May 17th, 2012 Nancy
Does Your Grant Management System Include Pre-Proposal Analysis?
Have you ever been surprised by your fundraising team with something like a check for a grant that you had no idea had been awarded? You probably wished for more involvement with the development group. I’d like to share a couple of bits of advice from the Not-for-Profit Conference I attended last week, courtesy of Kay Sohl at www.kaysohlconsulting.com.
Kay’s presentation, Grant Management Strategies and Systems, addressed the accountant’s role and how the organization should analyze grant opportunities. If your organization doesn’t have a grant management system that includes pre-proposal analysis, you are the perfect person to see that it gets instituted.
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May 14th, 2012 Nancy
Accounting For Expenses: Conference Session Touches On Donated Services
At the Not-For-Profit conference last week, I attended a session called “Accounting for Expenses: Multiple Masters, Multiple Choices.” The session was so rich in good information that I have too much to share in a single post! I will share it all in pieces in the next few posts.
GAAP and IRS on Donated Services- Different But Not Conflicting
The presenter, Gary McGee, pointed out the differences between accounting for donated services and use of rental space between GAAP and IRS. The recording of donated services for each of these “masters” differs, but is not conflicting. GAAP and the IRS require different information Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bookkeeping | No Comments »
May 10th, 2012 Nancy
FASB Reconsiders Reporting Formats
The Financial Accounting Standards Board is reevaluating the reporting format we use to prepare GAAP financial statements, I learned this week at the Not-for-Profit Conference of the Oregon Society of CPAs. Since 2009, FASB has had an advisory committee for the nonprofit sector, a development that appears to be focusing more of the Board’s attention on the sector’s issues. That’s a good thing. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) | No Comments »
May 7th, 2012 Nancy
Before I tell you how I think you should get started on the budgeting process, reflect for a moment. How do you usually begin? Who initiates it, what figures do you start with, how do you organize the project, and how does everyone communicate? I have witnessed or been a part of the budgeting process in many organizations over the years, and as you might suspect, I have seen some that work smoothly and efficiently and others that do not. Lets dig into what DOES work. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Expenses, Revenue | No Comments »
May 3rd, 2012 Nancy
This non-profit fraud story has a twist that really fascinates me. Occupational fraud is defined as “The use of one’s occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the employing organization’s resources or assets.” It is stealing from your job.
What is really ironic about this recent case is how the director at The Northwest Regional Re-entry Center (NWRRC) in Portland, OR really brought her work and her fraud together. Read the rest of this entry »
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April 30th, 2012 Nancy
Rick B asks this question: “ At times, our church has pot luck meals centered around a ministry theme. We accept donations during the time of the potluck meal toward the ministry endeavor. Is the full amount of the cash/check donation deductible or must we deduct the value of the meal?” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) | No Comments »
April 26th, 2012 Nancy
Starting at about age 13, I badly wanted to travel in Europe. I grew up in rural Oregon, daughter of parents whose families had struggled greatly during the Depression and who maintained their expectations that life would always bring them barely enough until sometime in the current millenium, so there was no way to satisfy this dream until I was out of college and had managed to save a little money.
I left in 1973 and stayed abroad for seven years. While I was there, I supported myself by teaching English to adults. I taught at the Volkshochschule, a German community college, where my students ranged from housewives who had left school at 15 to professionals. I taught at Siemens to engineers and technicians heading for assignments in Africa or Japan. I taught at private language schools. I’d unleashed a curiosity about how adults learn.
“I’d unleashed a curiosity about how adults learn…” Read the rest of this entry »
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April 23rd, 2012 Nancy
Anna P. asks this question: As a way of raising funds we have been collecting printer toner cartridges and old phones. How should the income received from this be recorded? Read the rest of this entry »
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April 17th, 2012 Nancy
Bob N. wrote in with this question: Our sailing association is a 501(c) (3) organization. We leased a boat to one of our members. He did not pay the marina for the boat storage fee (about $3,000) as required in the lease, so the association paid the bill in 2010. In 2011, after going to court and having his wages garnished, we have recovered the storage fees from the now ex-membler. How is this income handled in our books and on the IRS 990EZ form for 2011?
My sympathies to you and your sailing association for the extra work and worry that this troublesome ex-member caused you! I applaud you for pursuing collection of the unpaid fees – too often, offenders are let off the hook by abused parties because they don’t believe they’ll be able to collect enough to make it worth the effort.
Now let’s look at what occurred from an accountant’s perspective. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Cash Flow, Contracts, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) | No Comments »
April 12th, 2012 Nancy
In most nonprofit organizations, employee compensation is by far the biggest expense. Accurately allocating those costs can make the difference between spending down a grant completely and leaving money on the table. Inaccurate allocation can distort the functional expense statement, which has major influence on the public perception of your organization’s effectiveness, and provides important information to managers.
Lets assume that at your organization, each employee indicates the number of hours they spent on each program on their time sheet. How do you allocate payroll expense? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Employee benefits and payroll | No Comments »