Presenting Financial Reports

Your board members have a fiduciary responsibility to monitor your nonprofit’s budget and financial health.  Reviewing financial reports allows them to ensure your organization is managing its budget properly and complying with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).  Having clear and accurate financial reports can go a long way towards establishing trust in potential donors looking for organizations to support. 

Nonprofit Financial Reports allow you to

• Improve financial decision making
• Secure more funding
• Engage program managers

We will review the financial reports to be presented at every board and finance committee meeting.  We will review the four types of reporting needed by the board.  We will review Financial Difficulty Reporting.  The Key Steps to Presenting Financial Information to the Board will be reviewed along with tips and tricks that we have found useful.  We will finish with how to prepare your Nonprofit Financial Reports.

Please click the find out more button for the full article

Effective Grants Management and Cost Allocation

In order to provide effective grants management, we need to make sure that we are performing bookkeeping at the grant level.   Our grant accounting needs to properly allocate costs to the grants while maximizing our grant reimbursement and avoiding any cost disallowance.

Federal grants and awards are specifically identified and require a financial management system that identifies the source and application of federal funded activities.  Federal grants typically require written procedures around payment requirements, allowability of costs, procurement procedures, standards of conduct, and ability to prepare Schedule of Federal Awards. (SEFA)

Costs allocations are an integral part of effective grants management.  Effective cost allocations will allow to report and recover the fully loaded program costs including facilities and administrative costs.  Some acceptable methods of cost allocation would include hours worked for variable costs and square footage for fixed costs like facilities.

Please click on the find out more for the full article

An Executive Director's Guide to Financial Leadership

Financial Leadership is guiding a nonprofit organization to sustainability.  The job of an executive director includes providing an exceptional mission impact while creating sustained financial health.  The following eight key principles should guide financial leadership for your organization.

1. Activate your annual budget by achieving a financial surplus and adding a financial projection
2. Income Diversification to determine degree of diversification and risks you are willing to accept
3. Make cash flow your priority
4. Don't wish for reserves but plan for them
5. Rethink restricted funding to include overhead and general operating funds in your grant proposals
6. Properly staff your finance function including consultants
7. Design your financial reports to allow board help with short and long term planning of the organization.
8. Manage organization's risk management

The full article includes the Executive Director's cheat sheet

Please click the find out more button for the full article

Our Firm-Your Team is here to help-Schedule Today

Our firm has grown because of strong client relationships with referrals from our clients and other referral partners.  Our staff is very experienced at performing the accounting function for our clients.   Our nonprofit accounting services includes bookkeeping, accounting, controller, and CFO services.  Our nonprofit software accounting software expertise be composed of QuickBooks Online, MIP Fund Accounting, Microix Workflow Modules for MIP, and Sage Intacct.  Our nonprofit software services comprise software assessments, sales, data conversions, implementations, training, support, and project management services.  Our financial management training consists of newsletter, nonprofit financial forum, & MIP user group.  Our approach is to work with you to determine how your organization can best benefit from our professional services. 

Additional FTM resources to help your organization:

Is now time for financial assessment?

FTM offers client care plan for QBO and MIP users?

Why you should consider an Outsourced Controller or CFO?

Does my Nonprofit Need a Controller?

Eight Reasons to Outsource Your Nonprofit Accounting

When to Consider a Move to Fund Accounting?

Please click the find out more button for the full article

Our firm provides all the levels of accounting your nonprofit needs including bookkeeping, accounting, controller, CFO, and software advisory services for nonprofit accounting software including MIP, Microix, QuickBooks, Sage Intacct and AccuFund