How your nonprofit can break bad budget habits
Autumn is here and many not-for-profits are starting to think about their 2023 budgets. If your budget process is on autopilot, you might want to pause and think about changing things up this year—particularly if you’ve experienced recent shortfalls or found your budget to be less resilient than is ideal. Here’s how to rethink budgeting. A holistic […]
Promoting your nonprofit with your annual report
Do you think about your not-for-profit’s annual report as a yearly obligation or even an unpleasant chore? If so, your annual report likely isn’t much fun to read — and you’re missing a chance to attract and engage critical audiences. Instead, embrace this opportunity to communicate the good your organization does and promote your mission […]
Take your audit to the next level – utilize advice from your management letter
Maintaining the status quo in today’s volatile marketplace can be risky. To succeed, businesses need to “level up” by being proactive and adaptable. But some managers may be unsure where to start or they’re simply out of new ideas. Fortunately, when audited financial statements are delivered, they’re accompanied by a management letter that suggests ways […]
Last call for lease accounting!
The updated lease accounting standard is currently in effect for private companies. After several postponements during the pandemic, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) voted unanimously to move forward with the changes. That means private companies and private not-for-profit entities that follow U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) must adopt the new standard for fiscal […]
Reviewing — and possibly revising — your nonprofit’s spending policy
A spending policy is the formula used to determine how much of the value of investments a nonprofit organization will tap each year for such expenses as operating costs and capital projects. Although it’s usually a good idea to stick with an established spending policy, circumstances may warrant changes. There’s no one-size-fits-all optimal spending policy. […]
Oversight and controls are key to limiting fraud in nonprofits
Recently, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) published its biannual Report to the Nations: 2022 Global Study on Occupational Fraud and Abuse. Of all the types of organizations surveyed by the ACFE, not-for-profits actually were the least likely to experience occupational fraud. However, nonprofits also are generally the least likely to be able to […]
How inflation could affect your financial statements
Business owners and investors are understandably concerned about skyrocketing inflation. Over the last year, consumer prices have increased 8.3%, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) covers the prices of food, clothing, shelter, fuels, transportation, doctors’ and dentists’ services, drugs, and other goods and services […]
Goodwill in a bad economy
In today’s volatile economy, many businesses and nonprofits have been required to write down the value of acquired goodwill on their balance sheets. Others are expected to follow suit — or report additional write-offs — in 2022. To the extent that goodwill is written off, it can’t be recovered in the future, even if the […]
Do you know the signs of financial distress in a business?
Financial statements tell only part of the story. Investors, lenders, and other stakeholders who know how to identify red flags of impending problems can protect their own financial interests. Additional due diligence may be needed to uncover these issues. For instance, stakeholders might need to talk to management, visit the company’s website, and compute financial […]
Classify your nonprofit’s workers correctly — or risk repercussions
Many not-for-profits are understaffed in 2022, thanks to a labor shortage and pandemic-related budget shortfalls. Some organizations are filling the gaps with freelancers and contractors. However, such decisions can lead to trouble if these workers should really be classified as employees according to the Department of Labor (DOL) or the IRS. To ensure your workers […]