This post is the fourth and final (but probably not the last) in a series of posts on functional expenses. Actually five posts if you count the introductory post, Demystifying Nonprofit Overhead. Here’s a quick overview of the topics in each post: Demystifying Nonprofit Overhead: Deconstructed the term “overhead;” why you should care about it.…
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This post is the third in a series of four posts on functional expenses. An introductory post, Demystifying Nonprofit Overhead, clarified the term “overhead” and made the case for why you should care about it. In Understanding Functional Expenses – Part 1 of 4, we covered the definition of cost vs. expense and went into…
Read MoreIn our last post, Understanding Functional Expenses – Part 1 of 4, we covered the definition of cost vs. expense. We then dove into the nitty gritty of what expenses are considered to be fundraising. The post just prior to this series, Demystifying Nonprofit Overhead, made the case for why you should care about overhead and…
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In our last post, Demystifying Nonprofit Overhead, we began to tackle the concept of “overhead” and why it’s sooooo important for you to understand it. Overhead refers to expenses that are NOT program expenses. You may find it helpful to read that post if you haven’t already. To quickly review, Form 990, the annual information…
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Overhead. It’s a loaded word in Nonprofit Land. And scary because so many people talk about it with confidence when they clearly have no idea what they are saying. You hate to correct them because you are a little unsure about it yourself. You know overhead is essential. How can you set the record straight?…
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Bank fees can be a sneaky hole in your organization’s pocket, draining hundreds or even thousands of dollars each year if you don’t pay attention. In working with a client recently, we noticed multiple bank fees for monthly service charges and overdrafts. Ouch! How would a donor feel knowing this is where donations were spent?…
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We often receive the question, “How do I record volunteer services?” From our last post, Why Record Volunteer Services?, you know some volunteer services must be recorded as defined in Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Other volunteer services, while valuable to the organization, do not meet GAAP criteria for recording. However, you still may wish…
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Often we find nonprofits do not record the value of volunteer services. After all, volunteer services, also referred to as in-kind services, don’t have a direct impact on cash. And there is so much other work to do; it seems like a waste of time. Why would you want to record volunteer services anyway? 1.…
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Six Levels of Expertise Over the years we have seen a wide variety of wonderful partnerships between volunteers and nonprofits – and a few not so wonderful. Volunteer bookkeepers seem to be a problematic area. Maybe that’s because we also see a lot of problems with paid bookkeepers. It could also be because some nonprofit…
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In our last post, The Art of Creating a Nonprofit Chart of Accounts – Part 1 of 2, we talked about why the chart of accounts is so important. This is true whether you use QuickBooks or any other accounting software. We also gave examples of good and bad uses for accounts. In this post…
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