New Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Organizations

e-Postcard (Form 990-N)
Beginning in 2008, small tax-exempt organizations that previously were not required to file returns may be required to file an annual electronic notice. With the enactment of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), these small tax-exempt organizations will now be required to file electronically Form 990-N, also known as the e-Postcard, with the IRS annually for tax periods beginning after December 2006.

Cal CPA Nonprofit Courses

Most of you probably already know about our nonprofit accounting boot camps, and our annual Money Matters finance conferences. But the California CPA Society's Education Foundations has a couple of good programs as well. The have a day long conference on nonprofit issues in LA and San Francisco and two day long classes. The first is a nonprofit accounting and auditing update that spends a day talking about the latest doings and the second is a tax update covering both CA and federal issues.

This link will take you two a listing of their nonprofit events. They also have classes that are primarily designed for auditors that focus on A-133 audits and other government programs that folks out there my find useful, do check them out.

Updated Nonprofit Accounting Boot Camp Schedule

Nonprofit Accounting Boot Camp
Three new boot camps have been added for 2007 in Los Angeles, Oakland and Palm Desert. Click the link for details and prices.

WebCPA | Regulatory spotlight shines on NFPs

WebCPA | Regulatory spotlight shines on NFPs

Thanks to a board member for sending me this link. The article is another good round up of what is going on out there.

Something New

To go along with the new website I have set up a news feed display that searches Google news for various topics. Go to the link in the title to see it or you can click on the link in the CAN Resources section below. Post any comments here (or there) and let me know what you think.

Alan

New website, new tools

Hey everybody, CAN has a brand new website! with an area dedicated just to us finance folks! There is a listserv so we can further the dialog and get questions answered by our peers and a growing list of resources beyond what we have here.

So check it out and let us know what you think, if you find any bugs, whatever.

Thanks!

Support Schedule for Advance Ruling Period

For those nonprofits that have been around a few years, have you filed your form 8734? Instructions to the form are here and the form is here (both links take you to pdf's). This form needs to be sent in at the end of your advance ruling period in order to prove that you are in fact a charity and not a private foundation.

Once submitted you will get your final determination letter from the IRS, keep them in a safe place and remember where you put them! CAN has had several calls recently from nonprofits that have been around for a while and can't find the letters. One then has to call the IRS and see if they can get you a copy, probably a lengthy and tedious process.

What Accounting Software Should I use?

I don't know, it depends on the organization. QuickBooks works well enough for CAN but may not be for everybody. The article from Idealware gives a pretty good round up of the type of packages out there at various price points and the pros and cons of each. Helpful, Idealware: A Few Good Accounting Packages

Accountability and Transparency, Part 2

CAN also has an Ensuring Nonprofit Integrity Initiative, what we consider a "thoughtful response to the nationwide increase of nonprofit watchdogging and accelerating calls for accountability by donors, policy makers, and the general public." Please do check it out, there are tool kits and workshops to help you along the way.

Plus you should stop by and check out our new website! Very new and improved...

Accountability and Transparency, Part 1

Guidestar has another good piece on accountability and transparency. The top piece of information people listed as how they show they are accountable are the audited financial statements. All most all the things people listed come from the admin and finance side and to me show once again how important these roles are in any size nonprofit.

It also reminds me to remind you that if you have not done so please do go on to GuideStar.org and find your 990. If you have filed one they have it listed. But the nice folks there allow us to add to the information up there, describe our programs in more detail, add accomplishments and goals and even explain things if you think your organizations numbers are a bit off. As one of the first place someone may go to research your organization it behooves us all to keep our info current.