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CPAs, Boards and the IRS

Feb 23rd, 2009
by Alan.
2 comments

MegaphoneBelow are three items that might be of interest to nonprofit accounting professionals.

How can our nonprofit find a CPA?

This article from Step By Step Fundraising has some great information on getting you started on your search.  As a bonus for you home school folks out there the author of that article has a great website too.

Are board members liable for investment losses?

Two posts back I answered a question on weather or not a board could be liable if it relied, in good faith, on outside advice when making its decisions.  Later I came across this great piece from the Risk Management Center that talks about the recent Madoff scandal and the impact it will have on nonprofits who had invested funds with him.  Please do read the article and follow through the links, especially to this one, a free publication that details the state laws for charitable immunity.

IRS and 990 trainings and tips

A Nonprofit News Roundup

Feb 12th, 2009
by Alan.
1 comment

roundupI’ve spent the better part of today catching up on my reading of blogs, email and newsletters and thought I would share some of the choice morsels I have found.

From the Ison Law Group’s blog comes an update on the Family Medical Leave Act regulations.  These updated regulations became effective January 16 and it is important that employers that fall under these regulations keep up with any changes that could affect them.

From the Nonprofit Leadership 601 blog comes a calendar of major conferences this year.  Heather also writes about an issue close to my heart, funders who ‘get’ nonprofits.  Her article lists a couple of funding organizations and how they look at funding the whole organization, not just programs.

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News and Notes

Jan 22nd, 2009
by Alan.
No comments yet

News StandHere are some interesting news items form the last week or so.

From the Nonprofit Times comes this piece about about the cap for the US Post Office rate hike.  Thanks to a sluggish economy, the article says, when the Post Office petitions for a rate increase this year average increases will be capped at an average of 3.8 %

From the Chronicle comes this item that I could not agree with more. Marc Owens, a former chief of the IRS’s Exempt Organizations (EO) Division has called on the IRS to offer explicit guidance on what it expects in matters of governance from nonprofit organizations.  With the IRS’s new push towards governance regulation and the belief that, according to Steven T. Miller, commissioner of the IRS’s tax-exempt and government-entities division,”a well-governed organization is more likely to be compliant with the tax law, while poor governance can easily lead to trouble” it would be nice to have some kind of official guidance as to what that is.  I agree that a well governed nonprofit is probably a better nonprofit but I would like to see some clear rules so nonprofits are not the object of subjective discipline.

The IRS has announced this years small and mid-size nonprofit workshop series here.

And finally, I have updated the “New 990 To-Do List” since the final version of the form has been released.

Workshop Resources

Jan 12th, 2009
by Alan.
2 comments

Box 'o resourcesThanks to all of you who attended the workshops.  As promised I have put together all of the resources that were mentioned in the trainings in one area.  These are listed elsewhere on the site but I thought it would be nice to organize them into one place.  Scroll down the page for the list of all the resources and please post a comment or email me if you have any questions.

  • The Unified Chart of Accounts (UCOA) and Key Word Index – The UCOA (pronounced yoo-KOH-uh) is an activity-based accounting system that incorporates the reporting requirements of many institutional funders and can be tailored to each nonprofit’s changing needs and existing system. The UCOA is designed to allow nonprofits to add as many reporting requirements as necessary while still allowing you to use just one system for accounting and reporting. Click here for more information.
  • payment requisition form mentioned in the workshop
  • Time-sheet and cost allocation samples – click here if you would like to download the excel worksheets to play with.
  • Joint Costs – When you send out something that is both educational AND a solicitation for funds you run the risk of having the total cost of the activity listed as fundraising and not program unless you meet certain criteria. This article will help guide you through the process.
  • The 2004 Nonprofit Integrity Act, SB 1264 – For all the details please see the overview of 2004’s Nonprofit Integrity Act (pdf), and go here and here.
  • Pub. 1771, Charitable Contributions Guidelines for Donors (PDF)
  • IRS & 990 – All of the IRS and updated Form 990 resouces are here, take your pick!
  • Information on putting together an operations manual or financial policies can be found here.
  • Money Managing in Tough Times resources are on this page.
  • How to create a financial policy manual and financial management plan.

For those who missed the presentation handout or want another copy I have the most recent events on Not-for-Profit Accounting Groups page.  Please click to get them and feel free to join the group and start some discussions.  If you don’t see them there contact me and I will make sure to upload them.

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