The Charity CFO

Nonprofit Financial Statements Explained

December 6, 2021/in Miscellaneous/by Paul Cook

If you’re like most nonprofit leaders, you didn’t get to the top of your organization by burying your nose in nonprofit financial statements.

But in a leadership role, you’ll need to understand both audited financial statements and internal reports to communicate effectively with your donors, grant-makers, board of directors, and your team.

Your financial statements also play a crucial role in maintaining your nonprofit status and passing an independent audit (which you may need to keep your funding).

In this article, we’ll walk you through the five nonprofit financial statements that you’ll need regardless of your size or mission. They are:

Statement of Financial Position
Statement of Activities
Statement of Cash Flows
Budget vs. Actual
IRS Form 990*

*NOTE: Technically the 990 is a tax compliance form rather than a “financial statement.” But, we decided it was important to include here for reason’s we’ll discuss in more detail below.

You’ll discover what information each report includes, how to use it, and additional resources for exploring in more depth.

Ready? Then let’s get started!

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But first, a quick note on nonprofit financial statements vs. internal financial reports…

It is completely ok and acceptable to have multiple versions of your financial reports. The key here is to make sure the information is presented in an accurate and useful way.

External (audited) nonprofit financial statements must follow Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) standards. That means must use accrual-basis accounting and record transactions in a specific way.

Internally you should create and use reports that give you the information you need to run your business effectively. That might mean using cash-basis accounting, tracking your gains or losses at the program level, or more.

Your accountant should be able to help you get the reports you need. And if they won’t do it, find an accounting firm that will.[/box]

1. Statement of Financial Position

The Statement of Financial Position is a snapshot of what your organization owns and what it owes to others at a specific point in time.

You may know it better by its name in the for-profit world: the Balance Sheet.

If you or your board come from the for-profit world, it’s okay to call it a Balance Sheet among your team. There are no hard-and-fast rules for internal financial reports.

But in your audited nonprofit financials, it will be called a Statement of Financial Position.

The Statement of Financial Position has three main parts:

Assets – This is anything of value that your organization possesses or is entitled to, like cash, property, equipment, pledged donations (even if they’re not received yet), accounts receivable, investments, and more.
Liabilities – This is anything your organization owes to anyone else, like vendors, creditors, or even employees (outstanding payroll or reimbursements)
Net Assets – This is the difference between your assets (what you own) and your liabilities (what you owe). Essentially, net assets are what you’d have left if you sold off all of your assets and paid off all of your liabilities. It takes the place of “equity” on a for-profit balance sheet.

The Statement of Financial Position gives you a snapshot of your financial health by revealing the underlying value of what your organization owns.

PRO TIP: In general, a healthy organization has more assets than liabilities. It’s one of the first things any CPA, bank, or large donor would look at to assess your financial health.

Having more assets than liabilities is a good sign, but it’s a bit more complicated than that. Because in nonprofits, not all assets are created equal…

Restricted vs. Non-Restricted Net Assets

When a for-profit business has assets, they can usually use them however they want– to buy equipment, give raises, invest in real estate– but nonprofit assets are often more complex.

If a grant-maker or a donor gives you money that is dedicated for specific programs, or that you need to use by a specific date, it’s still an asset.

But you may not be able to use that asset to pay off your liabilities in the real world.

For this reason, Net Assets are broken down into Restricted Net Assets and Unrestricted Net Assets on a nonprofit balance sheet. So you can see which assets you can use to offset your liabilities, if and when it’s necessary. Ideally, you would have far more assets without restrictions than with restrictions.

2. Statement of Activities

The Statement of Activities summarizes the money you’ve received (revenues) and the money you’ve spent (expenses) during a given period.

Essentially, it shows you how much money you’ve “made” or “lost” during that period, which is why it’s often called a Profit-And-Loss Statement (or an Income Statement) in a for-profit company.

The Statement of activities has 2 main sections:

Revenues

Nonprofit revenues generally include all cash coming into the organization, as well as promises to give in the future. Including:

Donations
Pledges for future donations
Program fees
Membership dues
Grants
Investment income
Event revenue
And more

Expenses

A nonprofit’s expenses usually include all cash flowing out of the organization during the period. Plus costs incurred but not yet paid, like payroll that won’t be paid until next month or vendor invoices with 30-day terms.

The difference between Revenues and Expenses is reported as Change in Net Assets. It’s what a for-profit company would call Net Income or, simply, profit.

Things to Look Out For on the Statement of Activities

The nonprofit version of the income statement is a bit more complex than its for-profit cousin. Here are 2 things to keep an eye on:

reports

Restricted funds – Like on the Statement of Financial Position, you’ll need to track restricted funds separately on your Statement of Activities too. You want to see how much of your revenue is available to offset your operational expenses.
Donated goods – GAAP standards require that you assign a dollar value to goods or services donated to your organization. But those goods (especially fixed assets, property, or collections) may not actually offset your expenses. So you need to be cautious of this if you receive large numbers of in-kind gifts.

PRO TIP: Watch your Statement of Activities month-by-month. You’ll probably have deficits in some periods, and that’s okay! But those deficits should be offset by surpluses in other months. Because if you have a deficit every month, then eventually you’ll run out of money.

Sidebar: Cash versus Accrual Accounting

There are 2 different ways to look at your accounting.

Cash basis accounting means that you record revenues and expenses based on when the cash moves in or out of your business. In other words, when it hits your bank account. So, if a donor pledges to donate $5 per month, you record $5 of income each month when the donation is received, not when it is pledged.

Accrual basis accounting means that you record revenues and expenses when they are incurred or earned. That usually means before any cash has changed hands. So, if a donor pledges to make a $5 contribution each month for 1 year, you’d record $60 in income the day the pledge is made (regardless of when it is actually collected).

Many small nonprofits use cash basis accounting internally. But audited financial statements are typically on an accrual basis. For that reason, we default to talking about accrual basis accounting in this article.

To decide which basis is right for your organization, learn more about cash basis vs accrual basis accounting in nonprofits.

3. Statement of Cash Flows

The Statement of Cash Flows is one of the core external nonprofit financial statements required for an independent audit, so you should be familiar with it.

That said, it’s only moderately useful for most nonprofits.

It’s often requested by board members. But many times they don’t fully understand what the report is, and what they’re looking for is something that’s not actually in the report.

So first, let’s talk about what the Statement of Cash flows is.

And then we’ll look at what your board probably wants to see (and how to get it for them).

What is the Statement of Cash Flows?

The Statement of Cash flows is a relatively simple report that shows if your cash has increased or decreased across 3 segments of your business.

On the report, you’ll see these 3 categories:

Cash from Operations – The change in cash generated from normal business activities (your fundraising and earned revenue minus expenses plus collection of receivables, payments of liabilities, etc.)
Cash from Financing – The difference between cash received/borrowed from creditors, versus cash you’ve paid back against outstanding debts (lines of credit, mortgages, loans, etc.)
Cash from Investing – The difference between cash received from investments or sales of assets versus cash spent on the purchase of capital, equipment, or other investments

This report can help you explain to your board why you have less cash even after a great fundraising month (maybe you invested in some much-needed equipment).

Or help you understand why your cash increased even as you lost money that quarter (maybe you dipped into your line of credit to make payroll).

But it won’t show you what happened to the cash you spent, which is generally what board members want to know.

What your board wants to see is…

When a board member asks for a cash flow statement, usually it’s because you’re losing cash. And they want to know where it went.

They’re specifically concerned about the flow of cash within Operations.

But the Statement of Cash Flows doesn’t give them the detail that they want to see.

What they need is a Statement of Activities (P&L) on a cash basis.

This report will show them which of your activities brought cash into your operation during the period and which expenses ate up large chunks of money.

That way, they can see where the money is going and develop a plan to stop the bleeding.

PRO TIP: Ask your accountant to run a Statement of Activities for Cash vs. Accrual. Any basic accounting software, like Quickbooks Online, should have the ability to produce this report in a few clicks. Comparing these two reports will help you understand the difference between what was earned or incurred but didn’t hit the bank account (accrual basis) and the revenue and expenses that actually impacted cash (cash basis).

4. Budget vs. Actual Report

The budget vs. actual report helps you to easily compare what happened in your business to what you expected to happen.

It’s probably the most practical financial statement a nonprofit Executive Director or CEO has for making intelligent decisions for their organization.

Budget vs. Actual is an internal report, not part of your audited financial statements. But because the board and leadership are involved in creating a nonprofit budget, it’s often more familiar and more useful on a day-to-day basis.

As the name implies, it shows you 2 pieces of information:

Your budgeted revenues vs. actual revenues
Your budgeted expenses vs. actual expenses

The report displays the budget and the actual numbers side-by-side so you can easily see where you’re beating your plan or coming up short.

Imagine that you missed your 1st quarter revenue goal. Is it because donations missed projections? You missed out on a grant you were counting on? Or because enrollment in programs is down?

This report makes it easy for you and your board members to find out.

And because it’s an internal report, you can set it up to show the information however is best for your team.

You can run it on a cash basis. Or create detailed Budget vs. Actual reports by month. Or create reports at the department level to make sure each team member gets all the information they need (and only the information they need).

PRO TIP: Match the line items in your budget with your accounts in your accounting system. That will make these reports much easier to create and customize. If they don’t match, ask your accountant to update your chart of accounts to ensure you can get the info you need.

5. IRS Form 990

Even though you don’t have to pay federal taxes, almost all nonprofit organizations (the few exceptions are listed here) must file an IRS Form 990 each year.

The definition of a financial statement is a simple report that can be pulled together monthly (or as-needed) to give you a view of your financial health.

The IRS 990 doesn’t really qualify, since it’s done once per year and first-and-foremost as a tax compliance document.

But we include it here for a couple of reasons…

For one, while it might not be a financial statement in the technical sense, it’s more than just a tax return. It us a publicly available financial document that gives outsiders a glance at your organization’s financial health.

And secondly, if you fail to file a 990 for 3 consecutive years, you’ll automatically lose your tax-exempt status. That means its one financial document every nonprofit needs to be familiar with, even if you’re too small for an audit or struggle to pull together an accurate Statement of Activities every quarter.

On your Form 990, the IRS requires you to report your financial information according to different rules than you use for your audited financial statements.

You’ll have to exclude unrealized gains or losses from investments, as well as the value of in-kind services and real estate donations.

You’ll also have to present your expenses in a specific way that may differ from how you present them for your audit.

And, unlike your audited financial reports, IRS 990s are part of the public record– any donor, potential donor, or watchdog agency can find out core financial information about your nonprofit, like your revenues, expenses, and executive salaries.

So it’s very important that you learn to read the IRS 990 and understand what it says about the financial health and governance of your organization.

Want to see a live breakdown of real-life nonprofit financial statements

Now you know the basics of the five essential financial reports that every nonprofit needs.

But nonprofit organizations are often complex financial entities. Your size, your activities, and your funding sources will all determine which reports you need to run your business effectively.

For a more in-depth breakdown of the key reports, download our complete guide to nonprofit financial reports, which features annotated examples of sample Statement of Activities and Statement of Financial Position to help you see what an accountant sees when they look at your financials.

[button link=”https://accounting.respond.ontraport.net/financial-statement-ebook” type=”big” color=”orange” newwindow=”yes”] Get Your Free Guide to Nonprofit Financial Statements[/button]

What’s the difference between nonprofit and for-profit accounting?

November 17, 2021/in Miscellaneous/by Paul Cook

If you’ve run a for-profit business, then you probably expect that nonprofit accounting will be a cinch. There can’t be a big difference between nonprofit and for-profit accounting, right?

And if you’re “not a numbers person,” you’ve probably filled your board of directors with the most experienced business folks that you know.

Certainly, those brilliant minds will make quick sense of your financial reports, right?

Well, not so fast…

There are some significant differences between nonprofit and for-profit accounting

Many successful business people have found themselves befuddled the first time they face a nonprofit’s financial statements.

In nonprofit accounting, the terminology is different. Some of the processes are different. And even the rules are different.

But don’t worry– in this article, we’ll walk you through the main differences between nonprofit accounting vs. for-profit accounting. So you can get yourself, your team, and your board onto the same page.

Ready? Let’s get started.

The 6 main differences between nonprofit and for-profit accounting:

1. Tax Status

One of the biggest differences between nonprofit and for-profit companies is that most nonprofit companies don’t pay any federal taxes.

And in the case of 501(c)(3) nonprofits, a donor’s contributions are also tax-deductible on their personal or business tax returns.

That part is pretty easy to understand. But from there, things get complex quickly…

To start, most nonprofits don’t pay federal taxes. But they still need to file a tax return each year. If you don’t file IRS Form 990 each year, you’ll lose your tax-exempt status.

Failure to file an IRS 990 can cause you to lose your nonprofit status.

Plus, some nonprofits DO pay federal taxes, because not all nonprofit income is tax-exempt.

A nonprofit has to pay federal taxes on income from “unrelated business activities.” So what does that mean?

Suppose your nonprofit is set up to battle the homelessness crisis in your city. You wouldn’t pay taxes on any donations you receive. But if you open up a shop to sell artisan crafts, you’d probably have to pay unrelated business income tax to the IRS on any profit generated by the store even if those profits go to support your programs.

Nonprofits have to pay payroll taxes for their employees, just like for-profit companies. And your employees pay income tax on their salaries too.

But your nonprofit may or may not have to pay sales and property taxes. Some states grant nonprofit tax exemptions for sales taxes and property taxes. But others don’t.

The issue of taxes is a crucial differentiator between accounting for nonprofit and for-profit organizations. But, as you see, the tax rules for nonprofits aren’t straightforward or intuitive.

So take your time to research the rules in your area, or hire a professional, to keep yourself out of trouble later.

2. Revenue Recognition

One of the critical rules in for-profit accounting is “the matching principle,” which states that “the revenue and its associated costs must be reported in the same accounting period.”

In its simplest form, this means that if you sell a car in January, the costs associated with building that car must be reported in January too.

Because the revenue and expenses are reported in the same period, it’s easy for shareholders and management to see if they’re making money or losing money.

With nonprofit accounting, there is no such rule. In fact, it’s kind of the opposite.

In most cases, you need to record donations when they are pledged instead of when they are received.

That means:

- If a grant-maker pledges a $200,000 donation today, you have to report that income today. Even if you won’t receive the donation for another 6 months

- If a donor promises to make a $500 gift every year for 3 years, you’ll recognize $1,500 of revenue today.

In both cases, you can’t spend that money yet because you haven’t received it yet. But the revenue will show on your monthly reports, making your net revenue number look high.

Then, when you actually do receive and spend the money next year, you won’t show any associated revenue. So your quarterly reports will reflect a loss.

These kinds of swings are normal for a nonprofit.

But they can cause panic for an inexperienced nonprofit accountant, board member, or executive director.

An experienced nonprofit CFO will understand these significant variations and explain them simply to the board and other management staff.

3. Restricted Funds

In almost all cases, when a for-profit company receives revenue, they can use that revenue however they want– to pay employees, buy inventory, or invest in new ventures.

But that’s often NOT the case for nonprofits.

Some donations, and many grants, will come with limitations on how and when your nonprofit can use them.

You may have specific funds that can only be used on particular programs, which means you can’t use them to pay core operational expenses, like payroll or rent.

Or you may have an endowment that you can invest but never actually spend.

Finally, some grant funds may have strict timelines in which you need to use them, or you’ll have to pay them back.

You may not be able to use certain funds for your operational expenses, like payroll, rent, and utilities.

The number of possible scenarios is pretty much unlimited.

A nonprofit accountant must design bullet-proof systems to track all these funding sources correctly and match them to the appropriate program. So you know exactly where every penny is at each moment.

Because if you violate the terms of your grant or lose the trust of your donors, your funding sources could disappear.

You may want to hire an experienced nonprofit accounting team to track your restricted funds to keep your donors happy and your funding safe.

4. Terminology and Financial Statements

When comparing nonprofit accounting vs. profit accounting, the same core financial principles apply to each.

But the terminology is so different that it can often feel like you’re speaking an entirely different language.

If you’re looking at a nonprofit’s finances for the first time, here are a few things you need to know:

Statement of Financial Position = Balance Sheet

The balance sheet for a nonprofit works pretty much the same as a for-profit one. But in a nonprofit, it’s called the Statement of Financial Position instead. You’ll also see some extra lines to account for restricted funds. And some different terminology, like Net Assets in place of equity…

Net Assets = Equity

Legally, a nonprofit doesn’t have an owner. So there is no Owner’s Equity or Shareholder Equity. Instead, you’ll find “Net Assets” in its place on the bottom half of the balance sheet (or Statement of Financial Position).

Statement of Operations = Income Statement / P&L

Your Statement of Operations shows you how much money you “earned” above expenses over a given period. It’s essentially the nonprofit’s version of the Income Statement, or Profit and Loss Statement.

5. Internal Controls

Historically, nonprofits have been easy targets for theft, embezzlement, and misuse of funds. So to protect donors and their donations, the FASB requires nonprofit accounting departments to follow a series of strict internal controls.

Most importantly, a review of your internal controls is a vital part of an independent nonprofit audit.

Not all nonprofits are required to be audited, but you may need to be audited depending on your state, your size, and your funding sources.

Many large grant-makers will only give funds to organizations with fully audited financial statements. So if you choose not to be audited, you could cut yourself off from potential funding sources.

Below you’ll see some examples of internal controls you may need in your nonprofit. Be sure to talk with your nonprofit accountant or CFO about the specific controls that you do or don’t need.

Of course, many for-profit accounting departments have processes and procedures for some of these things too. But the standard of expectations is higher in nonprofits.

Even if you don’t need to be audited today, you should still set up effective controls today.

Because if you wait until you need to be audited, you’ll find yourself with a messy audit result, a big bill, and a LOT of work to do to catch up.

Now that you know the differences between nonprofit and for-profit accounting…

You should better understand what’s expected of you as a nonprofit leader, employee, or board member.

If you’d like to continue your nonprofit financial education, sign up below for our free Nonprofit Accounting & Reporting Masterclass.

In 3 short video lessons, we’ll walk you through the differences between nonprofit and for-profit accounting, discuss the basics of nonprofit accounting, and walk you step-by-step through real-world examples of nonprofit financial statements.

The 8 Nonprofit Accounting Challenges You Need to Conquer

November 9, 2021/in Miscellaneous/by Paul Cook

Your nonprofit organization will run into a range of accounting challenges every day.

From managing cash flow to reimbursing employee expenses to creating reports for your board of directors, the challenges just keep on coming.

And as a nonprofit founder or executive director, you may not have the background in accounting or finance to take them all on confidently.

But you’ll need to learn to conquer at least the most common nonprofit accounting challenges if you’re going to set your organization up for growth.

This article will walk you through the biggest challenges and common accounting problems that all nonprofits face. And we’ll give you some tips for how to overcome them to keep your organization out of trouble and your mission moving full-speed ahead.

So let’s get started…

1. Recording donations, paying invoices, preparing invoices, processing expenses…

Your first nonprofit accounting challenge has a name: bookkeeping.

You need accurate and timely financial data to make smart decisions for your nonprofit, just like any business does.

But when your accounting team consists of part-time bookkeepers, volunteer accountants, and multi-tasking team members, then it’s hard to get all your receipts, invoices, donations, expenses, and payroll transactions into the system accurately.

nonprofit_accounting_challenge_bookkeeping

Those invoices aren’t going to enter themselves…

That’s not to mention “on-time.”

Because if you enter receipts, invoices, and credit card transactions every few weeks (or worse, “whenever we get around to it”), then you’ll always be playing catch-up.

So how can you take charge to ensure you have accurate financial data when you need it?

Start by creating and documenting a repeatable process and schedule for entering all your data. And follow it each time. Following a process may save you when you’ve got part-time help, volunteers, or even employee turnover (it happens).

Next, implementing simple accounting software can save your team hours every month by automating tasks like importing bank and credit card transactions. And it ensures that your books are up-to-date when you need them.

Another option is to hire an outsourced accounting service that specializes in nonprofits.

They’ll make sure your revenues and expenses get entered correctly and on time. So you don’t have to wait on your part-time accountant or worry about the accuracy of your numbers.

2. Preparing Accurate Financial Reports

Once you have accurate financial data, you’ve got to be able to make sense of it.

And that’s what financial reports do for you.

At the minimum, you’ll need the five essential nonprofit financial reports:

Statement of Financial Position (or Balance Sheet)
Summary of Activities (or Income Statement/Profit & Loss)
Statement of Cash Flows
Budget to Actual
IRS Form 990

Depending on the complexity of your organization, you may need additional reports. Such as reports for tracking your donations, keeping track of your grant funds, and knowing which money is subject to program restrictions.

Your financial reports must be timely, accurate, and consistent.

And the last one— consistency— is a significant challenge for many nonprofits.

Many nonprofit accounting teams are self-trained. And many CPAs or general accountants aren’t familiar with the specific challenges that a nonprofit faces.

For this reason, nonprofit leaders often struggle to get reports that look the same month after month.

When you can’t make sense of your reports due to inconsistency, you’ll find yourself embarrassed in front of the board or failing to land the grant you’ve been counting on.

Want to learn to read nonprofit financial reports? Our Masterclass on Nonprofit Accounting and Reporting is a simple 3-video introduction to the basics of nonprofit accounting. Need a crash course in how to make sense of your finances? Click here to grab it free!

3. Modernizing Accounting Systems

A nonprofit accountant’s favorite phrase is, “Because this is how we’ve always done it.”

And that’s why so many nonprofit financial offices look like a scene from a classic movie– filled with overstuffed filing cabinets and a 3-foot high stack of paper invoices in the inbox.

Modernizing your accounting system is a major nonprofit accounting challenge.

But it’s one you must tackle to make your organization efficient and effective at carrying out your mission.

Modernization for your nonprofit accounting department means adopting simple, straightforward systems that rely on technology to save you tons of time and effort.

Updating your accounting software can allow you to automate basic tasks, like entering bank deposits and credit card transitions.

But other modernization solutions can help you save even more time. here are just some things you can do:

Digitize employee expense reporting (stop losing receipts!)
Pay your bills/vendors online
Eliminate 90% of the paper from your office
Connect your fundraising system to your accounting system
Securely view and manage your accounts from anywhere

If you’re wondering which nonprofit tech solutions could benefit you, check out our list of the top tech solutions.

You can also ask for advice from nonprofits in your community or hire a nonprofit accounting or consulting service to help you identify your needs.

4. Accounting for Grants

Grants can be a game-changer for a small or mid-sized nonprofit.

So it’s natural that you’re excited to start writing grants. Until you realize what it does to your accounting department…

Adding grants to your revenue portfolio raises all sorts of new accounting challenges for a nonprofit.

First, you’ll need updated and accurate (generally audited or reviewed) financials to secure the grant. Then you’ll need to provide your grantmaker with regular financial updates to keep your funding.

Secondly, many grants are issued only for certain types of expenses or specific programs.

In many cases, you can’t use grant funds to cover general operating expenses, like payroll.

That means you need to track your grant funds separately to know where how much you’ve spent and what you spent it on, so you can report back to the grantmaker.

Finally, specific rules apply to how to recognize grant revenue on your books.

If you’re dealing with grants, it’s risky and time-consuming to try to do it on your own.

You’ll probably want to hire an experienced nonprofit CFO. Or find an external service with extensive experience and expertise handling the specific challenges of nonprofit teams.

5. Managing Payroll

Payroll presents unique compliance challenges for a nonprofit accounting team.

First, many nonprofits have employees, contractors, and volunteers.

It’s not always easy to figure out how to classify everyone. But you’ll need to get it right so you can withhold and pay your federal and state payroll taxes appropriately.

(Yes, nonprofit employees pay payroll taxes. And nonprofit companies do too.)

You also may need to track your employees’ pay based on the job function they’re performing.

When a nonprofit employee occupies multiple roles— like opening the mail AND running programs— you should allocate their salary based on how much time they spend doing each role.

Why does this matter?

Let’s imagine one of your employees spends 2 days a week in the office helping with administrative tasks.

And the other 3 days, they are in the field running a service project.

If the service project has grant funding, their salary may qualify to be covered by grant funds for those days. But the other 2 days wouldn’t be eligible.

If you’re not tracking your payroll by job function, you could be underutilizing your grant funds. OR misusing your grant funds.

And applying functional expense allocation to your payroll can help you maximize your funds AND comply with best practices for transparency.

An experienced accountant will help you navigate nonprofit payroll challenges. But you’ll probably still want to contract an external payroll service like Onpay or Paychex to handle payroll processing.

They’ll help simplify your payroll distribution and tax management, and you’ll have access to their support team when you have questions.

6. Filing Tax Returns

You didn’t think you were going to get out of this just because you’re tax-exempt, did you?

That’s right– nonprofits have tax accounting challenges too!

The IRS requires nonprofit organizations to file a 990 every year to maintain their tax-exempt status.

If you don’t file a return for 3 years, your tax-exempt status will be automatically revoked!

So this one’s essential. If you have updated financials, you may be able to handle this yourself (it’s not that hard). But many nonprofits prefer to trust a CPA to handle it for them.

A bonus of working with a nonprofit accounting service, like The Charity CFO, is that we’ll file your IRS form 990 for you. Plus, we can tell you what other taxes you might have to file or pay depending on your location and operations, like state taxes, sales taxes, or payroll taxes.

7. Dealing with the Board of Directors

Your relationship with the board of directors is one of the trickiest challenges you’ll face as a nonprofit leader.

It’s not exclusively a financial relationship. But financial oversight is one of the critical roles of your board of directors. So, for better or for worse, accounting and reporting will play a significant role in your relationship.

Suppose your board has members with a lot of for-profit business experience…

They may expect that they’ll “get” nonprofit finances automatically— it’s all business after all, right?

But there are actually a lot of differences between for-profit and nonprofit accounting.

For instance…

The rules for recognizing donation revenue say that you have to record donation revenue when it’s pledged, instead of when you receive it.

This one minor tweak can lead to huge quarterly “losses” on paper that would strike fear into the heart of a for-profit executive. And if you’re not prepared to explain and defend your numbers, it can lead to some high-tension situations.

You can improve your board management skills by leaning on a solid network of nonprofit leaders. So when unfamiliar situations arise, you can ask for advice from people who have navigated similar situations.

Another option is to employ a contractor or an experienced nonprofit CFO.

At The Charity CFO, we help provide expert guidance to all of our clients on managing board interactions. And if one of your board members has questions you can’t answer, we’ll help you understand it so that you can help put their mind at ease.

7. Implementing Effective Controls

You’ll have to get very familiar with the words compliance and transparency as a nonprofit executive.

Nonprofits are challenged to keep everything out in the open when it comes to accounting and bookkeeping.

To maintain a donor-friendly and audit-ready nonprofit, you need a series of internal controls to ensure you comply with industry best practices.

According to First Nonprofit Foundation, “internal controls are policies and procedures that protect the assets of an organization, create reliable financial reporting, promote compliance with laws and regulations, and facilitate effective and efficient operations. They relate to accounting, to reporting, and to the organization’s communication processes.“

You’ll need established and documented policies for things like:

Segregation of accounting duties (so different people handle incoming and outgoing money)
Physical controls, like secure passwords and locked cabinets, to protect checkbooks and financial data
Conflict of interest policies
A financial whistleblower policy (per the Sarbanes-Oxley Act)
And more…

To keep things above board, someone other than your bookkeeper should be responsible for signing checks.

And since the board is responsible for financial oversight, your finance chair shouldn’t be moonlighting as a volunteer accountant!

If you’re not sure which internal controls you need, well, that’s part of the problem!

In most cases, ignorance is not an excuse for non-compliance.

So do your research. Talk with your nonprofit network. Or hire a professional to help you be sure you’re doing everything you need to protect your organization.

Because without adequate internal controls, our last nonprofit accounting challenge will be your worst nightmare…

8. Preparing for (and passing) audits

There are few scarier words than “audit” in the English language (and this comes from a team of former auditors!).

And in many cases, passing an independent audit is the biggest accounting challenge a nonprofit will face– especially if you’re not on top of challenges 1 through 7 above…

If you wait until you NEED an audit to start preparing for one, then you could be looking at months of work and tens of thousands of dollars in expense to unravel your accounts.

To pass an independent nonprofit audit, you must comply with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). GAAP includes standards for financial statements and robust internal controls (maybe those sound familiar), among other things.

Not every nonprofit needs to be audited, but if you’re big enough, located in certain states, or depend on a lot of grant funding, you may need it.

And even if you don’t need an audit today, you will need it someday if you intend to grow your mission.

That’s why the best time to start preparing for that first audit is right now!

Because the longer you put it off, the more time (and $$$) it will take for your CPA to figure it out later.

Want the Easiest Solution to Your Nonprofit Accounting Challenges?

Nonprofit accounting is not for the faint of heart.

The nonprofit accounting challenges detailed here are the biggest and most common. But every nonprofit is unique and presents its own unique problems.

Building an in-house team that’s capable of tackling these challenges is expensive. And experienced nonprofit accountants and bookkeepers are hard to find. If you’re lucky enough to have a good one, finding and training a replacement can be a full-time job when you lose them due to retirement or turnover.

That’s why many modern nonprofits are turning to a professional accounting service to handle their accounting and bookkeeping needs.

At The Charity CFO, we help over 100+ small and medium-sized nonprofits and charities manage their accounting and bookkeeping from start to finish.

We can help you pay bills, classify credit card transactions, enter & pay vendor invoices, record your payroll expenses, reconcile your monthly accounts, and create consistent, easy-to-read monthly reports.

With 5 former auditors on staff, we know exactly how to prepare you for a successful audit. Your books will always be audit-ready, so there’s never any catch-up to do when you need to write a grant or run financial statements.

Our team of former nonprofit CPAs, CFOs, board members, and auditors have seen just about every situation a nonprofit can face.

So whether you need help setting up controls, a strategy for fundraising, tips on scaling, or advice on how to work better with your board, we’re here to help!

Our expertise is available to ALL of our clients, free of additional charge.

So if you’re looking for ONE solution to conquer ALL of your biggest nonprofit accounting challenges, reach out to us today. And stop worrying about your books so you can focus on your mission.

Book a free consultation with The Charity CFO

Nonprofit Accounting Services: 6 Reasons You Should Outsource Your Accounting Today

October 29, 2021/in Miscellaneous/by Paul Cook

Do you want to spend more time developing your programs and interacting with donors and less time chasing down receipts or fussing over payroll reports?

Outsourcing your bookkeeping duties to a nonprofit accounting service can be a great solution to help lighten the load. An expert accounting team with experience in nonprofits can help free up your time and give you the accurate reports you need to face your board and donors with confidence.

Here are six ways nonprofit accounting services help your organization get closer to fulfilling its mission:

1. Audit-Ready Books When You Need Them

You need an effective bookkeeping system to help you maintain your nonprofit status, meet your donors’ requirements, and be prepared for audits. But it’s not easy to keep audit-ready books, especially with a part-time, volunteer, or under-staffed accounting department.

If your books are sloppy or you don’t have the proper internal controls in place, you can’t prove you’ve been using donor donations for their intended purposes — and that’s a BIG problem!

Outsourcing your nonprofit accounting services ensures that your accounts are in order and compliant with required standards at all times. So you don’t have to scramble or work late every time someone asks to see your books.

And with improved accountability, you’ll also build your donors’ trust by showing them you are handling their money responsibly.

2. Get the Time to Focus On Your Mission

As a nonprofit team member, your attention is pulled in a dozen different directions— like fundraising, team management, staffing programs, and more. With all these things to take care of, tracking

Nonprofit accounting services help you spend less time with your calculator and more time guiding your organization toward its goals.

donor contributions should be the least of your worries.

For example, if you’re trying to help with a crisis of homelessness in your city, you should be spending more time building relationships with people in your community than staring at spreadsheets.

Outsourcing your nonprofit’s bookkeeping and accounting can help you succeed by freeing up your time to do the work you really enjoy. You’ll also be able to guide your employees and volunteers more efficiently if you’re not bogged down with bookkeeping tasks like processing invoices, sorting receipts, or paying your vendors.

3. Save a Ton of Time and Energy

Nonprofit accounting can be complicated and time-consuming, especially if you don’t have any nonprofit financial training. And if you don’t find accounting inspiring, it can eat away at your passion and limit the energy you have to dedicate to the cause.

When you outsource your accounting to an experienced nonprofit accounting service, their employees take care of everything for you, which lightens your load. It also removes the stress of hiring, training, and managing your own staff to do the bookkeeping tasks.

Nonprofit accounting services also know the best time-saving software and shortcuts you can use to simplify your processes. And they can recommend modern accounting software that keeps all of your accounting information in one place. So when it comes time to prepare reports or file taxes, you get everything at your fingertips.

4. Know Which Money You Can Spend

You want to be able to put your donors’ contributions and grant funds straight to work to help your programs succeed.

But, for many nonprofit teams it can be difficult to figure out how much of your donations should go toward programs, versus fundraising efforts or operations. And it’s even hard to track which money you CAN spend because of program-restricted funds and grants.

This is where an accounting service that specializes in nonprofits is with its weight in gold. Most general CPA firms ack the industry-specific knowledge you need, so they don’t have established practices for tracking program-restricted or grant-restricted funds. By contrast, a nonprofit accounting service will have experience navigating the specific issues that organizations like yours face every day.

5. Get Reports You Can Trust (and Read!)

Never underestimate the value of accurate nonprofit financial reports in a consistent and recognizable format. It may sound basic, but…

Most small and mid-size nonprofits (and many big ones too) struggle with getting good financial reports in time to satisfy their board members, donors, and auditors. And, oftentimes, the reports they do get vary from month to month in terms of the layout, what info they contain, and how things are categorized.

A professional nonprofit accounting firm will standardize your reports and classify your income and expenses consistently. So you’ll get reports you can trust every month, and actually be able to read them.

That allows you to instill confidence in both your oversight team and your donors. And it helps you make smarter decisions, faster. So that you can move your mission forward!

5. Save a Bunch of Money

You may not believe it, but nonprofit accounting services can save your organization a lot of money.

Employees are expensive, and accounting salaries have risen by as much as 20-30% in just the last year. Plus, staff accountants can easily get stuck in old ways of doing things that waste your organization’s time and money.

Optimized processes and up-to-date technology can make bookkeeping and accounting services much more efficient than your in-house team!

At The Charity CFO, we’ve taken nonprofit accounting departments that were employing 2 full-time staff members and turned it into a 20-hour per week job. Just by leveraging efficient processes and software solutions.

And that’s not to mention the enormous hidden costs in things like dealing with employee turnover, inaccurate or sloppy accounting, payroll taxes, and more. In fact, if your already behind on your books, the cost of cleaning up your books for an audit ALONE might cost more than a full year of accounting services.

When you choose the right outsourced accounting service, you’ll be surprised with how much time and money you’ll save just by doing things right the first time.

Still not sure about working with a nonprofit accounting service?

If you’re a nonprofit that’s thinking about hiring an accounting service, you probably have one big question:

“But won’t it be harder working with an accountant that’s not in my office?”

Actually, we’ve found that most nonprofits find working with an outsourced accounting service easier than having an in-house team. How could that be? There are 3 big reasons:

Expertise. It’s amazing how much easier things are when you’ve got an expert on your team! As a nonprofit accounting service, we’ve worked with hundreds of nonprofits just like you. That means we have solutions for the issues you face every day, from expense reporting to dealing with irritable board members. Honestly, it’s pretty tough to surprise us. But if you do, we’ve got an office full of nonprofit financial professionals who love a new challenge.
Efficiency. The first thing we do with any client is simplify and optimize their accounting system. We’ll make sure you’re using the right tools, software, and procedures to make life easier for you. And for us too, quite frankly. We can’t afford to be inefficient, because our model is based on efficiency. So guarantee that we can help your team save time and energy within a few weeks.
Communication – At The Charity CFO, all of our 100+ nonprofit clients are handled remotely. That means we’ve developed systems, procedures, and technology that allow us to serve them just like we were there in their office. Many of our clients can’t believe that it’s easier to get clear, quick, and accurate responses from us than it ever was working with in-house accountants, volunteer bookkeepers, or “take a week to call you back” CPA firms.

Don’t believe that’s possible? Here’s what a fellow skeptic had to say:

Ready to talk about nonprofit accounting services?

Why not start making your life easier today?

Reach out to us at the Charity CFO for a free consultation today.

We’ll let you know if you’re a good candidate for outsourced nonprofit accounting. And we’ll show you exactly how we’d modernize your systems, organize your complex accounting and simplify your life!

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