Financial Technologies & Management- E-Newsletter for September |
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Upcoming Live Webinars Dear {CONTACT.SALUTATION} We hope you find our monthly E-Newsletter useful for your nonprofit organization. We are pleased to provide you with access to our knowledge articles and live webinars!!
These live webinars will help Nonprofit Leaders, Treasurers, Finance Directors, Finance Staff, Executive Directors and other Nonprofit Staff.
Our upcoming live webinars for financial management training are broken into the following areas: Nonprofit Financial Forum, Nonprofit Finance Certificate, MIP Fund Accounting, and Financial Management Training. -
Nonprofit Financial Forum-These FREE monthly forums are back for 2024 during the last Wednesday of each month from 11:30 EST to 1:00 EST-FMI or Register-September 25th-Building a Superior Budget
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MIP Fund Accounting-Quarterly User Group Meetings for 2024 are as follows: Fall-September 26, 2024-Budget and Microix Budget. 15th Annual User Conference on October 8 to 10 in Las Vegas. We will once again by presenting and sponsoring this year's conference so let us know your coming and please select FTM as your referral contact when you register. See you in Las Vegas in October. Please click on this link for conference web site FMI and to register.
Please contact us via phone, email, or directly book a consultation on my calendar for all current and prospective clients. Also, you can use the contact us page to subscribe to our newsletter for you, your staff, or your colleagues. Please click here for the current and previous monthly newsletters back to 2020. Best Regards, James Simpson, CPA, CFE, CITP, and CGMA. |
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A strong budget is an essential element for any nonprofit organization to achieve financial leadership. Superior budgets, though, have written plans about the core activities to include strategic, organizational, and program goals and how they will be financed.
Financial sustainability can only be achieved with a well-prepared and continuously monitored budget. Conversely, a poorly developed budget can diminish mission focused activities opportunities and threaten long-term success.
Budget process best practices would include: - Establish budget process timeline
- Set goals for organization and its programs
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Draft income budget to identify expected donor sources
- Draft expenses into variable, fixed, incremental, indirect
- Implement budget
- Document budget decisions including and assumptions
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Finance committee reviews draft budgets
- Document budget decisions including assumptions
Please click on the find out more for the full article |
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Common Audit Preparation Pitfalls and Misperceptions |
One reason a nonprofit might conduct an audit is to demonstrate the organization’s commitment to financial transparency and accountability. Also, you many have specific grantor that requires an audit or maybe you have any audit if you suspect fraud or illegal acts. And while a nonprofit can spend considerable resources for its annual audit, it is important that it consider the following to ensure the audit is a success.
- No delays
- Minimal accrual and year end adjustments
- Minor board and management comments
- No material weakness or significant defieiency
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Nonprofit should prepare audited financial statements and related disclosures
- Fraud detection is not purpose of audit
- Auditor does not guarantee financial statement accuracy
If your nonprofit has any of these pitfall or misperceptions, you should take action to bring expertise like our audit preparation services to remedy and correct these audit issues. The full article provides further details on how to eliminate these common problems with nonprofit audits. |
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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.
There are several things that lead towards effective grants management which includes financial policies and procedures, adequate supporting documentation, ability to produce Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA), and proper base to apply indirect cost rate.
We need to establish and schedule future grant deadlines to insure timely grant report submission.
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, and standards of conduct. The grant audit requirements include ability to prepare Schedule of Federal Awards. (SEFA) The full blog article reviews grants management and cost allocation in detail.
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FTM offers client care plan for our MIP Fund Accounting and Microix users-Sign up today |
We provide software advisor services to our MIP clients. Our system review services provide recommendations on how your organization can better leverage the software. Please click here for our MIP Training page and look for our customized courses which includes all the modules training available from community brands university and more.
We are excited to expand our software advisory services by offering a client care plan for our MIP and Microix clients.
At FTM, we have the answer with our Client Care Plan options. Keep in mind your Community Brands Maintenance and Support Agreement does not cover critical topics that keep your accounting software performing to its potential.
The full article will provide specific examples of software topics resolved by our certified trainers and consultants along with the benefits to your organization.
FTM has certified trainers, dedicated trainer support line, average response time is 2 hours or less, and priority client assistance to meet your needs and insure you are fully utilizing your MIP investment. We offer three plans that start at $500 per year. Our plans cover everything and don't have limitations like M&S plan. |
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