Financial Solutions for Education & Workforce Development

Smart financial systems for the programs shaping tomorrow’s learners and leaders.

Built for the Business Side of Learning

Whether you’re running a K–12 afterschool program or managing a multi-site job training center, the financial side of education is complex. From shifting enrollments to grant compliance and site-level reporting, we help you build financial systems that keep your team informed, your funders satisfied, and your programs sustainable.

Comment Quote

This is complex work and when occasional issues arise, they are accountable, responsive, and make things right immediately. They are also patient in educating us when the accountability needs to come from our side. It has been a game changer for our nonprofit.

– Bridget Alexander, Waking the Village

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Grant & Fund Tracking

We track every dollar across federal education grants, workforce innovation funds, and private donors—so you stay compliant, transparent, and in control.

Budgeting & Forecasting

With funding often tied to enrollment cycles or state contracts, our budgeting tools and projections help you anticipate seasonal dips, plan ahead, and stay agile when the unexpected happens.

Site-Level Reporting

Running multiple programs, schools, or sites? We create custom financial reports that break down expenses by location or initiative so leadership can see exactly what’s working and where to optimize.

Stay Focused on Students, Not Spreadsheets

From tuition and grants to multi-site budgets, we bring the structure and strategy that keeps your programs running strong. Contact our team today.

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We Know What It Takes to Fund, Run, and Grow Education Programs

No two education and workforce development programs are the same. A small afterschool nonprofit has different financial needs than a multi-site job training center, so we learn how your organization is funded, how your programs are structured, and what your long-term goals are. Then, we tailor our services to match, offering both day-to-day bookkeeping and CFO-level strategy. Whether you’re managing tuition income, government grants, or workforce innovation funds, our support scales with you.

Financial Support That Adapts to Your Programs and Your Funders

With grants and contracts often tied to specific outcomes or service sites, education and workforce development organizations can’t afford generic reporting. We help you present clear, program-level financials that align with funder expectations and back up your impact—whether you’re reporting to a school board, a grantor, or a state agency.

Frequently Asked Questions About Our CFO Services

Yes—we specialize in federal grant compliance and reporting, with deep experience across agencies including the Department of Education (ED), Department of Labor (DOL), Health & Human Services (HHS)—including Head Start, Early Head Start, CCDBG, and CSBG—as well as AmeriCorps, USDA, HUD, and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

In addition to federal grants, we regularly work with complex state and local contracts, including tax-credit-funded initiatives, outcome-based reimbursements, and multi-agency funding agreements. Whether you’re managing multiple funding streams or navigating strict cost allocations, our team ensures accurate tracking, audit-ready documentation, and reporting that aligns with your funders—every time.

We build financial systems that clearly separate restricted, temporarily restricted, and unrestricted funding—so you always know what’s available to spend and what’s already spoken for.

As new grants or donations come in, we work closely with your program and fundraising teams to set up proper designations in your accounting system. Each time revenue or expenses hit those funds, your team (and ours) can easily tag the activity. That means you get clean, fund-specific reporting without the guesswork.

Restricted funds can be tied to specific grants, donor or board-imposed restrictions, or more complex arrangements like endowments and earnings limitations. No matter how your funding is structured, we’ll help you stay organized, compliant, and audit-ready.

Absolutely. Many nonprofits run multiple programs across several locations, each with its own reporting needs. We specialize in building financial tracking systems that separate activity by site, program, or funding source—so you get clear, actionable insights at the level of detail that matters to you.

Our team can help design a custom matrix within your accounting system to organize revenue and expenses by site and program. Whether you’re managing schools, training centers, or regional service hubs, we’ll set up your chart of accounts and reporting tools to support granular visibility and organization-wide oversight—without adding complexity for your team.

Client Impact Story

How One Organization Modernized Finance for 20+ Active Grants

For over 45 years, Vermont Adult Learning has supported its community through essential education and workforce programs. But behind the scenes, financial operations were becoming increasingly difficult to manage. The organization faced chronic turnover—four finance directors in four years—resulting in instability and loss of institutional knowledge.

At the same time, they were juggling 20–25 active grants, each with its own compliance requirements, plus an annual federal audit. Processes were still largely paper-based, approvals were scattered, and financial management policies weren’t aligned with new federal standards.

The strain was growing, and the systems simply weren’t keeping up.

Vermont Adult Learning partnered with The Charity CFO for a model built on consistency, expertise, and depth. Our dedicated team took responsibility for both day-to-day accounting and strategic guidance. From there, we helped rebuild a stronger infrastructure. This included:

  • Rewriting financial management policies to meet federal grant requirements and support audit readiness
  • Transitioning from paper-heavy processes to modern tools like Bill.com, Divvy, and electronic signatures
  • Integrating payroll and grant tracking with QuickBooks to provide clear reporting for a staff of 100 with complex allocations
  • Establishing predictable coverage and communication, so leadership always knew who to turn to

Our goal was to build a system capable of supporting the organization for years to come.

With modern systems, reliable processes, and a full finance team behind them, Vermont Adult Learning moved from constant instability to long-term financial confidence. The organization has experienced:

  • Greater stability and reassurance among leadership and the board
  • Early, stress-free audit submission, with previous findings resolved before auditing
  • Aligned communication and clearer financial reporting for board meetings and funders
  • Dramatically improved efficiency—90% of approvals and reporting completed remotely
  • A scalable system that prepares the organization for future growth
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“Our capacity to give attention to the rest of the organization has probably doubled since we brought you on.”

David Justice
Associate Director

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