Helping good organizations do good work. Summerhall's resource-conscious support helps leaders worry less about the numbers and focus on the mission.
Get in touch today.

Get your time back.

You didn't join a nonprofit to spend all your time in QuickBooks. Streamline, modernize, and error-proof your finance function so that you can focus on what you’re passionate about.

Resilience & adaptability

We believe in building your capacity—then getting out of the way. With best-practice experience across multiple sectors, hands-on instruction, and a wealth of off-the-shelf resources, we’ll leave your team with the tools they need and the know-how to use them.

Resource-conscious solutions.

We’ve worked with finance teams of all sizes (from “has its own org chart” to “whatever free time the COO has”) and we’ll show you how automation, scripting, and bespoke process redesign can help you do more - and better - with less. Get in touch!

ABOUT US

I’m John. I started Summerhall because outsourced finance support is often the best way for small- to mid-sized charities to do the most good. Summerhall aims to be the nonprofit finance support that just works.

If you’re interested in our services, or even if you just want to chat - please reach out! Some of the most interesting and inspiring folks work at nonprofits, and I love meeting them. Email us at hello@summerhallconsulting.com.

Outsourced finance is often the best model for small- to mid-size nonprofits: fewer dollars on overhead means more capacity for your mission. But over 10+ years in nonprofit finance, I was mystified to see charities run in the the same problems again and again:

  • lack of knowledge transfer, between consultants or from consultants to staff
  • opacity on processes, hours, and billing
  • "one-size-fits-all" when you need specialized attention; unexpected add-ons when you need scale & savings
These factors can lead to costly over-dependence on consultants and errors that threaten your tax-exempt status. Outsourced support should free you up to focus on your programs, not force you to constantly retrain your consultants and check their work.

We pride ourselves on transparency, resource-consciousness, and a teaching-based approach. We take time to learn your business's unique situation; we develop clear workplans and solutions that match your needs with your resources; and we document our work & processes extensively so that whoever comes after us isn't grasping in the dark. Whatever your role, and whatever the length of our time with you, we want to leave you more capable and confident in your finances, not dependent on billable hours for every single question.

LET US HELP YOU WITH...

Outsourced accounting & CFO functions

Experience across a wide breadth of sectors helps us get up to speed more quickly than typical temp staffing. Our focus on documentation, streamlining, and error-proofing means whoever comes after us, we'll set them up for success.

Financial system migration support

We've supported transitions from selection to go-live on all major accounting platforms:

Accounting process optimization

Whatever your resources, we'll help you make the most of them:

Excel, spreadsheet, and database training

Might sound basic, but we think spreadsheet fluency is the number-one way for finance professionals to build self-sufficiency, automate their error-checking and learn to create custom solutions

Grant management infrastructure

Just because every funder is different doesn't mean you need to start from scratch on every grant. We'll help you spend less time on grant maintenance and more time on grant outcomes by designing systems that anticipate & accommodate them all.

Audit, 990, and Form PC readiness

Year-end always comes sooner - and lasts longer - than you expect. We can help assemble and cross-reference your audit PBCs to reduce the additional workload on your existing teams - plus, we can give you a head-start on next year's audit by adjusting your day-to-day processes to anticipate the PBCs.

SYSTEMS & SECTORS

SYSTEM EXPERTISE

*includes implementations/migrations

NONPROFIT SECTORS WE'VE WORKED WITH