Blogging Beyond the Numbers

“100% of your contribution directly supports our program.”   Although it would be impressive to be able to make this claim as a charitable organization, it’s impossible.  The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update 2016-14, Not-for-Profit Entities (Topic 958) – Presentation of Financial Statements of Not-for-Profit Entities to make improveme...

Institutional knowledge. What your staff knows is one of the most valuable intangible assets of every organization. It’s often taken for granted and losing it is costly, frustrating, and inefficient. The concept of business continuity is more than having a disaster recovery plan for natural disasters or technology failure. It should also include personnel transitions, which are much more common. How ...

It is important to know the compliance requirements for every award your organization receives and accepts. The consequences of noncompliance can be significant and may include termination of the grant, reduction in future payments or funding amounts, repayment of federal funds already received and spent, imposed fines and penalties, reputational damage, special status for oversight and reviews, corrective...

Are you passionate about a cause and thinking about starting a non-profit? Or even wondering the difference between a 501c3 and a 501c6 or even where to begin? Watch this vlog for 7 tips to start your own non-profit organization! https://youtu.be/DeSITbvFkyo Subscribe to our YouTube channel to view new Accounting for Non-Accountants videos as they are published! ...

In December 2018, the IRS released Notice 2018-99 to clarify the taxation of parking expenses Under § 274(a)(4) and § 512(a)(7) of the Internal Revenue Code. The notice reaffirmed that the amounts paid to a 3rd party for employee parking spots by a taxpayer or exempt organization are subject to tax. The majority of the notice focused on how taxpayers or exempt organizations should handle owned and lease...

Happy New Year!  I’m sure most of you are in full swing with closing your books and getting all your ducks in a row.  Here at the office, we’re in full prep mode for “opportunity season” aka “busy season”.  There’s a few things you should know about as you close out your books and begin prepping for your audit this year.  I’d like to think of this as the cliff note version of our roundta...

Have you ever compared your financial statements to your IRS Form 990 and thought to yourself, "Why don't these two match?" This is a question we receive from a number of clients and we have some answers! Here are some of the most common differences between a nonprofit's financial statements and IRS Form 990 Unless specified, most nonprofit financial statements are prepared in accordance with Generally Ac...

Are you tired or spending hour after hour gathering donor name and address information to submit with your organization’s 990 each year? If so, we may have great news for you. The IRS has announced that they will exercise their authority to grant relief to certain nonprofit organizations regarding donor information reporting requirements in their annual tax filings. This relief, however, is not applicable...

One of the decisions an organization faces during its annual budget process is whether or not to engage an external CPA firm to conduct an audit of its financial statements.  Some organizations are required to have an audit due to external regulations (compliance with a grant agreement and/or state regulatory authority) while others decide to have an audit conducted for overall “good practice.” ...

What is ASU 2018-08 and will it Impact Me? On June 21, 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standard Update (ASU) 2018-08:  Clarifying the Scope and the Accounting Guidance for Contributions Received and Contributions Made.  This ASU will impact all organizations that receive or make contributions of cash or other assets.  The only transactions excluded from this ASU a...