Category: Nonprofit
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Do I want or need a financial statement audit?
Does your nonprofit organization need an audit, review or compilation? What are the three main benefits of these procedures? The AICPA has a free 6 page report titled “Do I Want or Need a Financial Statement Audit” summarizing important information. The side-by-side comparison chart is especially useful. I have been active in helping management of…
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Ducks in a row
I spent some time this weekend getting my ducks in a row, quite remarkably, pertaining to open land preservation that is most likely to be known as a duck habitat. This area along the Delaware Bay was once famous for it duck populations. Now we have only a small fraction of that peak population. Duck…
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CPA-prepared financial statements
A question came up from a small nonprofit business client yesterday for the second time this month. The request was to produce a financial statement for the client’s Treasurer. I found myself thinking about the best words to use to clarify my position. I want to help by making this an easy and seamless process…
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CPA services for nonprofits: a comparison of service and cost
Nonprofit organizations in the United States are sometimes required to engage a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) to prepare financial statements for presentation to state regulators and to the public. The specific requirement varies by state and depends primarily on the size of the nonprofit organization. Three levels of financial statement services offered by CPAs: Audits,…
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Wells Fargo in the news again
Most of the nonprofit businesses that I work for in the Philadelphia area use Wells Fargo as their primary bank. I’m not quite sure how that happened; it was not a deliberate choice on my part of saying to these boards “hey guys: let’s all use the same bank so that it will make my job…
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Prepare now for market correction and recession
There are growing indications that the investment markets and the overall economy have reached short-term highs and that we might soon headed into a period of market correction and possibly even recession. I am not interested in or attempting to ‘time the market’ not do I pretend to have any ability to make such a forecast.…
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Church and taxes
The topic of church and taxes in is the news this week as Trump plans to dispose of the federal law known as Johnson Amendment that has effectively separated church and state for most of our lives. Let’s be clear this is not about expressing opinions- we all get to do that. This is about money…
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Limitations on free tax preparation for 2016 returns
Each tax season I am pleased to prepare some individual tax preparation services for n fee except the filing fee. My online filing service provider’s fee is $20 per return so the tax filer must cover this cost. My offer is usually made to a small number of middle income neighbors as a way to promote my…
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Reduce your income taxes in 2017
Tax shelters and strategies that go beyond basic tax planning An accountant shared a story with his peers of a client who called recently to say “This year I really want to do whatever we can to slash my tax bill and pay the minimum”. The accountant replied “What do you think we’ve been doing…
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Save your nonprofit now!
I learned a simple but extremely valuable lesson yesterday that will be useful for managing nonprofit businesses, thanks to NJCPA nonprofit conference and presenter Robert Lyons, CPA. Many nonprofit organizations experience “mission creep” over time. That’s not a bad thing. Usually it is in response to changing real world conditions. It simply means that the…