Keeping Your Nonprofit's Finances in Order

Fiduciary accountability is one of the board's primary responsibilities. Even if board members are not personally handling all the moneys, they need to ensure that the organizational finances are in good hands and solid processes guide the staff to follow generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

The Greater Washington Society of CPAs Educational Foundation has created a Web site to help small and medium-size nonprofits address all of their financial and accounting questions. Developed by a special fiduciary accountability task force, the site provides free information, templates, checklists, and numerous tools to help keep the books in order. All boards of nonprofits, especially those with no staff, will find the site helpful on a daily basis.

The site is www.nonprofitaccountingbasics.org/ and it can be very useful for anyone in a nonprofit management or board position.

Howard Barlow, NRS, Fargo