How to Make the Transition to a New Treasurer in 2 Easy Steps!

I've recently seen some emails from treasurers who are transitioning to a new board and it reminded me to let everyone know again just how easy it is to do that with Treasurer's Briefcase.

Has the IRS revoked your nonprofit status?

Fun or Not So Fun Fact: A review of the February 10, 2014 IRS nonprofit revocation list shows 2,620 names were added this month alone.

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 directed the IRS to revoke the tax exemption of any nonprofit that is required to file an annual information return but failed to do so for three consecutive years. Revocation is automatic and mandatory under the law.

As a result hundreds of thousands of exempt organizations had their tax-exempt status revoked. Many were smaller organizations that were not aware of the 2006 law change that required all exempt organizations (except churches) to file annual returns, regardless of how small their annual receipts may be.

We're small...do the IRS rules apply to us?

The short answer is yes.  The rules apply to all organizations that raise funds from the public.  It just depends on what rules we're talking about.  The amount of revenue your club generates will determine which rules it should follow.

During an appointment with one of my individual tax clients this week I took some time to demonstrate Treasurer’s Briefcase. I explained that, for even his small non-profit, Treasurer's Briefcase would be of tremendous value. Along with all of the other benefits of a cloud based record keeping package, I described how providing a platform that can be handed off from one treasurer to another treasurer helped to provide a consistent repeatable process for the organization would make recruiting treasurers easier and make reporting uniform.

He liked the software but then explained, “We’re a small non-profit so the rules don’t apply to us.” The normal half hour interview turned into an hour so I could answer his questions about nonprofits and correct this common misperception.

Fiscally Speaking - When does your year end? Part II

Last week I suddenly realized that the 990 was due for the local charity I serve as Treasurer.

The good news is I finished the return and had it e-filed by the end of the day. Luckily in our state of New Jersey, they give us more time to file our report with the Division of Consumer Affairs.  So I can say now with a smile they were timely filed!

In last week's blog I reviewed the reasons why you might want to choose a fiscal year end date in a month other than December.  In the case of the baseball league in which I volunteer, an October fiscal year-end makes the most sense since the season ends by early September and we begin taking registrations for the new season in November and December.  This gives our Treasurer plenty of time during the slow months of November through January to get the records in order for filing the returns.  It also allows our board ample time to recruit volunteers for the next season.  A task that has now been made much easier because of Treasurer's Briefcase.

Last week I promised I would provide instructions on how you can change your fiscal year end if it is less than ideal.

Fiscally speaking - When does your year end?

It’s February 15th here in our accounting office.  We are in the Northeast suffering a bad winter.  We've lost power for three days, had three days of lost employee time due to State of Emergency closings, and I just realized as the Treasurer of a local non-profit here in our town…our 990 is due today!

Frustrated with myself at forgetting this due date I mumbled to myself, "Who picked a fiscal year end of October 31st anyway!"

It dawned on me perhaps a lesson in fiscal year ends is in order.

What is Accounting?

The word accounting is derived from the root word account which, according to Merriam Webster's Dictionary can mean to furnish a justifying analysis or explanation.

In a previous post I spoke about the importance of reporting (or accounting for your organization's activities; specifically explaining the reporting of donations. In that post we talked about why that task can be a bit confusing to a treasurer with no bookkeeping or accounting experience!

This week I was asked by a Treasurer to explain how she should be coding her activity so it not only reports donations properly but the other financial activities of her club as well. Reporting this activity correctly to your board, the public and the IRS, is a close second in level of importance to safeguarding the organization’s assets AND REPUTATION! Here’s my brief refresher on categorizing (coding) your activity.

Trudy's 990 Traps to Avoid

In my previous blog I discussed the rules requiring charitable organizations to provide receipts to donors, but how many of you know how to report these contributions to the IRS on their 990 series return?

While not overly complicated, if you aren’t recording your transactions properly you may create more work for yourself and your accountant come 990 time.

Tax Deductions for Giving - Keeping Donors Happy

It’s early January and here at our accounting firm and we are moving at warp speed.  The IRS has some required deadlines that force us to work seven days a week to help our clients comply.  We are busy preparing our W-2s for all of our payroll clients, and 1099’s for our business clients.  These documents have to be in the mail by January 31st.

Does your small nonprofit have any worries for January?

Previously we discussed your need to prepare 1099s for those unincorporated businesses that provided services to your organization, and they must be mailed by January 31st.  There is another potential requirement for you!

The 6 Most Important Documents You Need at Your Fingertips

In the world of public accounting one of our best practices is the client “Permanent File”.  CPAs often represent clients throughout their business life cycle.  The permanent file is the place we keep documents we need at our fingertips. Your organization needs access to your important documents as well.

Booster Compliance Program...one year later...

Hi gang, Trudy here!

Dave Lauer presents
 Treasurer Briefcase's Booster Compliance Program

It's been about a year since the Treasurer's Briefcase team made our first visit to Steinert High School to help their booster clubs organize their finances.

Dave and the rest of our team at TBC explained to Steinert's booster clubs how they could easily become legitimate non-profit organizations. We spoke with over a dozen clubs back in December of 2012 and we're excited to tell you what's happened since then.