Nonprofit HR Software
HR Software for Nonprofits
Nonprofit HR software manages payroll, benefits, scheduling, and records for staff and contractors, with grant-based wage allocation and ACA tracking built in.
How Does Axiom Help Nonprofits?
The platform supports nonprofit operations in six ways:
1. Cost Management
Operating within budget is a continual challenge for nonprofits, and resource allocation has to be precise. Axiom automates routine administrative work that consumes time and money, reducing clerical effort and the expense that comes with manual handling.
When operational costs drop, the saved resources go to mission-critical activities. UKG Ready Payroll and HR Analytics produce the spending-pattern reports that the finance director needs to track program costs accurately.
2. Increased Efficiency
Axiom provides one platform that handles onboarding, payroll, benefits administration, time and attendance, and performance reviews. With each HR task on the same record, the nonprofit delivers services faster and adapts to community needs without retooling.
Lower administrative overhead frees staff for the strategic work that actually moves the mission, instead of routing time through procedural tasks. Self-service interfaces also improve employee experience, which supports job satisfaction across the team.
3. Expertise in Nonprofit HR
Axiom’s HR professionals work with the nonprofit sector specifically. That experience supports organizations that need to outsource HR for the work nonprofit operations require: managing a paid workforce alongside a volunteer base, employee data systems, and the regulatory standards that apply specifically to 501(c)(3) employers.
Axiom configures the platform for nonprofit-specific issues, from program-funded cost centers to fair-labor compliance. Ongoing training and support keep nonprofit HR teams current on practices in performance management and HR operations.
4. Compliance
For nonprofits, staying current with employment law is a continuous task. Axiom keeps the platform updated to reflect the latest legal requirements, so the organization stays compliant without diverting attention from the mission.
The configuration addresses regulatory items affecting 501(c)(3) employers: FUTA exemption status, wage allocation across restricted funds through UKG Ready Labor Allocations, labor distribution records for time-and-effort certification, and wage-and-time retention for Single Audit preparation.
5. Risk Management
Nonprofits face workforce risks that differ from for-profit operations: mixed-classification workforce (W-2, 1099), program-funded staff whose budgets end with the grant, and the audit and grant scrutiny that follows federal funding. Axiom’s reporting layer surfaces the early signals of each risk, so the organization can act before a problem reaches the funder or the auditor.
HR Analytics produces the labor-allocation reports auditors expect and the workforce reports board chairs use for governance. Addressing risk early protects assets, donor relationships, and the organization’s reputation.
6. Talent Acquisition
Recruiting and retaining skilled staff matters most where compensation and benefits budgets are tight. Axiom automates job posting, candidate screening, and interview workflow, which makes the recruitment process faster and lower-cost.
UKG Ready captures the EEO-1 demographic data nonprofits use for the annual EEO-1 report at the 100-employee filing threshold. For nonprofits holding federal contracts under OFCCP jurisdiction, Axiom helps extract the same data for affirmative action plan reporting.
Below those thresholds, the demographic data support internal diversity reporting and board-facing workforce summaries.
Payroll Software for Nonprofits
Payroll software for nonprofits handles configurations that a 501(c)(3) employer needs that for-profit systems rarely set up out of the box: FUTA exemption status, wage allocation across grants, labor distribution for time-and-effort certification, and wage-and-time retention for Single Audit preparation. Axiom configures UKG Ready Payroll for each from setup.
What changes when payroll runs for a 501(c)(3):
FUTA exemption setup
Under IRC §3306(c)(8), services performed in the employ of a 501(c)(3) are exempt from Federal Unemployment Tax. Axiom configures UKG Ready Payroll’s tax settings to reflect the exemption at setup, so the employer is not paying FUTA and reclaiming it in a refund cycle.
Wage allocation across grants and funds
UKG Ready Labor Allocations splits gross wage and benefits load by percentage across cost centers (grants, programs, restricted funds).
A development associate who divides time across three sources (a federal grant for program A, a state grant for program B, and an unrestricted operating fund for general administration) has the allocation applied automatically based on the time-allocation percentages set on the labor distribution.
Labor distribution for time-and-effort certification
Federal grant recipients under 2 CFR 200.430(i) must produce after-the-fact labor distribution records showing how each employee’s time was actually charged across awards.
Axiom configures UKG Ready to capture labor distribution at timecard approval, producing the records grant recipients need for the certification cycle.
Wage-and-time retention for Single Audit
Nonprofits expending $750,000 or more in federal awards in a fiscal year fall under Single Audit requirements (2 CFR 200 Subpart F, which replaced OMB Circular A-133 in 2014).
Axiom configures UKG Ready record retention so the wage and time data the auditor will request stays available, rather than being reconstructed at audit time.
Workforce Systems for Nonprofits
Nonprofit workforce systems manage the paid workforce nonprofits operate alongside their volunteer base: full-time and part-time W-2 staff, 1099 contractors, and the scheduling layer that coordinates both. Axiom runs the paid workforce on UKG Ready records, with scheduling that accommodates the mixed availability nonprofit programs require.
How each worker type is handled:
W-2 staff
Standard payroll, benefits administration, time and attendance, performance reviews, and 403(b) retirement plan administration (the version of a 401(k) reserved for 501(c)(3) and public-education employees). UKG Ready ACA Manager tracks measurement, administrative, and stability periods for nonprofits that meet the 50-employee Applicable Large Employer threshold.
1099 contractors
Project-based assignments, hours captured against deliverables, payment processing on a 1099-NEC at year-end, and W-9 collection on first assignment. The contractor record sits beside W-2 records in the same employee directory, so a program manager scheduling staff for a literacy program sees both staff and contractors in one view.
Volunteer assignments
UKG Ready Scheduler supports volunteer assignment scheduling alongside paid staff, with shift availability and program-fit matching. Volunteer hour tracking for match-gift programs and in-kind valuation typically lives in a dedicated volunteer management platform; the scheduling and assignment data sit in UKG Ready.
Axiom configures UKG Ready Scheduler and labor allocations so hours roll up to the correct grant cost center, supporting reporting that aligns with each funder’s cycle. When a grant period ends, the labor distribution can be reset for the next funding window, so payroll stops charging the closed grant.
Axiom Partners with UKG for Nonprofit HCM Solutions
Axiom partners with Ultimate Kronos Group (UKG) to deliver workforce management on one platform configured for nonprofit operations. UKG Ready brings HR, time and attendance, payroll, scheduling, absence management, and talent management together on a single employee record that updates in real time, supporting informed decisions.
The partnership combines UKG’s HR systems, payroll, and scheduling tools on a single platform so updates and operations run on one record.
UKG Ready HR
For nonprofits, UKG Ready HR automates the HR work that competes with mission-critical activity: payroll, time tracking, benefits administration, and onboarding. The platform also reduces administrative overhead and the errors that lead to compliance penalties.
Dashboards and built-in reports show the workforce trends managers need (tardiness, absenteeism, overtime, turnover) so the team sees issues and acts before they affect budget or service.
The platform spans the full employee lifecycle, from recruitment through retirement planning and compensation management, and provides the operational data nonprofit leadership uses for board reporting.
UKG Ready Scheduler
UKG Ready Scheduler handles the scheduling work that nonprofits face: part-time staff, volunteer assignments across programs, and program calendars that follow grant cycles rather than fiscal years.
The system builds flexible schedules around varying availability and program demand, supporting the right staffing level across activities.
Volunteer assignment management improves the volunteer experience and helps the organization keep labor costs on budget for grant adherence.
With Axiom and UKG, you can:
- Automate administrative work for time, attendance, HR, and payroll, so managers focus on the mission rather than clerical tasks.
- Equip employees with self-service tools for schedules, payment preferences, and HR forms.
- Access real-time payroll anywhere, supporting accurate paychecks and visibility for the finance team.
HR Tools for Nonprofit Organizations
The toolset by function:
Applicant tracking and onboarding
Nonprofits at the 100-employee filing threshold use the captured data for the annual EEO-1 report. Nonprofits holding federal contracts under OFCCP jurisdiction use the same data for affirmative action plan preparation (Axiom assists with the extraction).
Benefits administration
Performance management against program outcomes
Learning management
Stores training assignments and completion records on the same employee record as payroll and HR, so audit and grant reporting can produce training-history reports per employee without a separate system pull.
Wage and personnel record retention
UKG Ready stores the wage, time, and personnel records that Form 990 (including Schedule J executive compensation reporting), Single Audit, and state charity-registration filings depend on: offer letters, timecards, W-2 and 1099 issuance records, and board-approved compensation memos.
A nonprofit running on Axiom and UKG Ready gets one source of record for the personnel questions the IRS, the funder, the auditor, or the board chair will ask. That is what makes the configuration nonprofit-specific.
Ready to Learn More?
When operational efficiency, employee engagement, and mission delivery have to move together, Axiom and UKG Ready replace the patchwork of HR tools that nonprofit operations accumulate over time.
The platform supports operations, so the organization focuses on the work that matters most in the communities it serves.
