Category

Nonprofit

May 11
0

Three Potential Fraud Risks–And How to Prevent Them

By | Fraud, Nonprofit | No Comments

When many nonprofits were forced to adjust to the new business climate created by the global pandemic, few considered that with the abrupt changes came an increased risk of fraud. As nonprofits worked hard to keep their doors open and find new ways to serve their constituents, raise funds, and conduct business, new areas of risk also opened for many nonprofits.

According to Accounting Today, the risk of fraud greatly increased during the pandemic. In May of 2020, 68% of investigators said they were seeing a rise in fraud. By August, that number had increased to 77%.

The types of fraud varied. Some saw a rise in insurance fraud, while others noted employee embezzlement or intentional fraud connected to financial statements.

Here, we’ll cover three areas of business that, with the changes created by the pandemic, may have opened your organization to additional risk. If you take steps now, you may be able to prevent problems before they arise.

Internal Risk

Many nonprofits relaxed their internal controls as their employees shifted to telecommuting. Employees who wouldn’t dream of stealing from the organization while they were at work may be tempted by an “out of sight, out of mind” attitude by working from home. Sadly, employees may be struggling with financial strain if a family member lost their job or bills are mounting. These circumstances can tempt even the most honest person to conduct fraud.

Circumstances may also have opened the door for employee theft. What used to require a physical signature may now be approved via the computer. Limits on how much an employee could sign checks for may have been changed.

To prevent employee theft and fraud, now is a great time to revisit your organization’s internal controls. Review your policies and decide which controls may be returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Check in with your employees. It helps prevent the “out of sight, out of mind” attitude if employees feel connected to their managers and colleagues. It also lets them know you care and, if they are struggling, they may feel comfortable enough to share it with you. Then, you can choose to help them if possible.

Procurement Fraud

If your nonprofit purchases supplies of any type, you should consider the potential risk of procurement fraud. Procurement fraud can occur in many situations. A new vendor may request payment in advance or partial payment in cash, then skip town without delivering the order. Or they may shortchange an order, pocket the difference between what was ordered and what was delivered, and count on the fact you have fewer than normal people working on site to catch the difference.

To combat procurement fraud, it’s important to continue performing due diligence with any new vendors. Be sure to physically review all supply orders and compare purchase orders with invoices to make sure everything that was ordered was delivered on time.

Cyber Fraud

Lastly, with the changes created by the pandemic, the risk of cyber fraud may be increased. Many nonprofits had to make do with existing technology to enable employees to work from home. This led to employees using their own devices and potentially using unsecured WiFi. Both can open the door for trojans, viruses, malware, and ransomware.

If your organization rushed into telecommuting, now is the time to take a step back and look at the technology you’re using. Does it support secure remote access? Cloud-based systems offer enhanced security features as well as easy remote access and may be an ideal solution for nonprofits who wish to continue to allow telecommuting.

Some cybercrimes can be prevented through increased awareness and vigilance. Consider adding additional training for your staff so they can recognize phishing emails and similar schemes to gain access to your organization’s systems.

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.

 

 

May 04
0

Auditing Challenges: No Clear Answers for an Unusual Year

By | Audit, Nonprofit | No Comments

The typical auditing process is both an art and a science. Auditors must use their judgment but base their judgments upon generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP), nonprofit accounting rules, IRS requirements, and so on.

But this year, the typical nonprofit audit is anything but typical. Nonprofits in a variety of fields are wrestling with key questions, and auditors are finding their skills taxed to the max.

If your nonprofit is also struggling with its audit this year, here are a few tips to keep in mind to deal with auditing challenges.

Communicate Clearly With Auditors

Few nonprofits had warning that 2020 would be anything but business as usual. With the sudden disruption in everything from fundraising to delivery of their programs, nonprofits experienced anything but the typical year.

Your auditors know that the past year was challenging. What they don’t know is how you coped with it. Your job is to communicate clearly with the auditors working with your organization. They should be apprised of all decisions that impacted finances, from canceling the annual charity gala to hosting a silent auction online.

The board charged with oversight and governance of your organization should meet and review changes to financial plans from the past year. Then, they may need to meet with the auditors to discuss all the ramifications of these changed plans.

Remote Audits Pose Additional Challenges

Many auditors are conducting remote audits this year, either a full remote audit or a portion of the audit. Be sure to organize your documents to save time for the auditors. Ask your staff to set aside time as needed for the audit. They should be as ready to answer an auditor’s questions by phone, text, or instant message as they would be if the auditors were on site and able to drop into their office to ask a quick question.

Risks of Mis-Categorization Increase

Because so much of the work environment has changed in the past year, there is an increased risk of material misstatement. Revenues, services, programs, and fundraising activities may have changed due to the pandemic.

Speak with your auditors and discuss any changes that may be impacting your organization. For example, if a negative income statement will impact your ability to receive grant funds, tell the auditors. Your auditors can guide you through the ramifications of each decision so that you understand the potential outcome of the audit.

Use Technology to Your Advantage

Nonprofit accounting software can be of great help with remote audits. Whole ledger analysis (if available) in your software can help your auditor identify potential risks. Such technology may be able to spot various abnormalities, including transactions that occur outside of normal working hours, a pattern of transactions just under the threshold of management approval, and so on. Using technology as an additional set of eyes on the general ledger can be a huge help to nonprofits.

Review Internal Controls

Another ramification of an unusual business year is, unfortunately, an increased risk of fraud and theft. This is a good time to revisit your nonprofit’s internal controls. Many organizations adapted their internal controls to accommodate telecommuting, but with such adaptations comes increased risk. For example, approvals that used to require a physical signature may now be allowed through the accounting system.

Work with your auditors to review how and when internal controls changed. They may advise you to return to stricter controls or at least return some to pre-pandemic levels. They can also review transactions and ensure that any abnormalities are investigated promptly.

Here’s to a Successful Audit!

Nonprofits adjusted rapidly to the restrictions placed on their activities during the pandemic. Such adjustments, however, do carry consequences and risks. Working together with your auditors, your board and management team can continue to adapt and adjust so that your audited financials tell the complete story of just how your organization weathered the unusual pandemic year.

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 27
0

Tips to Prevent Cyber Crime at Your Nonprofit

By | cyber security, Nonprofit | No Comments

According to Fintech News, cybersecurity attacks have increased 80% over the past year. If you think only big companies or for-profit companies have to worry about cybercrime, think again. Criminals often target nonprofit organizations because they know that many lack the internal IT resources to prevent an attack.

Don’t fall victim to a cybercriminal. Here’s what you need to know to stay protected.

Know the Risks, Upgrade Your Defenses

In order to protect against cyber-attacks, it’s important to know where the potential risks lie in your organization. Common ways in which criminals attack computer systems include:

  1. Unsecured WiFi: Your office WiFi may have strong password protection, but if you allow employees to telecommute, their systems may be open to attack. During the pandemic, many nonprofit organizations allowed their employees to work from home. Some employees have secure networks but not all do. An unsecured WiFi network or one with a weak password is ripe for the picking by cybercriminals who can easily grab valuable passwords and data.
  2. Phishing emails: Phishing emails are disguised to look like they come from a reputable company such as your bank or credit card company. However, when you click on the link, they direct you to a site that captures your login information.
  3. Phishing phone calls: A new angle on the phishing email is the phishing phone call. In this instance, a caller contacts an assistant, usually an executive or administrative assistant, claiming to be from a reputable company and asking for the CEO or another chief executives’ login information. Many assistants have such information handy, especially if they respond to emails or schedule meetings on behalf of an executive. If this sensitive information is given out, the thieves use it to access critical systems.
  4. Trojans, spyware, and malware: Trojans, spyware, and malware can infect a computer just by casually browsing an infected website or accidentally clicking an infected link. They can then be passed along unintendedly to other computers, enabling hackers to access systems or hold data for ransom.
  5. Failing to update software: Software patches, plugin updates on WordPress websites, and similar updates aren’t nuisances. Companies release them to patch known problems in the coding. Failing to update software is like leaving the key under the doormat and hoping a burglar won’t think to look there.

Even if your organization is small, you can still take steps to prevent an attack from any of these areas.

5 Ways to Protect Your Organization’s Data

You don’t need an army of cybersecurity experts to protect your organization’s system. Most nonprofits can take the following steps on their own to greatly lower their risk of cybersecurity issues.

  1. Upgrade security software: Invest in better security software and take the time to update it when prompted by the manufacturer.
  2. Upgrade hardware and software: Older computers and software are more easily hacked than newer products. Set aside budget for updates to your hardware and software each year.
  3. Avoid donated hardware: Although donated computers may be a nice gift, unless you know the donor and can have a security expert wipe them clean, avoid using donated equipment.
  4. Use strong passwords: Insist that all employees use strong passwords, and make sure everyone changes their passwords monthly. Strong passwords typically consist of random arrangements of lowercase and capital letters, numbers, and symbols.
  5. Train your employees: Many cybercrimes occur due to employee mistakes, such as using weak passwords or falling for a phishing scam. Teach your team what to look for to spot phishing emails; misspelled words, blurry logos, company URLs that don’t look quite right. When in doubt, close the email and open up a separate browser to log in and check for messages. Training is often enough to prevent many cybercrimes.

Nonprofit organizations have fewer resources to combat cybercrimes. But that doesn’t mean they can’t take steps to prevent crime. Just as even the poorest homes have locks on the doors to keep thieves out, you can put virtual “locks” on your data.

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 20
0

Critical Issues Facing Nonprofit Boards

By | Accounting, Nonprofit | No Comments

Nonprofit boards have duties of care, loyalty, and obedience (or trust) to their organizations. How these duties are carried out may depend upon the organization and the work that the board completes, but it almost always spans important areas such as compliance and governance. The following critical issues facing nonprofit boards are sometimes overlooked in the wake of the COVID pandemic, but all are important to the long-term success of an organization.

Tax, Accounting, and Financial Compliance Issues

Even though nonprofits may have tax-exempt status, tax issues are still something that nonprofit boards must be knowledgeable about in order to manage effectively. Boards must be aware of:

  1. Unrelated business income tax: This is a tax imposed on a nonprofit that is not related to the nonprofit’s primary revenue-generating purpose. Boards must be aware of these activities and ensure that positions are well-documented.
  2. Worker classification: A critical compliance issue for nonprofits is the proper designation between employees and independent contractors. Under-counting employees by hiring (and treating) independent contractors as if they were employees can be a significant issue for nonprofits.
  3. Executive compensation: Executive compensation remains a hot-button issue for the public, and one that should be kept in mind by nonprofit boards as they review salary and compensation packages for executives.
  4. Financial reporting: boards are responsible for understanding the organization’s mission and ensuring that the organization’s funds are used appropriately. This means that, at a high level, funds are used to support the organization’s mission. Members must take the time to review financial information and understand the financial ramifications of major decisions.
  5. Clear documentation: Lastly, boards must note anywhere that audited financial statements are shared such as GuideStar and Charity Navigator. They should take care to add any financial disclosures or additional information that may be needed and to alert auditors of any known issues or needs pertaining to financial disclosures.
  6. Revenue recognition: FASB ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), and ASU 2018-08, Clarifying the Scope and the Accounting Guidance for Contributions Received and Contributions Made, effective in 2018, should be reviewed by boards and understood to ensure consistent and careful compliance.

Nonprofit Governance Issues

Boards also must exercise a duty of care for governance issues. Some issues that may occur include:

  1. Conflicts of interest: Both perceived and actual conflicts of interest should be taken seriously and addressed. Perceived conflicts of interest can be just as harmful as actual ones, and may tarnish a nonprofit’s reputation and goodwill with the public.
  2. Form 990: IRS Form 990 poses good questions that the board members should consider when thinking about governance issues. It’s a useful document to help the board remember important governance issues.
  3. Strategy: Nonprofit boards are key drivers of organizational strategy. It is incumbent upon the board to work with chief executives to develop and drive the strategy and messaging for the organization. To do so ensures continuity of mission and message and helps position an organization effectively.

How Healthy Is Your Board?

Having a seat on a nonprofit board is an honor, but it is also a lot of hard work. Understanding the nonprofit environment, basic accounting and financial information, ensuring the bylaws and rules regarding the nonprofit’s operations and management are followed, and working with key staff members to position the organization for strong and steady growth is the equivalent of a full-time job.

But for board members who believe in the organization’s mission, it is a labor of love. How does your nonprofit board measure up?

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.