Accounting

Article Dean Dorton

Grant management has changed significantly in the last ten years. What used to be mainly an administrative accounting task is now a strategic skill that affects compliance, funder trust, cash flow, and long-term viability. Nonprofits are no longer just asked to report how grant money was spent afterward, but to manage those funds carefully and openly in real time—often across multiple grants, programs, and funding sources simultaneously.

Yet many organizations still rely on outdated accounting systems that were never designed to address today’s grant management challenges. As expectations increase, these limitations become a significant operational and financial risk.

The New Reality of Grant Oversight

Compliance Is More Complex—and Less Forgiving

Updates to Uniform Guidance, higher audit thresholds, increased cybersecurity scrutiny, and expanded oversight of subrecipients have elevated the standards for compliance. Nonprofits must consistently demonstrate proper controls, accurate cost allocations, and timely documentation. Relying on manual processes and static account structures makes this more difficult, leaving organizations vulnerable not only during audits but throughout the entire grant lifecycle.

Transparency and Real-Time Accuracy Are Now Expected

Funders expect continuous insight into how their funds are used—not just at the end of a grant period but throughout. While formal grant reporting might be done semi-annually or annually, grant drawdowns are often a monthly process, and outdated systems cause the greatest strain and risk during this time.

When finance teams rely on spreadsheets or manual reconciliations to prepare drawdowns, the process becomes slow, error-prone, and difficult to validate. In contrast, real-time visibility into allowable costs, remaining balances, and grant restrictions allows organizations to prepare drawdowns more efficiently and confidently, knowing the data is accurate and up-to-date.

Manual Processes Create Risk Around Cash Flow and Revenue Recognition

Legacy systems often face challenges with one of the most complex parts of grant accounting: revenue recognition for conditional funding, which represents the majority of federal grant revenue. Without the ability to accurately track expenses against grant conditions in real time, organizations risk recognizing revenue too early or too late, leading to compliance issues and inaccuracies in financial statements.

Modern grant management processes help ensure that revenue is recognized properly as conditions are fulfilled, while still clearly distinguishing between restricted and unrestricted funds. Achieving this level of precision is difficult—if not impossible—to sustain in systems that rely heavily on manual workarounds.

The Cost of Standing Still

Organizations that continue to operate on outdated accounting platforms face real consequences:

  • Increased compliance risk due to limited controls and manual drawdown preparation
  • Significant time spent each month preparing grant drawdowns and reconciling data
  • Greater exposure to revenue recognition errors for conditional grants
  • Reduced scalability, making it harder to manage multiple or overlapping grants without adding staff

Over time, these challenges can limit growth, strain finance teams, and hinder an organization’s ability to pursue new funding opportunities.

How Sage Intacct Supports Modern Grant Management

Modern cloud-based platforms like Sage Intacct are designed to support the entire grant management lifecycle—not just reporting at the end. Instead of requiring nonprofits to modify their processes to fit rigid account structures, Sage Intacct uses dimensional accounting to track grants, programs, funders, and restrictions in real time.

With Sage Intacct, nonprofits can:

  • Track grant activity and allowable costs continuously, not retroactively
  • Prepare grant drawdowns more efficiently using real-time, validated data
  • Reduce manual reconciliation by tying expenses directly to grant dimensions
  • Support accurate revenue recognition for conditional grants as expenses are incurred
  • Provide leadership and boards with clear, up-to-date visibility into grant balances and funding utilization

This approach shifts finance teams from reactive cleanup work to proactive grant oversight—reducing monthly effort, improving accuracy, and lowering overall risk.

Organizations that modernize their grant management processes often see measurable improvements. Some have cut grant-related preparation time from hours or days to just minutes, while others have increased their capacity to handle more grants without hiring additional staff—simply by gaining better visibility and control over their financial data.

Modernization Is a Strategic Imperative

In today’s funding climate, the ability to accurately manage grants in real time is essential for mission success. Grant drawdowns, compliance, revenue recognition, and transparency are no longer occasional issues—they are constant operational demands.

Switching to a modern platform like Sage Intacct provides nonprofits with more than just improved reporting tools. It boosts their confidence in data, streamlines monthly processes, and creates a financial foundation that supports growth, compliance, and lasting impact.

See the Benefits in Action

Join us for an upcoming webinar to discover how nonprofits are modernizing grant management to increase real-time visibility, streamline grant drawdowns, enhance revenue recognition, and reduce compliance risks. We will share practical insights and examples of how modern financial systems can better support today’s grant-funded organizations.

Register here: Grant Management in 2026: Why Outdated Accounting Systems Put Nonprofits at Risk

Article Danielle Camara

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), passed in July 2025, introduces changes to tax regulations that significantly affect real estate investors. One of the most important changes is the restoration of 100% bonus depreciation, making cost segregation studies an even more compelling tax strategy. 

What is a Cost Segregation Study and Why Consider It?

An investor can use a cost segregation study to allocate the basis of real property into specific asset classes, allowing for accelerated depreciation deductions for certain asset classes. In fact, any qualified improvement property or personal property will be eligible for 100% bonus depreciation, making it deductible in the year the property is purchased and placed in service. This includes building components and land improvements such as flooring, windows, fencing, and sidewalks. 

Quantifying the Impact

The example below illustrates the tax benefit of depreciation using a cost segregation study for a taxpayer who acquires a $3 million commercial property in 2025.

Tax Benefit without Cost Segregation:

  • Land allocation: $600,000 (not depreciable)
  • Entire building: $2,400,000 – depreciated over 39 years
  • Annual depreciation: $61,538
  • First-year tax benefit (37% bracket): $22,769

Tax Benefit with Cost Segregation and 100% Bonus Depreciation (Restored by OBBBA):

  • Land allocation: $600,000 (not depreciable)
  • Building allocation: $1,800,000 (39-year depreciation = $46,154 annually)
  • Qualified improvements identified by study: $600,000 (immediately deductible)
  • Total first-year deductions: $646,154
  • First-year tax benefit (37% bracket): $239,077

The restoration of 100% bonus depreciation and a cost segregation study transforms a $22,769 first-year tax benefit into a $239,077 benefit, more than tenfold increase. This example demonstrates how investors can accelerate depreciation deductions, reduce their tax liability, increase cash flow, and enhance overall return on investment.

Considerations in Advance

Before initiating a cost segregation study, taxpayers should evaluate their specific tax position and property characteristics to determine the eligibility and potential tax savings. They should also gather available property documentation, including recent appraisals, site maps or surveys, closing documents at time of purchase, and architectural or construction plans. 

Eligible Properties

Properties that are eligible for depreciation are eligible for cost segregation studies, including both residential and commercial properties. While this strategy can be applied broadly, it proves most effective on larger projects since the expected benefit correlates to the total cost of the project.

Timing the Study

Taxpayers can initiate a Cost Segregation Study at three key phases:

  • When purchased or constructed: Investors can commission a study on a newly acquired or constructed property. The study should be completed prior to the filing of the tax return for the year the property was placed in service, allowing for depreciation of the various components according to the classifications as set out in the study.
  • Retroactively: Investors can perform a study on properties placed in service in prior years. However, this requires filing a Form 3115 to claim the depreciation that would have been allowed. Note that bonus depreciation rates were less than 100% in 2023 and 2024, diminishing the benefits. 

In Summary

A cost segregation study is a strategic tax planning tool that allows real estate investors to accelerate depreciation deductions, resulting in significant tax deferrals and increased cash flow, particularly in the early years of ownership. It is especially valuable for newly constructed buildings, renovations, or acquisitions, and may also be applied retroactively. By front-loading depreciation, businesses can reinvest savings, improve ROI, and enhance financial performance.

To explore the applicability of this strategy to your specific situation, please contact Dean Dorton’s real estate team.

Article Danielle Camara

The Financial Accounting Standards Board’s ASU 2025-10 introduces authoritative guidance for accounting for government grants received by business entities—a first for U.S. GAAP. Historically, companies relied on analogies to IAS 20 or not-for-profit models, creating diversity in practice. This update aligns U.S. GAAP with international standards, enhancing transparency and comparability.

Under ASU 2025-10, a grant is recognized only when it is probable that the entity will (1) comply with the grant’s conditions and (2) receive the funds. For income-related grants, amounts may be presented as other income or as a reduction of the related expense.

Effective Date:

  • Public business entities: Annual periods beginning after December 15, 2028 (including interim periods).
  • All other entities: One year later, after December 15, 2029.
  • Early adoption permitted

For additional details on ASU 2025-10 or questions about your grants, please reach out to the Dean Dorton Life Science Team.

Article Danielle Camara

It’s January, the start of a new year. 2026, let’s go!

If you’re a business leader, board member, department manager or simply an intentional go-getter, you’re wrapping up your goals for the year ahead.

You’ve reviewed 2025. You’ve celebrated your wins and learned from your losses. Now, 2026 is poised to be amazing.

Your whiteboard is full of ideas and plans for the year. You’ve even used three different colors to prioritize initiatives. You asked ChatGPT to evaluate your plan and subscribed to the premium version because you only want the best from your AI buddy. You built forecasts in complicated spreadsheets, even learning how to link cells between sheets. You figured out Canva so you could launch a marketing campaign, and dang it; your circles and squares look pretty good. Last night, you sent the team an invitation to the 2026 kickoff summit, scheduled for this Friday at a venue you haven’t secured yet.

2026 is going to be awesome! But let’s pause for a moment and make sure the house is in order.

Ask yourself:

  • Do you have a process to track and measure all this success?
  • Is your accounting function, including your team, software, and processes, ready?
  • Are your financial reports aligned with your 2026 initiatives and goals?
  • Will you be notified promptly if operations are not going as planned?
  • Can you tell if you’re winning or losing with a quick glance at your financial dashboard?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, you may not have the accounting infrastructure needed to support your plans for 2026.

Yes, adding accounting to a conversation about goals can feel like a box of New Year’s fireworks that fizzles instead of explodes. But if you want your business to explode in a good way rather than fizzle in 2026, your accounting function needs to be in order.

That’s where Dean Dorton’s Accounting and Financial Outsourcing (AFO) services come in. We handle your accounting so you can stay focused on achieving your organization’s goals.

Our team of accounting professionals uses cloud-based technology to manage your accounting processes, which may include:

  • Recording vendor invoices
  • Vendor payments
  • Customer invoicing
  • Cash flow forecasting
  • Month-end close
  • Customized reporting and dashboards
  • Collaboration with tax preparers
  • Budgeting
  • Key performance indicators
  • Insights from a 600-person accounting and advisory firm

You have a plan for 2026 to be an exceptional year. Don’t let your accounting function become an obstacle. Let us be the partner that ensures your accounting is an asset in pursuit of your goals.

My name is Justin Hubbard, and I am the director of the Accounting and Financial Outsourcing team at Dean Dorton. I would be thrilled to discuss your plans for 2026 and how we can help support them.

Article Danielle Camara

Nonprofit organizations today face increasing demands: limited resources, complex funding structures, and heightened scrutiny from funders, boards, and regulators. Many organizations, however, still rely on accounting systems that were never designed to meet the unique needs of mission-driven work.

As nonprofits grow in size and complexity, accounting software must evolve from a basic record-keeping tool into a strategic platform for transparency, compliance, and informed decision-making. Understanding what makes a system effective—and why traditional tools fall short—is essential for long-term sustainability.

The challenge with traditional nonprofit accounting tools

Many nonprofits start with systems built for small businesses or general use. While these tools may suffice early on, they often struggle to keep pace as organizations scale. Common pain points include:

  • Limited reporting capabilities, forcing finance teams to rely on spreadsheets
  • Rigid chart of accounts structures that become cumbersome over time
  • Manual workarounds for grant tracking and fund restrictions
  • Slow, resource-heavy month-end closes
  • Difficulty producing board-ready or funder-specific reports

These limitations can pull finance teams away from strategic oversight and into administrative maintenance.

What modern nonprofit accounting systems should offer 

To overcome these challenges, nonprofits need systems designed for their complexity. Here are key capabilities to look for:

1. Dimensional Accounting

Instead of overloading a chart of accounts with codes, dimensional accounting allows organizations to track funds, grants, programs, locations, and projects independently—and simultaneously. This enables:

  • Real-time visibility into financial performance by program or initiative
  • Accurate tracking of restricted and unrestricted funds
  • Easier response to funder and board reporting requests
  • Elimination of parallel spreadsheets

2. Grant and Fund Management

Grant-funded organizations often struggle with compliance and reporting. A strong system should support:

  • Grant budgets and spending controls
  • Time-based or milestone reporting
  • Visibility into remaining balances
  • Built-in compliance with fund restrictions

3. Financial Clarity for Leadership

Boards and executives need timely, actionable insights—not static reports weeks after month-end. Look for:

  • Dashboards and customizable reporting
  • Faster, cleaner closes
  • Consistent reporting across departments
  • Audit-ready transparency

4. Scalability and Integration

As nonprofits grow, merge, or diversify funding sources, their systems must scale. Cloud-based platforms (such as Sage Intacct) often provide:

  • Multi-entity support
  • Integration with donor, payroll, and reporting tools
  • Capacity for increased transaction volume

Turning finance into a strategic advantage

The difference between a basic accounting tool and a true nonprofit financial platform is impact. When finance teams spend less time on manual processes and more time analyzing data, organizations gain:

  • Stronger stewardship of donor and grant funds
  • Improved compliance and transparency
  • More confident leadership decisions
  • Greater organizational resilience

What’s next: preparing for the shift 

Moving to a more robust accounting platform raises important questions about readiness, implementation, and long-term value. Nonprofits should consider:

  • When to move beyond entry-level systems
  • How to design reporting that aligns with mission and strategy
  • What best-in-class financial management looks like in practice

Educational webinars, peer discussions, and case studies can help leaders make informed decisions about the future of their financial systems.

Contact your Dean Dorton advisor to learn more about strengthening your nonprofit’s financial systems and long-term reporting strategy.

Article Dean Dorton

As I sit here writing this article, I’m also working on some final tasks for my volunteer job with our local community theatre and our production of Seussical Jr. My daughter (now a high school theatre arts teacher!) grew up in that theater and I’ve enjoyed volunteering as treasurer and “computer person” ever since. I’ve sat through many rehearsals over the last few months, and I’ve heard one phrase over and over –

“Oh, the thinks you can think”

I know you’re reading this and asking, “What does that have to do with accounting software?”  Well, maybe it doesn’t have as much to do with accounting software as it does another lesson I recently learned at Sage Transform 2022. At the recent Sage Intacct partner and customer conference in Orlando, one theme I found applicable over and over was that we often have the knowledge and tools we need at our fingertips; we simply need to stop and think. Our days are often comprised of meetings, meetings, and more meetings and we don’t allocate enough, if any, time for thought to be creative and break through boundaries.

With that in mind, let me help you think about a few things I saw at Sage Transform 2022.

First, although we are not to the level of Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator, there is a bit of artificial intelligence inside Sage Intacct TODAY! If you have not heard already, the GL Outlier Detection is a feature built into every instance of Sage Intacct and does not cost a single penny to activate – well, other than any consulting charges that you might incur, of course. Once enabled, the tool monitors your transactions for about 30 days to get a sense of how your organization operates. Once that is complete, it looks at transactions that are entered in the GL that fall outside of the norm, flags any that are suspicious so you can review them. From there, you can either correct any problems or send them back to the submitter to correct. By monitoring your transactions in real-time, the GL Outlier Detection serves to help accounting departments to shorten the close cycle by correcting transactions while they are still fresh in everyone’s mind. After all,

“an error’s an error, no matter how small!”

Second, Sage Intacct is committed to including a functional, feature-filled, native AP Automation tool in the very near future. You should already be aware – I HOPE! – of the Vendor Payments by CSI feature that, again, is in every instance of Sage Intacct today! Granted, there is a cost for using this feature, but it is dependent on how much you use it, so it’s very beneficial to consider. What we saw at Transform 2022, though, was the next evolution of the AP Automation too, the approval workflows and automated handling of vendor invoices before the payment process. That’s right, Sage Intacct will, in 2023, become one of the few mid-market ERP systems to include a highly functional, well-designed AP Automation tool in the system that can process invoices, manage approvals, track attachments, and facilitate payments all inside the Sage Intacct application!

“Oh, the thinks they can think!”

Third, isn’t it just a pain to keep up with all those annual subscriptions that you prepay and then must remember to make journal entries each month to amortize the monthly amount? I mean if Sage Intacct just had a Prepaid Expense Amortization module that would be AMAZING, right? Well, hang on to your green eggs and ham because Sage Intacct has a Prepaid Expense Amortization module that lets you do just that – make an annual payment for a subscription or service and create a schedule, immediately, that automatically books a journal entry each month to recognize the appropriate expense.

Fourth, I’ll leave you with one final thought from Sage Transform 2022 in the fact that Sage Intacct is slammed packed with capabilities to create Smart Rules to make sure that your organization’s policies and procedures are adhered to with every click on a button. Imagine not being able to create a vendor without your new custom field called “License Date” populated IF the vendor is a certain type or any other criteria you deem required. Imagine having a rule that requires the system validate distribution line items to a master total you enter in the transaction header? Smart Rules, and their “cousin” Smart Events, are included free in every instance of Sage Intacct and can really help an organization stay on top of their data through validation upon entry.

Not many writers can match the style and prowess of Theodor Seuss Geisel, professionally known as Dr. Seuss, and not many software solutions can compete with the features and benefits of Sage Intacct – especially when you take a cue from Dr. Seuss and think all the things you can think! Sage Intacct is packed full of features and functions in each module and many of those are hidden gems that just need to be discovered. Just remember, always take time to

“think and wonder, wonder and think”

or you might just be….

“the biggest blame fool in the Jungle of Nool.”

Philip Massey, CPA | Software Services Director
pmassey@ddaftech.com
919.508.6062