Back Office Accounting Services

All nonprofits are required by the Federal and State governments to keep good books and file a version of IRS Form 990. This year, many of us are facing a much more challenging Form 990. As one colleague said recently, "a government committee worked long and hard to make it longer and harder".

The changes in the 990 will make filing more costly in your own time and in accountants’ fees.

Some accounting firms will limit the size and/or number of nonprofit audits they perform.

ECCF is developing an initiative to help streamline and limit the rising costs of bookkeeping, audit, and filings while recognizing the organizations that do a good job in those activities.

A group of Essex County accounting firms with large nonprofit practices is developing some guidelines that will help you cut costs and ease the burdens of financial management and reporting. You may wish to discuss these with your own accountant. All are welcome to adopt these guidelines.

• Save money on your audit by having it done in the summer or fall when the accounting firms are not as busy. You don’t need to change your fiscal year, just file for a simple extension of the IRS deadline and then do your work as usual.
  
  
• Make your bookkeeping easier by joining the transition to Quickbooks for Nonprofits and adopting a standard chart of accounts that is being developed by the bookkeeping and accounting firms. Your staff can train in Quickbooks inexpensively with nonprofit peers in ECCF-sponsored classes and your records will be in a form most familiar to your accountants.
  
  
• Learn best practices and get better service by joining an ECCF-sponsored group of organizations like yours working with a shared accounting firm that will be expert in your particular field.
  
  

We all know that our donors want us to be both efficient and in proper compliance. If you wish, your community foundation will endorse your participation in these quality-improvement activities so your donors can be reassured that you are doing your administrative work expertly and efficiently.

Development of these services is underway. Please e-mail us if you have any suggestions.