Nonprofit finance, accounting, and tax news. Other tidbits of interest to the charity community.
My post today will have lots of accounting shorthand. This week’s print edition of the Chronicle of Philanthropy has a major article by Suzanne Perry on allocation of joint costs – Watchdog Cracks Down on Misleading Statements on Fundraising Costs.
Article is not yet visible on their website.
I have two observations.
“Tragedy of Fraud – The Ripple Effects from Fraud and the Wages Earned” describes the tragic consequences from fraud.
There are ripple effects that spread out to harm innocent bystanders. The perpetrator draws a wide range of well-deserved wages that will be paid in full.
The book looks at two fraud incidents to learn what happens after a fraud is discovered. One took place in a local megachurch and the other in the mayor’s office of a small city.
The book closes with a discussion of the fraud triangle. That’s the idea that three components need to be present for a fraud to take place – opportunity, motivation, and rationalization. There are steps an organization can take to reduce those factors.
You can find the book at Amazon here.
This book is a compilation of blogs posts that have been previously published at Nonprofit Update and Attestation Update. The posts have been edited slightly and reorganized for easier reading.
Major sections of the book: (more…)
I’m working on publishing my next book at Amazon. Have the editing and formatting done. Getting it into the Kindle system this evening.
The title is Tragedy of Fraud – The Ripple Effects from Fraud and the Wages Earned.
Hope to have it available Wednesday or Thursday.
If you are researching a tax question for a church or other faith-based ministry, you really should add the MinistryCPA blog to your list of resources.
Professor Corey Pfaffe has lots of great questions with short, clear answers.
Here are a just a few posts from the last few months you might find helpful: (more…)
There are three different levels of services you could obtain from a certified public accountant. These are referred to as compilation, review, and audit.
Financial statements are presented on the basis of some set of accounting rules. This is referred to as the financial reporting framework.
The vast majority of the time, this would be a large body of knowledge that is called generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. Imperfect in implementation though it may be, the concept is that similar transactions will be recorded by all organizations in the same way. In addition, financial statements of similar organizations will actually look similar.
If there is some unique reason to do so, the financial statements could be presented on another basis of accounting.
Compilation
Tragedy of Fraud – The Ripple Effects from Fraud and the Wages Earned will be released soon in Kindle format. This is a compilation of blog posts about the damage caused by fraud. It will also discuss the fraud triangle.
The sections of the book are: (more…)
Previous post here suggesting using a blog as a website if the needs for a website are very simple.
Cost
The costs are surprisingly low. Apart from the time needed to learn the software and set up the blog, here are the likely costs: (more…)
I dislike the way many people try to apologize today. The typical “I’m sorry if you were offended” is not an apology. Not even close.
Here is a superb illustration of the right way to apologize. Check out Via Meadia Blew It.
I missed the original issue, but apparently a Via Meadia post unjustly insulted another journalist. Look at the first part of the key apology paragraph:
If you only need a simple website, think about setting it up using blog software to save time and cost.
Why?
I am pleased to report that my firm received a pass rating on the peer review which was performed in November 2012.
The peer review program is a process the CPA profession has developed to look at the quality of audit and other attestation work performed by CPAs. Firms are inspected by other firms to evaluate compliance with various professional standards.
I recently enjoyed the 1968 version of The Producers. Wonderful stuff. Lots of laugh lines I’d forgotten about since I watched it last.
While watching, I realized there was a great illustration of a fraud triangle developed in about 5 minutes or so. For an edifying, educational exercise, let’s review the sequence to illustrate the concept of fraud triangles.
Check out the web address www.senatorfeinstein.com. The address forwards to a blog.
You would think the blog is related to the senator from California, right?
Not so fast.
After a break for the holidays, valuation of GIKs are back in the news.
William P. Barrett reports in Forbes that a Charity Eyes Quarter-Billion-Dollar Write-Down in Value Of Goods Handled.
He indicates the president of Operations Compassion has said they are reviewing their 990s for the last 4 years and expect to reduce the recorded amounts of GIKs.
The estimate of the write-down is between $200 million and $250 million.
There are so many fascinating industries in the economy. Why do so many of my posts talk about banking?
Why do I have so many blogs?
And where will I put future conversation on banking?
My experience with financial institutions
Here are three posts from my other blog, Outrun Change, looking at some implications of the rapid technology change taking place around us.
New technology is very cool, yet we need to ponder the implications: