FAQ | The Admin Hub

Frequently Asked Questions

What services does The Admin Hub provide?

Coaching for finance staff or teams
Process reviews to identity vulnerable areas of your administrative processes
Manage payables – pay bills, etc
Manage donations and track cash flow
Grant and restricted funds tracking
Report formatting and interpretation
Budget planning
Payroll including direct deposit and tax filings

Why should I be concerned with administrative tasks when I’m starting a church or nonprofit?

Failure to pay attention to detail could hold back your vision or cause significant stress. If you put a little time and resources into starting off with strong accountability practices, efficient procedures and proper paperwork in place at the beginning, these structures will keep you moving forward as your organization grows.
The last thing you want is to be growing and good things happening and feel held back because the details are bogging you down.

Could I just use a volunteer or board member?

Many organizations are blessed to have great volunteers willing to track donors, pay bills and format reports. But there are a couple things to consider when putting your administration in the hands of a volunteer:

First, if you have a great volunteer and you are a new organization, do you want that person’s time spent with administrative details? Sometimes we burn out our best people with the small tasks when they could be critical in other areas.
Secondly, even the best volunteer only has a limited commitment. Life can so easily get in the way of all our best intentions. Sometimes a volunteer bookkeeper won’t have the information you need when you need it the most. Things happen and other needs will often take away from work that should be done.
Finally, you want to consider expertise and liability. Concerns about privacy, liability, compliance with IRS regulations might not be an area your volunteer is familiar with.

Are your services on-site or remote?

For clients in the San Francisco Bay area, we are happy to provide onsite services where needed. For most clients, we may meet in-person a couple times a year but most of our services are provided remotely. We also service clients in other states.

At what stage as I’m forming my organization should I contact you for services?

It's never too early to at least have a conversation about the administrative structure of a potential organization. In some cases, we may advise waiting to move forward on setting up a legal entity or see that our services aren't needed yet. But we would rather discuss your needs early than have you wait until getting stressed and overwhelmed.

What if I’m an established organization?

Over the years we have developed several models for established organizations of many sizes. These service models assess the needs of the current organization and develop services that fit their strengths and shore up any weaknesses. This is especially critical for organizations facing leadership transitions or organizational changes.

What kinds of organizations do you serve?

What do you recommend for basic bookkeeping?

We use Quickbooks Online for finance tracking, often in conjunction with another CRM for donor tracking. It’s not perfect and we know there are other solutions out there, but here are the reasons why we like it:

•   Web-based: You don’t have to worry about back-ups and system problems preventing access to your information. You can log on from anywhere with Internet access. This is often especially helpful for new organizations that might not a have an office or an IT person.
•   Accessible: Real time access to multiple users without a network or hardware considerations. Whether you have a volunteer or someone serving you remotely, you have control of your data and can see what is being posted regularly.
•   Relatively affordable: Through Techsoup organizations can get a discounted subscription.
•   User friendly: The online version of Quickbooks is comparatively easy for non-experts to navigate and customize.

We have had the privilege to serve:

Established churches
Parachurch organizations
New church plants
Social enterprise organizations
International ministries
An Arts organization
Denominational associations
A school