CNN is looking at GIK valuation issues

July 31, 2012, 10:12 pm

The investigative team for AC360 at CNN is working on a series of reports discussing charities.  The series appears to have been focusing on some unpleasant things going on in the world of fundraisers.

Last week Anderson Cooper’s team started looking at the valuation issue of GIKs. Their report can be found here:  Charities accused of overvaluing donations.

Check out the report if you are interested in GIK valuation issues.

They have invoices used by SPCA International for a large volume of medicines that were sent to an animal welfare organization in Nepal. They also have the invoice used for customs clearance. The income recognized on the books is $816,324 and the customs value is $2,500.

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3 Comments | GIK - gift-in-kind valuation | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Warnings for administrators of 401(k) or 403(b) plans

July 30, 2012, 7:24 am

Here are two questions for administrators of NPO retirement plans from Emma Kong at the Mission: Accountable blog.

Check out her post, Hidden Rules of the 401(d) and 403(b), for the answers to these questions:

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Leave a Comment » | Non-profit Tax | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Working draft of the NPO audit and accounting guide expected in August

July 26, 2012, 7:29 am

The 7-26-12 edition of CPA Letter Daily says a working draft is expected soon:

The AICPA’s Financial Reporting Executive Committee is expected to issue a working draft of the accounting content of a proposed Audit and Accounting Guide, Not-for-Profit Entities, on Aug. 15

If you work in the financial area of the NPO world, this would be something to watch for. The revised guide has been in development for a number of years.

Leave a Comment » | Auditing, Non-profit accounting | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Is there anything more to ethics than just avoiding criminal behavior?

July 19, 2012, 9:03 am

Consider this ethics case study: 

You work at a company that processes low-level radioactive waste from hospitals. Everyone knows your company is in serious financial trouble. Your manager tells you to start dumping truckloads of unprocessed waste material on the school playgrounds in your community. Just one truckload per school per month– your boss says that’s not enough to make anyone sick. What is the ethical thing to do? Develop and explain a range of options, choose one, and defend your choice.

While melodramatic, that case study is only a slight exaggeration from the case studies I recall from my long-ago ethics class in grad school. If memory serves, we had one class that was half marketing and half business ethics. The case studies, as I recall, were primarily dramatic overstatements with a painfully obvious correct answer. Those that weren’t extremely obvious had several choices, all of which were it-feels-good options with minimal ethical distinctions.

Melodrama does not really teach ethics. Neither does mush.

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Posted by Jim Ulvog

Publicly available price list that validates prices listed in International Drug Price Indicator Guide

July 9, 2012, 9:35 am

This post will have some inside-baseball info for those who are following the issue of how to value donated medicines that has been underway in the NPO and audit communities.

I came across a publicly available price list from a vendor, action medeor, that provides prices for a large range of medicines.

Since there is a behind-the-scenes debate whether the International Drug Price Indicator Guide (IDPIG) has any valid or relevant data in it, I decided to compare the public price list to the amounts listed in the IDPIG.

What did I find?

Prices in the IDPIG are very close to the price list.

I looked at four medicines: 200 mg albendazole and 100 mg mebendazole along with 250 mg and 500 mg ciprofloxacin. These are meds visible in the current conversations on valuing donated medicine.

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2 Comments | GIK - gift-in-kind valuation, Non-profit accounting | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Try a new thing three times before you decide whether you like it

July 4, 2012, 7:51 am

Try a thing you haven’t done three times.

Once, to get over the fear of doing it.

Twice, to learn how to do it.

And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not. 

Multiple internet sites attribute this to Virgil Thomson, American composer.

I’ve been pondering that quote over the last week or so. Lots of wisdom there. Doesn’t apply to everything, but it has lots of value for many situations, especially when dealing with radical change.

(cross-post from my other blog, Outrun Change.)

Leave a Comment » | Pondering | Permalink
Posted by Jim Ulvog

Comments on GIK valuation from AICPA conference. Also, what is the core issue on valuing mebendazole?

July 2, 2012, 10:03 am

Caroline Preston has some discussion from the AICPA’s NPO conference in DC last month in her article Charities Continue Debate on How to Value Deworming Drugs. (The article is behind a paywall.)

Her article has a summary of the comments by AmeriCares’ Senior VP of Finance and World Vision’s CFO.

If you are following the deworming issue in the NPO community, you may want to read the full article.

The core issue

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Posted by Jim Ulvog

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