I’m often asked by those new to the nonprofit sector what type of charity accounting and bookkeeping is necessary for churches and charities. My typical response is that is critical that nonprofit directors and executives develop at least basic skills in financial management. Expecting others in the organization to manage finances is clearly asking for trouble. Basic abilities in financial management begin in the critical areas of cash management and bookkeeping, which should be done according to certain financial controls to ensure reliability in the accounting and bookkeeping process. Nonprofit administrators should learn how to generate financial statements and to analyze those statements to really understand the financial state of the nonprofit organization.

Diligent financial management of nonprofit organizations involves the use of financial statements as a management tool; the elements of an accounting system and identification of its best use; basic methods of internal controls and preparation for a third party audit; the budget cycle and annual filings. These aspects are indispensable to an organization’s finance and audit committee of the Board of Directors, and are essential in the oversight of the organization’s financial soundness.

Because each nonprofit organization faces different fiscal issues and has different fundraising ideas to bring to pecuniary functions, each organization will choose a different set of regular financial reports to prepare and analyze. At different times an organization will need different reports to provide information to support its decision making. The required reports will depend on several things, including the extent to which the organization is financially stable, the degree and extent to which the financial outlook changes during the period, the availability of resources to meet financial obligations, the availability of staff or other professionals to prepare reports, etc.

Common Monthly reports include:

• Statement of Position (Balance Sheet)

• Statement of Activities (consolidated) showing budget to actual information

• Departmental Income and Expense Statement showing budget to actual information

• Narrative report including tax and financial highlights, important grants received, recommendations for short term loans, or other means of managing cash flow

Common Quarterly reports include:

• Fundraising Reports; actuals vs. projections for donations; status report on all foundation proposals.

• Cash flow projections for the next six months

• Payroll tax reports

• Fee for service report showing number of fee-paying clients and revenue against projections.

Common Annual Reports include:

• Annual Federal forms, including 990 and Schedule A; State Reports

• Draft financial statements for year: Statement of Activities; Statement of Position; Income Statement for each program.

• Audited financial statements for the entire organization, including Statement of Position, Statement of Activities, Statement of Cash Flows, Statement of Functional Expenses

• Management letter from the auditor