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Our firm specializes in providing the not-for-profit
community with audit, accounting and tax services. We have more than 20 years of experience
servicing the needs of 501(c)(3) organizations,
including consulting and management review.
Not-For-Profit
Rules
Perhaps the two most important accounting treatises ever
issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board for not-for-profit
entities are included in ASC 958.205 and ASC 958.605, which deal with Contributions
Received and Contributions Made and Financial Statements of
Not-for-Profit Organizations, respectively. Our firm has assisted numerous nonprofit
institutions in implementing these important FASB statements. We understand the many subtle nuances
contained in the documents. We meet
with our clients and answer questions pertaining to the issues contained in
these accounting pronouncements and how they affect ongoing operations
not-for-profit enterprises. During the
course of our audits, we perform audit procedures to ensure proper compliance
with FASB pronouncements.
Invesetments and UPMIFA
 In 1995, the
Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) signed into law another
accounting pronouncement affecting nonprofit organizations. Statement of Financial Accounting Standards
ASC 985 requires not-for-profit enterprises to report investments in equity
securities with readily determinable fair values and all investments in debt
securities in the statement of financial position at fair value and report
realized and unrealized gains and losses in the statement of activities and
changes in net assets.
Our staff is well versed in the requirements of Generally
Accepted Governmental Auditing Standards, including the various Single Audit
provisions.
GAGAS and OMB
Circular A-133
 In response to
the increase in the number and dollar amount of governmental programs and
services, governmental auditing standards - as from time to time established
by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) - were revised in 1981 and
1988. Many changes continue to occur
to the governmental environment, leading to a demand for increased accountability
by those entrusted with public funds.
To ensure that standards remain current and meet the needs of the
audit community and the public, the GAO revised the auditing standards again
in June 1994. In June 1999, the
Governmental Accounting Standards Board lifted the curtain on its
long-awaited new framework for state and local government financial
statements. In October 2000, GASB issued Statement 34 summarizing new
reporting standards.
The current GASB standard came into effect for larger governments
($100 million plus in revenues) in fiscal years beginning after June 15,
2001. Medium-sized governments (between $10 and $100 million in revenue) were
impacted beginning after June 15, 2002 and smaller governments (under $10
million in revenue) were impacted beginning after June 15, 2003.
The official title of the latest revision is Government
Auditing Standards, and, in keeping with the tradition that has led to its
informal name, it is also dressed in a yellow cover. The updated revision
represents a significant reversal of what the GAO wanted to do with the
document. The GAO (as can be seen in the public statements of Comptroller
General Charles Bowsher and Chief Accountant Donald
Chapin) believes strongly in the importance of effective internal control
systems - especially those related to safeguarding of assets and compliance
with laws and regulations - where U.S. government funds are
involved. The GAO initially sought to expand generally accepted governmental
auditing standards (GAGAS), to include more emphasis on internal control
testing and reporting than is now required by AICPA GAAS. For example the
exposure draft would have required auditors to perform procedures separately
for the control environment and the control procedures for safeguarding
assets considered vulnerable to loss or misappropriation.
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