Category Archives: Nonprofit Accounting

Questions and Answers

I’m either asked these questions or I come across them in my work.  Here are three somewhat common ones.Questions?

Our nonprofit is getting ready for our first audit.  What are we supposed to do, and what does the auditor do?

You should receive a letter of engagement from the auditors that helps spell out the relationship.  You’ll also get a lists of things to do and get ready before the auditors come to your offices for the field work.  This article also talks about the process.  But if you have any questions you should ask your auditors before things get going to avoid any confusion and additional cost.

Should board members be allowed to contact staff directly?  Or should all contact go through the Executive Director?

This was a question on an email listserv and the answer that I liked was posted here.

I would like to have “Gross Receipts” defined. Would this include the value of our volunteer labor? Or is it strictly cash value of donations received?

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More News for Nonprofits

News StandOnce again I find myself playing catch up on all that I want to read about nonprofit management and once again I list some of the more interesting items.

Human Resources

Because nonprofit fiance and accounting topics are not enough for me, here are some tidbits on HR issues you should know about.

  • There is a new I-9 formAfter April 3rd you must get your new employees to fill this version out.
  • Nonprofit employees are paid too much.  At least some people think they are.  In case you missed it, here is a piece from the Wall Street Journal about nonprofit compensation.

Managing in Tough Times

  • Looking for low cost ways to reward employees?  Maybe if you do the opposite of everything in this post you will make someone feel a bit better.
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Money Managing in Challenging Times

valueFirst of all, thanks to all those who attended last weeks training.  The resources we talked about will be listed below.

It goes without saying that these are interesting times financially and operationally for the charitable sector.  Like many of you, I went through the economic slowdown that came after the tech meltdown in 2001 but this seems to be of a far greater magnitude.  But if there can be any silver lining in all of this, I think it is a greater focus on the operational side of nonprofit organizations.

I have read more articles about not-for-profit operations, administration and finance recently than I think I have in the last ten years.   And they have been positive.  They have spoken of the need for organizations to look at how their finances and operations are handled, to make sure they have the systems in place to be able to figure a) out exactly where they stand financially and b) what to do going forward as far as budgeting, cash flow and capacity.

While I’m not happy about the pain that will be felt by many organizations and the populations they serve I am pleased that these discussions are taking place and that we will end up with a stronger sector once this crisis passes.

Below are many links to articles and resources on money managing in tough times, divided into three sections.  More resources come out every day, so at best this list will only be complete as of the moment it is published, so if you know of any good resources that are not listed below please add them to the comments section.  And don’t forget to subscribe to the comments to see what others add.

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