Bryan Baughman describes a number of things you as a ministry leader should make clear with all of your staff. In his post, Is Your Church Exposed, he suggests you should:
Things to make sure your ministry staff understand
February 28, 2011, 7:03 am
Leave a Comment » | 
Internal control, Other stuff | 
Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
FASB is backing off on the lease accounting changes to Topic 840
February 25, 2011, 8:38 am(duplicate of post from Attestation Update blog )
Looks like FASB is listening very seriously to the comment letters on leases. They seem to be backing off on some of the strongest components of the lease revisions. (see big news in UPDATE below!)
Leave a Comment » | Non-profit accounting | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
Q: Why should NPO leaders read pop psychology books?
February 24, 2011, 8:23 amFive answers:
Leave a Comment » | Books you might enjoy | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
It’s what you don’t know that gets you in trouble
February 22, 2011, 11:33 amStandard question on just about every audit is whether the organization is breaking any laws or regulations. Most perceptive response I ever received was “none that I know of, and that’s what worries me.”
Leave a Comment » | Non-profit Tax | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
Posts on documentation requirements from SSARS #19 combined into a page
February 21, 2011, 7:41 amI have written a series of eight posts on the documentation rules for reviews and comps from SSARS 19 on my other blog, www.attestationupdate.com. Those posts have been combined into a single ’page’. This means you can read all the posts in chronological order, which also means they are in logical order. Click here for the page.
Leave a Comment » | Compilation and review | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
Peering forward – technology is destroying and creating jobs
February 19, 2011, 10:23 am“Technology is eating jobs”
So says Andy Kessler in his Wall Street Journal article, Is Your Job an Endangered Species?
He says there are two kinds of workers today:
Leave a Comment » | Pondering | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
When you try to “make it happen” something will block you. What to do then?
February 17, 2011, 9:34 am“It” is your dream. The thing you wanted to do since you were a kid. That incredible idea in the back of your mind that would change the world, make life better for oh-so-many people, or end the social injustice that fires righteous fury in your heart. Take your pick.
You know what “it” is. Make it happen.
Leave a Comment » | Pondering | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
Depreciation in a local church
February 15, 2011, 7:22 amGreat post on recording depreciation in a local church by Corey Pfaffe, CPA at his MinistryCPA blog. He suggests using modified cost as the method of accounting so you don’t have to worry about depreciation. Also points out that historical cost should be used instead of current value. Good read. Check it out.
Leave a Comment » | Non-profit accounting | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
Choose your attitude
February 14, 2011, 4:06 pm“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be” – Abraham Lincoln. Today’s explanation of that theme is from Seth Godin, which I quote in its entirety:
Leave a Comment » | Pondering | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
What will the new structure of the SASs look like after the clarity project is complete?
February 13, 2011, 5:19 pm(cross-posted from my other blog for CPAs that stop by here. This is the start of a 3 post series)
All of the SASs are being rewritten. All those new/revised/updated/clarified/etc documents will go into effect on the same day.
Ouch. For us change-phobic CPAs, there is a world of change on the horizon.
Leave a Comment » | Auditing | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
Answer: Conduit for non-deductible contributions
February 8, 2011, 7:27 amQuestion: What do you call a situation when an independent organization that is not tax-exempt wants a church to process gifts so donors get a tax-deductible receipt?
2 Comments | Non-profit Tax | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
Did you know churches are underregulated?
February 7, 2011, 7:22 amPerception is reality – I really dislike that statement since it excuses people from trying to understand things they don’t understand, but then that is just my perception (yes, the last phrase is a joke!).
God knows, an article in The Economist, shows us the magazine’s perception of the church community. Their perception is likely to be representative of many people. Read the rest of this entry »
2 Comments | Other stuff | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
Perceptions of churches
February 5, 2011, 9:21 amWe need to understand the perception of the church world by people outside our communities. Particularly important to consider now are the perceptions of those with regulatory power. The report from Sen. Charles Grassley’s staff of the Senate Finance Committee has opened up discussion of expanded regulation and oversight of churches.
Leave a Comment » | Other stuff | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
CPE class on SSARS, written by Jim Ulvog – arriving soon!
February 4, 2011, 3:50 pmI have written an on-line CPE course on SSARS called Compilation and Review: Practice Issues. It is a 3 hour course covering a variety of practice issues for CPAs providing comps and reviews. It is written at the overview level.
Arriving soon at the CCH Learning Center. When it is available on-line, I’ll give more detail and a link to the course.
I wrote the course in a little more casual voice that you might expect to see in a technical class, but not quite as casual as you see on this blog. If you enjoy the style of writing you see here, you might enjoy the online CPE.
More detail to follow!
Update: 3-hour online CPE course called Compilation and Review: Practice Issues (Third Edition) is now available at the CCH Learning Center website. Course discussed in more detail at this post.
Leave a Comment » | Compilation and review | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
What to analyze in the giving patterns at your church
February 4, 2011, 11:40 amTwo great articles on how to analyze the giving data for your church by Chris Gartman of PSK at their blog, Faith-Based Accounting.
The software you use for recording contributions by donor should be able to give you some great data. What can you learn from that information?
Leave a Comment » | Non-profit giving trends | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog
