Moving On

Just a quick note to say that I am moving on from the California Association of Nonprofits (CAN). My last day in the office will be this Friday, December 12. After the first of the year, I will continue my work as a consultant and trainer in the area of nonprofit accounting and finance and continue blogging and providing resources as well.

It has been my pleasure to work with CAN for nine years to help the nonprofit sector, to develop and lead the Nonprofit Accounting Boot Camps and other financial trainings (1,300 trainees across the state and nation!) and to speak with thousands of you on our helpline and at our events around the state. I look forward to continuing my relationship with you in the years to come and I want to say thanks to all of you for helping me learn about and grow with this sector over the last nine years. It has been an interesting journey, and I could not have done it without you.

It is hard to believe that this blog has been up and running for over a year and a half, and that we get almost 2,000 readers a month. Thank you for that as well. I'm not sure what the status of this blog will be in the weeks and months ahead but I will continue my interest in the area of nonprofit finance and accounting in another forum for those of you who are interested in reading yet another not-for-profit accounting blog.

I wish you a happy and relaxing holiday season.

Alan J. Strand
Interim Executive Director, California Association of Nonprofits (until 12/31/08)
Principal, Strand Financial Services (starting 1/1/09)
www.notforprofitaccounting.net

Deloitte Announces Pro Bono Program

Thanks to a CAN Board member we got this piece of news today. On February 13th Deloitte LLP announced that it is launching a three year plan to help strengthen the nonprofit sector.

"The strategic new program establishes a formal budget, as well as the policies and procedures to support up to $50 million in outcomes-focused pro bono engagements, to provide in-kind professional services to eligible nonprofit organizations, over the next three years. Deloitte will be particularly focused on helping nonprofits deal with the business and operational issues that challenge their capacity to address social problems."

For more information about Deloitte’s pro bono program, visit www.deloitte.com/us/probono. There is little more written at this time about the program, who is eligible, how to submit for the program, etc. I have contacted them and hope to have more information available shortly.

CPA & Accounting Referrals

I'm frequently asked to give recommendations for CPA's who know nonprofits. I'm happy to do so and with changing regulations changing how CPA and client will be interacting the need to shop around for services may be greater than ever.

The first recommendations I give or those folks listed on the CAN website. For referrals to QuickBooks specialists I refer them here. The California CPA Society also has a robust tool for looking up CPA's, check it out too.