statements and you’ll get a range on the call. The pricing page explains how I build it.
Our books are two years behind and the board is asking questions. Can you help?
Yes, and I’d be glad to take that on. A multi-year cleanup rebuilds the books period by period until you’re current, with restricted and unrestricted balances sorted out and statements the board can rely on. You get a fixed quote in writing before I start, and the payment schedule goes in the proposal. On bigger projects I usually offer to split it into two payments.
A Form 990 on extension is due November 16, 2026. Your CPA needs reconciled, fund-level books to finish it, and that’s the part I do.
Filed an extension for 2025? Those returns are due October 15, 2026. Your CPA needs a reconciled 2025 file before then, and the sooner I see it the more room we both have.
1099s for your subs and vendors are due February 1, 2027, and they’re built from a full year of entered payments. If 2026 is behind, the last weeks of the year are the time to catch it up.
1099s for your subs and vendors are due February 1, 2027, the same day your payroll provider sends W-2s. If the 2026 books aren’t entered yet, that’s the first thing I’d fix.
S corporation and partnership returns are due March 15, 2027. Your CPA needs a reconciled 2026 file to file on time.
Individual returns are due April 15, 2027. A reconciled 2026 file is what your CPA needs to file, or to file the extension with real numbers.
Talk to me
Your board will see where every dollar went, straight from the books.
Every fund and program gets its own class, and restricted gifts stay apart from general money. Nothing starts until you’ve seen the price in writing.
A Form 990 on extension is due November 16, 2026. Your CPA needs reconciled, fund-level books to finish it, and that’s the part I do.
Filed an extension for 2025? Those returns are due October 15, 2026. Your CPA needs a reconciled 2025 file before then, and the sooner I see it the more room we both have.
1099s for your subs and vendors are due February 1, 2027, and they’re built from a full year of entered payments. If 2026 is behind, the last weeks of the year are the time to catch it up.
1099s for your subs and vendors are due February 1, 2027, the same day your payroll provider sends W-2s. If the 2026 books aren’t entered yet, that’s the first thing I’d fix.
S corporation and partnership returns are due March 15, 2027. Your CPA needs a reconciled 2026 file to file on time.
Individual returns are due April 15, 2027. A reconciled 2026 file is what your CPA needs to file, or to file the extension with real numbers.
I’ll call you back within 15 to 20 minutes during the day.