Nonprofit Financial Management

A timely, practical, and concise handbook of best practices for nonprofit financial management

In 2010 an estimated 325,000 charities, membership groups, and trade associations?with small nonprofits disproportionately represented?stand to lose their tax exemptions for failure to comply with financial management requirements. Nonprofit Financial Management: A Practical Guide is a timely, functional, and concise handbook of best practices for nonprofit organizations of every size.

• Addresses federal reporting requirements and discusses methods to decrease expenses, ensure accounting control, increase revenues through professional cash management, and understand budget statements
• Explains how to read financial statements and analyze a nonprofit's financial condition by using the most recent IRS 990 reporting form
• Covers the full range of financial-management topics, including accounting, internal controls, auditing, evaluating financial condition, budgeting, cash management and banking, purchasing and contracting, borrowing and risk management

Written in an easy-to-read style, with more than 100 exhibits, this book is essential for every nonprofit financial manager.

Who this Book Is For ix

Acknowledgments xi

CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1

CHAPTER 2 Account for Transactions 9

CHAPTER 3 Create the Internal Control System 31

CHAPTER 4 Manage the Audit 43

CHAPTER 5 Evaluate Financial Condition 77

CHAPTER 6 Prepare and Manage the Budget 97

CHAPTER 7 Manage Cash Flow 127

CHAPTER 8 Purchase Goods 137

CHAPTER 9 Contract to Provide a Service 153

CHAPTER 10 Manage Capital Assets and the Inventory 159

CHAPTER 11 Invest Funds 165

CHAPTER 12 Manage Banking Relations 185

CHAPTER 13 Borrow Funds 199

CHAPTER 14 Manage Risks 205

Notes 229

Index 237

Charles K. Coe is a Professor in the Department of Public Administration at North Carolina State University, teaching courses on budgeting and financial management. He is the author of over fifteen handbooks for management of state and local government, including Public Financial Management and Purchasing and Materials Management Handbook. Nonprofits vary from organization to organization, each with its own mission, funding sources, and organizational structure. One denominator is common with all nonprofits: each must have a sound financial management system in order to be accountable to its funders and perform capably.

Written in plain English with straightforward guidance, Nonprofit Financial Management: A Practical Guide assists all nonprofits, from the smallest to the largest and most financially sophisticated, to manage their finances responsibly and professionally.

Nonprofit Financial Management addresses federal reporting requirements and discusses methods to decrease expenses, ensure accounting control, and increase revenues through professional cash management. It explains how to read financial statements and analyze a nonprofit's financial condition by using the most recent IRS 990 reporting form. It is the first book to cover concisely all of the principal financial management subjects. It covers a full range of financial management topics, including accounting, internal controls, auditing, evaluating financial condition, budgeting, cash management and banking, purchasing and contracting, borrowing, and risk management. Written in an easy-to-read style, this book includes more than 100 exhibits, including thorough lists of best practices for you to keep in mind and include in your own work, covering a variety of real-life situations.

Nonprofit Financial Management explores:

• Creating an internal control system

• Managing the audit

• Evaluating your financial condition

• Preparing and managing the budget

• Purchasing goods

• Contracting to provide a service

• Managing capital assets and the inventory

• Investing funds

• Managing banking relations

• Borrowing funds

• Managing risks

Many nonprofits face daunting financial management challenges. The economic downturn, with its attendant decreased governmental and foundation funding, severely distressed their finances. But your nonprofit must still comply with increased federal reporting requirements. Straightforward and easy to use, Nonprofit Financial Management is a timely, functional, and concise handbook of best practices for nonprofit organizations of every size.

Your best practices guide to the basics of nonprofit financial management.

Coaching you in the essentials of financial management, Nonprofit Financial Management: A Practical Guide supplies easy-to-use concepts for the financial management of nonprofits of every size and type.

Drawing upon his extensive experience in financial management of nonprofits, author Charles Coe explores:

• Federal reporting requirements

• Methods to decrease expenses, ensure accounting control, and increase revenues through professional cash management

• How to read financial statements and analyze your nonprofit's financial condition using the most recent IRS 990 reporting form

• The full range of financial management topics, including accounting, internal controls, auditing, evaluating financial condition, budgeting, cash management and banking, purchasing and contracting, borrowing, and risk management

If you are involved in the financial survival of your nonprofit organization—whether your service to your nonprofit is in the capacity of director, manager, trustee, accountant, or lawyer—Nonprofit Financial Management is a must-read to manage your nonprofit's finances effectively and resourcefully.