The Simplified Guide to Not-for-Profit Accounting, Formation, and Reporting

by Laurence Scot

A complete and easy to understand guide to the fundamentals of how not-for-profit organizations are formed and run, as well as their structure and the unique accounting and reporting issues they face.

Providing you with a comprehensive understanding of how to maintain the "books" of a typical nonprofit entity and comply with numerous reporting requirements, The Simplified Guide to Not-for-Profit Accounting, Formation & Reporting equips you with everything you need to know to form a Not-For-Profit, setup an accounting system, record financial transactions and report to donors and regulatory bodies.

Topics

Step-by-step guide to forming a Not-For-Profit and applying for tax exemption Becoming familiar with unique Not-For-Profit accounting rules such as classifying contributions/grants and recording restrictions, allocation of expenses to programs and supporting services and investment classification and reporting Budget development, payroll processing and accounting for personnel costs Shows how to prepare and understand required Not-For-Profit financial statement and their components Provides you with a broad understanding of the numerous filing requirement required by donors, grantors and government regulatory agencies Practical and comprehensive in scope, The Simplified Guide to Not-for-Profit Accounting, Formation & Reporting offers a wealth of practical information to accountants and non-accountants alike for understanding Not-For-Profit financial transactions, financial statements and the many internal and external reports they must prepare.

Genres: Business

445 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 30, 2010

Reviews

[Roberta Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great basics for non-profit accounting.

[Robert Muller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being in the process of starting a small nonprofit, and being in charge of finances, I got this book to provide a solid overview of the accounting I'd need to do, or at least supervise. It delivered. I think the book would benefit from deeper coverage of the chart of accounts, particularly with respect to pooled expenses and functional expense allocation, as well as from a deeper look into Form 990 and the auditing process (and the consequent recordkeeping processes needed for audits). Also, I have a strong background in accounting, so most of it was not new, but it seemed well explained. Somebody new to accounting might have more difficulty. I would recommend taking a basic accounting course before trying to run an organization with this book.

[Philip Athans · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXTREMELY HELPFUL! I have several pages of notes that will really help me to put together the National Buy a Book Day Foundation.