Nonprofit accounting you can actually
count on
Bookkeeping and controller support for organizations advancing social justice. We own the numbers so your team can focus on the mission, with clear reporting, calm audits, and a process that never rests on any one person.
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The problem
Walk into every board meeting sure of your numbers
Certainty is harder to come by than it should be, and it usually has little to do with how good your people are. When a whole finance function, from daily transactions to board reporting, rests on one or two people, however capable, it stays fragile. All it takes is someone stretched too thin, a resignation, or a stretch with no one checking the work, and the numbers you rely on become numbers you have to hope are right.
You feel it long before anything breaks:
- your team is stretched thin and isolated
- reporting is late and hard to trust
- decisions stall while you wait for numbers
- funders and your board start asking harder questions
- audit season becomes a fire drill
There is a steadier way to build it, starting with understanding why finance breaks when it depends on one person.
Why Bicycle is different
Structure, not heroics
Bringing in outside help usually adds another pair of hands to the setup you already have. Bicycle does the opposite. We take ownership of your numbers and run them on one clear, repeatable process, so accuracy never depends on one person's memory or a good week.
That means:
- We own accuracy. We follow one clear process, and your team follows it with us.
- Nothing rests on a single person. If someone is out, the work still gets done, on time.
- Your finances become predictable, month after month, audit after audit.
It is a firmer way of working, and it is exactly why our clients stop worrying about the numbers.
What we do
A full finance function, right-sized to you
Bicycle is your outsourced nonprofit bookkeeping and controller team, built as a full finance function rather than a single overworked role. That function has more layers than any one hire can hold, from day-to-day transactions to forward-looking strategy. Ask one or two people to carry all of them, and something eventually gives.
Bicycle gives you the layers you need:
- Controller. The foundation of every engagement. We own the accuracy of your numbers: the monthly close, the controls, and the reporting your board and funders rely on. Where your team keeps part of the work, we agree who does what based on what makes sense for your organization. The accuracy is ours either way.
- Controller and Bookkeeping. Everything in the controller service, plus we keep the day-to-day books. One team, the whole finance function.
Who reviews your close
Every month, your close gets reviewed. You choose the level:
- With your finance manager. Your day-to-day person, who knows what each transaction is about.
- With your controller. A CPA, who can answer whether the accounting is right.
- With a CFO. One monthly meeting, looking forward: what the numbers mean for what comes next.
Projects, when you need them
Budgeting, forecasting and similar pieces of work are scoped as projects rather than bundled into your monthly service. That is deliberate. Keeping them separate is how we keep your monthly cost proportionate, and how we make sure the work gets the time it actually needs rather than being squeezed around a close.
When you need one, we work backwards from the date your board needs it.
Whether you want the whole finance function or just the controller layer, we step in where it matters most. Explore our nonprofit bookkeeping and controller services, including our controller service, on the services page.
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The audit guarantee
We guarantee your audit
When Bicycle handles both the bookkeeping and the controller work for a full financial year, we guarantee your audit. If that year's audit comes back with a material finding, we refund the cost of the audit.
We can offer that for one reason. When we own every step, every number comes from somewhere we can see, and nothing waits on a hand-off we do not control.
Terms apply. The guarantee covers years where Bicycle has been your bookkeeper for the full period.
Who we are
Why Bicycle
A bicycle is simple, efficient, and built for movement. It carries you farther than you expect, powered by your own momentum. That is what your finances should feel like. With the right gears in place, the ride gets smoother.
We built Bicycle to do one thing well: give organizations advancing social justice a finance function they can rely on, run by people who care about the mission and about the people doing the work. We only serve nonprofits. We are good company to work with. And we deliver real value for the money.
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What nonprofit leaders say
Frequently asked questions
What does an outsourced nonprofit finance department do?
It runs the finance function for your organization without you hiring in-house. Bicycle handles bookkeeping and controller-level work, from the day-to-day books to the monthly close and board-ready reporting, so you get accurate numbers and clear reporting without building a team of your own.
Do you offer bookkeeping on its own?
No. Every engagement starts with a controller who owns your accuracy, and bookkeeping is the layer we add when you want us keeping the books too. Clean books only help when someone is accountable for getting them right.
Do you do budgeting and forecasting?
Yes, as scoped projects rather than as part of the monthly service. Keeping them separate means your monthly cost stays proportionate and the work gets the time it needs. When you need one, we work backwards from the date your board needs it.
How does pricing work?
Every nonprofit is different, so we scope your engagement to your size, your complexity, and the layers you need. We walk you through the numbers openly on our first call, so you know exactly what you are getting and what it costs before you commit. No hidden fees.
Do you only work with nonprofits?
Yes. We only serve nonprofits, and we do our best work with organizations advancing social justice: legal aid, advocacy, civil rights, and the movements around them.
See if we're a match
You do not have to carry finance alone. With a partner who owns the numbers, understands nonprofits, and keeps the process steady, you get clear reporting, calm audits, and the freedom to focus on your mission.
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