Category

CPA

Mar 13
0

Employee Policies Your Nonprofit Can’t Live Without

By | Accounting, CPA, HR, Nonprofit | No Comments

Every nonprofit should have an employee handbook. An employee handbook provides objective guidelines for many areas governing the conduct of employees and the smooth operations of the organization. Even if the organization has just a handful of employees, an employee handbook is necessary.

But it’s not enough to draft a handbook and leave it at that. Employee policies must be shared with your team. Reminders are often necessary. And, like it or not, reinforcement is critical. Without reinforcement, employee policies are meaningless.

10 Items to Include in Your Employee Handbook

The SBA recommends including the following topics in an employee handbook:

  1. Disclaimers: Disclaimers generally appear at the beginning of the handbook and define the basic terms of the employee- employer relationship. It includes a statement that the handbook may be updated and changed at any time. It also defines what is called an ‘at will’ employee relationship, meaning that the organization may, at its discretion, terminate employment at will.
  2. Non-disclosure and conflict of interest statements: These protect the organization against employees sharing confidential information with external parties or competitors.
  3. Anti-discrimination policies: Anti-discrimination policies make it clear that you intend to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. These policies set forth the organization’s commitment to equality for all regardless of disability.
  4. Compensation: Salary, salary reviews, overtime hours, and other compensation should be clearly outlined in the compensation portion of the handbook.
  5. Gift policies: If your organization does not allow employees to receive gifts from members or donors, include this information as well.
  6. Work schedules: Office hours, days that the office is closed for holidays, and other information pertinent to work schedules can be included too.
  7. Vacation and sick time: List the amount of vacation and sick time available to employees. Include information on how additional time accrues, if any, and how employees should call in sick or request paid leave.
  8. Health and safety: Employees should know how to report health and safety violations and problems. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration provides more information on compliance with relevant health and safety laws.

In addition to what the SBA recommends, there are some additional policies that you may wish to add:

  1. Drug and alcohol policies: Drug and alcohol screening may be part of your workplace. You should also state clearly your organization’s no-tolerance policy for alcohol or drug use on the job and include information on how to report violations. Particularly considering I-502, which legalizes recreational use of marijuana in Washington State, it is crucial that you clearly define expectations with respect to drug/alcohol use on the job. To enforce any drug policy, you should also identify what types of testing will be conducted: 1) pre-employment; 2) reasonable suspicion; 3) post-accident; or 4) random.
  2. Anti-harassment policy: Define what constitutes unlawful harassment and discrimination, and identify all protected categories under federal, state and local law. Identify the person to whom such complaints should be brought and how they will be investigated. Make sure to specify that retaliation will not be tolerated.

Many organizations create an employee handbook that lacks some important policies. Be sure that your nonprofit includes drug and alcohol policies, anti-harassment policies, anti-discrimination information, and the all-important disclaimer. This information both complies with the law and is vital for safeguarding your nonprofit and employees.

An employee handbook may not seem all that important if you have just a few employees, but it’s just as important with two employees as it is with 200. Be sure to update your employee handbook as necessary, share it with your employees, and use it as a valuable resource to guide employment practices at your nonprofit.

Welter Consulting

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

Jan 16
0

Getting Your Staff Ready for the Annual Audit

By | Accounting, Audit, CPA, Nonprofit | No Comments

As the manager of a nonprofit organization, you’re probably all-too familiar with the paperwork aspect of the annual nonprofit audit. Documents must be managed, maintained, and updated, and everything prepared for the auditors.

There’s a second part of managing the audit process that’s equally as important: managing the people who are part of the audit. To help you with this aspect of auditing, we’ve put together the following tips.

Schedules

  • Make sure you schedule the audit well in advance of any deadlines. Be sure to set aside enough time for your staff so that they can be available to assist the auditors in any way necessary.
  • Contact the auditing firm and confirm that the dates for the audit are available. Auditors’ schedules may be booked months in advance. Be sure to confirm again the week prior to the scheduled audit to ensure nothing has slipped through the cracks.
  • When scheduling your audit, offer three days and times that work for all. Allow the auditors to choose the one that works best for them.
  • Clear calendars to make sure no offsite or other meetings will interfere with the audit schedule.

Logistics

  • Provide a clean, private, well-lit workspace for the auditors to use while they are at your company.
  • Create the necessary computer and WIFI access in advance so it is ready for the auditors immediately.
  • Ensure that a telephone line is also available for the auditors.
  • If parking spaces are reserved at your building, make sure you take the necessary steps to secure parking spots for the auditors.
  • Provide them with directions on how to get to your building.

Communications

  • Inform the internal staff that an audit is taking place. Reassure them that it is both a necessary and beneficial aspect of nonprofit management – it’s not like a personal IRS audit, but more of a consultation to ensure that your nonprofit is operating correctly.
  • Make sure that staff understands they can’t use conference rooms or other workspaces that the auditors are using during the week.
  • Ask staff not to interrupt the auditors while they are working.

Following Up on the Audit

Once the audit is over, it will take your firm several weeks to prepare the materials and provide them to you. Take time to review them and discuss the findings with the auditors. The final report can then be presented to your Board of Directors.

As a final step, share the audit with your entire team. Although not required as part of a nonprofit audit, the more information that you can share with your staff, the better they will understand what’s going on within the organization as a whole. They’ll feel invested in the outcomes and better informed about the financial aspects of the organization. The more information they have, the better they can do their jobs.

Preparing for an audit can be stressful, but if you’re organized and take the appropriate steps, you can ensure that the entire audit process from start to finish goes smoothly. Both your auditors and your Board will thank you for the extra effort made to ensure a streamlined process.

Welter Consulting offers auditing as one of our core services for nonprofits. Our experience encompasses audits, consulting, software selection and more for the nonprofit industry. Please contact Welter Consulting at 206-605-3113 for an appointment.

Jan 09
0

What CPAs Can Learn from the Government’s 10-K

By | CPA, Government, Nonprofit | No Comments

Business entities must provide 10-Ks to their shareholders to report income and losses. Why not the federal government? The government does indeed provide an annual 10K to their shareholders – we, the people of the United States, whose taxes fund the government. The annual 10K of the United States is called the Financial Report of the United States, and while it’s a lengthy tome, it’s filled with useful information.

The primary focus of the report is on the government’s spending patterns for the year, but it also provides insights about trends that potentially affect the nation’s future. CPAs play an important role in establishing the policies of their companies, as well as within their communities. Understanding the trends and other information from the federal government can help you predict and respond to potential trends to protect the best interests of your clients and others.

The report contains findings from 150 departments within the Federal government, excluding the Federal Reserve System, which produces reports separately. The U.S. Government Office of Accountability and the Treasury typically release their findings within five months of the conclusion and release of this report.

Within the report, CPAs can find typical accrual-based reporting of financial statements with supporting information as well as nontraditional sustainability financial statement. Traditional accrual reports will seem familiar to most accountants since this is the typical reporting style used by companies. The outlier is the nontraditional reports, which is a unique feature of the federal government’s reporting system. These reports contain information, projections, and a discussion of the program in question.

Balance sheets, financial statements, total spending, and other documents will be very familiar to accountants and easy to understand. Learning the specific language of unique federal documents can be time-consuming, but the government produces an eight-page Citizens Guide along with the document that includes highlights in layman’s language. Although your specialized knowledge and training will help you decipher the 200+ reports in the document, the Citizen’s Guide may come in handy.

Another publication that you may find useful is called What’s at Stake? The CPA Profession on Fiscal Responsibility. This publication also includes information on how the federal document impacts CPAs.

So what might a CPA glean from these lengthy documents? Look for the following information to help you in your quest to manage your organization’s finances:

  • Spending trends, either up or down, in departments that impact your organization directly or peripherally.
  • Historic and current spending, and how it may affect the overall economy. An economic slowdown will impact your business in one way, improved productivity in another. Trend graphs make this section easy to understand.
  • How federal spending may impact the unique industry that your business or organization works in.

CPAs can be the translator for complex federal language to help those within their organizations understand the big picture of national finance. With so much taxpayer money at stake, it pays to be cognizant of federal spending and its impact upon your industry.

Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. Your accounting software is an important component of the changeover from the older 1993 regulations to the new rollout. We can help you with the change and more.

Please contact Welter Consulting at 206-605-3113.