Is there a way to just show a figure for "net fundraising events" rather than listing each event under both income and expense?

Some nonprofits find that it distorts their budget to show both the income and expense from a fundraising event. Some use accounting software that isn't set up to show only the "Net."

It's true--fundraising income and expense can distort the budget. For example, if an organization's annual dinner brings in $25,000, but costs $15,000, the budget should really show only the $10,000 as net income (a separate, break-out worksheet should show the expected gross income and expenses for analysis purposes). In line with this clarity, Federal Form 990, the annual form required for most nonprofits, asks only for the net of fundraising special events.

There are two approaches. One solution is simply to track both income and expense to the same account; If, for example, account #488 is for the Annual Dinner, you can post both income (Credits) and expenses (Debits) to that account. The printout will show only the net. If you want to know the grosses, you will have to look at the year-to-date general ledger printout. In the example, above, software would print out only $10,000 in the line item for the Annual Dinner income.