Lesson 3.2 – Company Information and Fiscal Settings

Welcome to Lesson 3.2! Before you can begin accepting donations and tracking constituent data, you must establish your organization’s foundational profile within FastFund.

Your Company Data dictates how your organization appears on donor receipts, defines your fiscal calendar, and establishes critical internal accounting controls. Note: If your FastFund Raising module is integrated with FastFund Accounting, this setup is controlled by the fiscal office and will automatically carry over to your fundraising system.

In this lesson, we will walk through configuring your Company Details, Contact Information, and Accounting Preferences.

1. Accessing Company Setup

To configure your organization’s profile, you must have Company Administrator permissions.

Steps to Access Setup:

1. Log into FastFund Online.
2. Click the Gear Icon (Company Administration) located in the top right corner of the Status Bar.
3. Under the COMPANY INFORMATION section on the left-hand menu, click Company Setup.

[INSERT SCREENSHOT: Display the top right Status Bar with the Gear Icon highlighted, and a secondary highlight on ‘Company Setup’ in the left-hand Administration menu.]

2. Company Details and Contact Information

The first two sections of the Company Setup screen house your demographic data. It is critical that this information is accurate, as these fields are used globally as merge fields for your donor receipts, email templates, and standard reports.

• Company Details: Enter your Business Name, DBA Name (if applicable and different from your business name), Federal Tax ID, and State Tax ID.
• Contact Information: Enter the primary Contact Name, Contact Position, Phone Number, Web Site Address, and Email.
• Addresses: You must configure your Primary Address and, if different, a Shipping Address. Hover your mouse over the address line and click to open the address editing window.

3. Accounting Preferences (Fiscal Settings)

Directly below your contact information is the Preferences tab. This area controls your fiscal calendar and system-wide data entry rules.

Key Fiscal Settings Include:

• Fiscal Start Month: Select the first month of your organization’s fiscal year from the drop-down menu.
• Beginning Balance Date: This is a critical field that determines when you will begin entering transactions into FastFund. The date you enter must be the last day of a month (e.g., 06/30/2021). You are permitted to begin entering new transactions on the day after this date.
• Posting Range: This setting establishes an internal control window (ranging from 1 to 24 months) for transaction entry. If a user attempts to post a transaction with a date outside of this normal posting range from the current system date, FastFund will issue a warning.
• Time Zone, Currency, and Date Format: Select your local time zone, your preferred currency symbol (e.g., $, €, £), and your date format (MM/DD/YYYY is standard for North American users).
• Project Tracking: Check this box if your organization plans to track revenue and expenses for short-term activities, grants, or specific events outside of your standard Chart of Accounts.

[INSERT SCREENSHOT: Show the ‘Accounting Preferences’ section highlighting the drop-downs for Fiscal Start Month, Beginning Balance Date (showing an end-of-month date), and the Posting Range.]

4. Dashboard Preferences

Within the same Preferences area, you can dictate how data is calculated and displayed specifically on your Fund Raising Dashboard:

• Fund Raising YTD: Choose whether you want your Dashboard pie charts and metrics to calculate totals based on the Calendar Year or your Fiscal Year.
• Appeal/Gift Order: Choose whether your Dashboard pie charts display slices in alphabetical order (Name) or in descending dollar value (Value), ensuring your largest campaigns appear first.

Once you have completely filled out your Company Details, Contact Information, and Preferences, always remember to click the blue SAVE button at the top of the screen to lock in your configuration.