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Abila

Jul 17
0

Challenges and Solutions for Allocating Indirect Costs

By | Abila, Accounting, Audit, Grant Management, MIP Fund Accounting, Nonprofit | No Comments

Accurate nonprofit financial reporting relies upon proper allocation of indirect costs. Indirect costs can be challenging to place properly, but once they are, they can make a significant impact on your overall budget. More importantly, they add an extra dimension to all reports reviewed by your Board and executive team and can help with budgeting, staffing, and other critical decisions.

Classifying Expenses

Although nonprofits may have multiple expense categories, many expenses actually fall into one of three simple classifications. These include:

  1. Administration: Management and General Administration
  2. Programs: Any programs that support the organization’s mission
  3. Fundraising: The cost of raising funds

Your organization may call them by different names, but upon closer examination, the major expense categories should fit into these areas. Those expenses which can be identified as belonging to one of these three categories can be quickly allocated. Others, however, fall into more of a gray area which cannot be identified with a specific program or budgeting category.

Indirect Cost Allocation and Its Effects

Indirect cost allocation impacts many areas of your organization. It impacts how donors view your organization, for example, by changing the way in which expenses are laid out in your financials. High administrative fees may be unacceptable to some donors.

Indirect costs also impact the budget for programs. If costs seem to be weighing heavily towards one area, that area may get more or less budget for upcoming years.

The allocation also impacts the final percentages that appear on Form 990 for each tax year. These are the numbers that are listed publicly and can impact the public’s view of your organization. Think carefully about how you apportion indirect costs as their ramifications can be long-lasting.

Coming Up with an Indirect Cost Allocation Method

Determining a fair and equitable indirect cost allocation method is a good solution to the problem of items that do not have an easy ‘home’ in your budget line. By examining the methods you have on file to share expenses, you can plan and allocate accordingly.

One method by which you can allocate indirect costs is to estimate what percentage belongs in each major budget line. Let’s assume that an administrative assistant works for both the donor relations and the program area. Which budget should contain his salary? If the assistant supports three people in donor relations and one in programs, then 75% of his salary budget can be allocated to donor relations and 25% to program areas.

Obviously, not every allocation will be this clean and easy. Square footage is one area that can get tricky. For instance, if you rent office space shared by multiple program and departmental areas, determining the percent of costs to be borne by each department can get complicated if many departments share the space. Sometimes, you just have to give it your best guess.

Consistency Is Key

The big thing to remember about allocation is that consistency is the key to successful indirect allocation. Whatever method you choose, put it in writing and file it in accounting and financial documents, plans, and budgets so that it is common knowledge. Then, apply the rules fairly and consistently to the budgeting process. It is this consistency of application that auditors look for to determine if an indirect allocation method is acceptable.

Indirect allocation is a common challenge in the world of nonprofit financial management. Fortunately, it’s one with a solution that makes sense and that can be rolled out fairly easily throughout your organization.

 

 

Apr 24
0

Encrypt an Email and Secure Your Gmail – Tips and Tricks for Email Communication

By | Abila, Accounting, CPA, Data, HR, MIP Fund Accounting, Nonprofit | No Comments

The greatest threat facing the CPA community isn’t legislation or competition. It’s security as it pertains to our technology. CPAs must be cognizant of the latest security measures to protect sensitive, confidential client data. Technology has made it easy to send information to clients with the touch of a button, but where does that information end up – and how long does it remain accessible?

Such considerations are no longer academic questions. Instead, they are essential to running a secure and confident CPA practice.

Email Encryption: Protecting Sensitive Communications

Emails are by far the biggest offender when it comes to potential data breaches. Most email systems aren’t sent using encryption. Because emails are automatically shared across multiple devices these days, your email lives on long after you attempt to retract or erase it. It’s almost impossible to completely erase all traces of an email from hard drives, backup servers, and the recipient’s servers and devices.

The best way to protect emailed information is through encryption. Encryption “locks” messages so that only the recipient can read them. The recipient’s software automatically unlocks the message so that it can be read. If some third-party swoops in and somehow accesses the email, it cannot read it.

To encrypt your email transmissions, you can use a service that includes encryption. Gmail and Outlook are both good, solid email programs that incorporate encryption into their programming. Both services also include cloud storage, spam filtering, and IMPAP/POP support.

The drawback to using these services is that they use their own extensions rather than your company’s extension address. To rectify this situation, you can important Gmail or Outlook messages into Outlook Desktop.

The steps include:

1. Turn on two-step verification: Go to google.com/landing/2step, click the Get Started button, and follow the steps to set up two-step verification. A code is texted to your smartphone, which you enter to verify the account.

2. From your Outlook 2010, 2013, or 2016 ribbon, select File, Add Account to launch the Auto Account Setup screen.

3. Enter your name, email address (Gmail or Hotmail/Outlook.com), and password, and then click Next.

4. Set up a Gmail alias with your company name:

a. Open your Gmail account.

b. Sign in.

c. Click the Settings gear in the top right corner.

d. Choose Settings.

e. Select from the horizontal menu the Accounts and Import tab, Import mail and contacts,

f. Enter the email address you want to use as a Gmail alias.

g. Enter the password, and if necessary, enter the Pop username and Pop server.

h. Click Continue.

i. Sign in to the account you added

j. Open the confirmation message you received from Gmail

k. Click the link in the email to confirm and establish the connection.

l. To complete the setup, change the From line to reflect your newly added alias email address. For more details on how to set up a Google email address alias, visit Google support.

The process to set up Outlook aliases is similar.

1. Open Outlook.com.

2. Click the Settings gear.

3. Select Options.

4. In the Options menu in the left menu pane, select Connected Accounts, Other email accounts.

5. Enter the alias email address and your email password then click OK.

Keep in mind that encryption through Gmail or Outlook only works if both sender and receiver are using the same service. In other words, your message is encrypted only if you are using Outlook and your client is also using Outlook. If only you are using Outlook or Gmail, messages are encrypted on your end, but not the client’s end.

If you’d prefer, a computer consultant can help you set up a secure, encrypted email system for your business. Or make it a rule that confidential information must be delivered in person or via snail mail, rather than through email. If you’d prefer that no one else see your message, a phone call or letter through traditional mail may be appropriate.

We live in an age where technology can make our businesses more productive and efficient. It can also compromise sensitive client data. Fortunately, a few steps are all that’s needed to secure your email information.

Welter Consulting

Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact Welter Consulting at 206-605-3113 for more information.

Apr 17
0

Could Your Data Be at Risk?

By | Abila, Accounting, Audit, CPA, Data, Grant Management, HR, MIP Fund Accounting, Nonprofit | No Comments

Could your nonprofit associations’ data be at risk? Even with good security, you may still find yourself in the unpleasant position of ransoming your data from an unscrupulous hacker.

New viruses such as the notorious “FBI” virus do not hijack your computer for their own nefarious purposes. Some viruses lock your computer down so that you cannot access any of its information. Instead, once you pay a fee – like a random in a kidnapping – the hijackers ‘release’ your computer.

If you think this can’t happen to you, think again. What used to be a threat to major targets such as large corporations or government organization is now a threat to anyone at any time. In fact, smaller nonprofits may be targeted more frequently than larger ones because small organizations do not have the means to fight back when they’re the victim of crime. Criminals such as data hijackers look for easy targets or organizations that do not have the financial resources to fight back. Any organization is at risk.

What Is Data Hijacking?

The best prevention against data hijacking is awareness. It’s important to understand what data hijacking looks like and how to prevent it from occurring.

Data hijacking occurs when a computer program called ‘malware’ enters your system. Malware means malicious software. A specific type of malware called “ransomware” enters your system through an infected email or computer virus. Most often, users inadvertently click an email link or download software containing the malicious program.

Ransomware installs on the end users’ computer and encrypts the data on the target computer so that it can no longer be read. The encryption is so sophisticated that only the operator of the program has the key that unlocks it. Hijackers demand payment for the data ‘key’ that un-encrypts or unlocks the data.

How Ransomware Gets Past Security

There are many ways in which data hijackers bypass your organization’s secure to target your computers. One common way is to clone an executive or CEO’s email address or LinkedIn profile. They then use the fake profile to send an email with a link to people in your company. They often target top executives but anyone can be targeted.

Once the link is clicked, it downloads the ransomware and locks the target computer. A message appears on the computer screen demanding payment to release the computer. Hijackers often request payment in bitcoin, an untraceable digital currency that’s easy to convert into cash.

Even after paying the ransom fee, there’s no guarantee your computer will be released. In some cases, the hijackers themselves are unable to decrypt the computers after payment is made to them. In other cases, the hijackers simply disappear with your money – and your data is lost forever.

Preventing Data Hijacking

The best way to combat data hijacking is through prevention. The following steps should be undertaken to protect against lost data from data hijacking:

1. Be vigilant when screening your emails. Do not click on links within emails unless your are absolutely certain it’s from a known sender. The same goes for attachments which can also harbor viruses and malware.

2. Keep your computer programs updated at all times. Patches and updates protect against various forms of malware, including ransomware.

3. Backup your data frequently. Store it on the cloud as well as in storage devices NOT connected to computers or the internet.

4. Use firewalls to segment company data. This way if part of your network is affected by ransomware, you may not lose all of it if some is protected behind a firewall.

5. Block pop ups and disable macros in key programs, which are often used to distribute malware.

If you suspect that your company’s cybersecurity has been breached and ransomware or malware has been launched, disconnect your computer from the internet as soon as possible. That may prevent the malware from downloading entirely or from infecting others.

Next, contact Welter Consulting. We can help you with both the immediate problem and creating a long-term strategy to protect against viruses, malware, and ransomware.

Welter Consulting

Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services to help you with your accounting needs. Please contact Welter Consulting at 206-605-3113 for more information.

Blog #4

Apr 10
0

New Standards Mean Changes to Disclosures and Financial Statements

By | Abila, Accounting, Audit, CPA, FASB, Grant Management, MIP Fund Accounting, Nonprofit | No Comments

In August 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-14. This document, entitled, “Presentation of Financial Statements for Not-for-Profit Entities” changed how information is presented in financial statements. The goal was to make information clear and easily understandable for the average person reading a nonprofit’s financial statements.

Areas that the new standards address include:

* Net asset restrictions: The previous categorization of net asset classifications confused many people, especially the term “unrestricted.” The new net asset restrictions bring the categories down from three to two to provide clarity.

* Liquidity: It was difficult under the old standard for people to see liquidity and compare liquidity amounts among various nonprofits.

* Cash flow: Previously, indirect reporting was required, but reviewers found that indirect reporting methods confused many people.

* Expenses: Not all nonprofits reported expenses the same way.

The Changes: Nothing New to Track, Simpler Reporting

The changes required by FASB for nonprofit accounting do not ask for any new information to be recorded or tracked. Instead, it simplifies the method of reporting and recording, streamlining it so that it is more consistent among nonprofits. This enables donors, members, and the public an easier way to compare nonprofit organizations and understand their finances.

The biggest changes are the net asset classifications, disclosure, and expense designation

1. Net asset classification: As previously stated, net asset classifications are changing from three previous potential classifications to two. The two new categories are net assets with donor restrictions and net assets without donor restrictions. Details about the categories are disclosed in the footnotes. The footnotes are expected to provide detail on the funds themselves and how they are apportioned.

2. Liquidity disclosure: On the liquidity disclosure, the new rules require that qualitative details communicate how the nonprofit manages the liquid resources available to meet its cash flow needs within a one year period. Quantitative information must also be provided about the resources available within one year. Additional information is required on the nature and type of liquid assets and any external limitations placed on them by grantors, donors, local laws, etc. Board limits must also be specified.

3. Expenses: Expenses must now be disclosed by natural and functional categories. The methods used to allocate costs must also be described.

The changes recommended by FASB aren’t a surprise, but are long in coming. The continual push to improve communications around financials for nonprofit entities is a welcome one that adds a layer of transparency to the nonprofit world that donors have been seeking.

If you’d like assistance meeting the new FASB requirements, speak with Welter Consulting today. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact Welter Consulting at 206-605-3113 for more information.