Improving Performance and Other News

Posted on April 17, 2009 | Leave a comment

readingAfter a week of vacation and several days catching up on work from said vacation, I have a nice list of things nonprofit financial folks might want to look at.  I’d also like to welcome all the new readers that came to this website while I was gone.  I hope you find this space useful and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

For nonprofit employees and the organizations who employ them

Anybody looking for a finance person for your nonprofit?  Or are you the fiance person at your nonprofit and looking for some guidance? Bridgestar has a nice section on Chief Financial Officers and their roles in nonprofit organizations.  Worth a look, and you can also search for jobs there.

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Posted in Governance, IRS, Risk Management

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Questions and Answers

Posted on April 8, 2009 | Leave a comment

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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Posted in Governance, IRS, Nonprofit Accounting, Q&A

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More News for Nonprofits

Posted on April 3, 2009 | Leave a comment

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 form.  After 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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Posted in Nonprofit Accounting, Policies and Procedures, Risk Management

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