Audit-ready books
Clean records and reconciliations all year long, with the schedules and support your auditors ask for — so audit season isn't a scramble.
Industries · Nonprofits
Accounting for nonprofits that holds up at audit and board review
Your mission deserves books you can stand behind. I keep your financials clean, accurate, and audit-ready, and deliver monthly reporting your board and your funders can rely on — so you can stay focused on the work that matters.
Nonprofit accounting isn't just bookkeeping with different account names. Restricted funds have to be tracked and released correctly, grant spending has to be reported the way each funder asked for it, shared costs have to be allocated across programs, and your board needs to know whether the organization has enough reserve to absorb a late payment or a lost grant. That's the work.
What nonprofits need
Financials you can stand behind
Restricted vs. unrestricted clarity
Net assets tracked with and without donor restriction, with releases recorded as restrictions are met — so you always know what's actually available to spend.
Grant tracking & reporting
Budget-to-actual by grant, on each funder's schedule and in each funder's format — not reconstructed from memory the week a report is due.
Functional expense allocation
Costs allocated across program, management and general, and fundraising on a consistent, documented basis — the numbers your audit, your 990 preparer, and your funders all work from.
Reserves & cash runway
How many months of operating expenses you're actually holding, what's board-designated, and how long your cash lasts if a payment slips.
Board-level reporting
Monthly statements plus budget-to-actual your board can read, understand, and act on — without needing an accountant to interpret them.
Grant reporting that matches what the funder asked for
Every funder wants something a little different, and the reporting burden usually lands on the executive director at the worst possible moment. I keep grant activity tracked as it happens, so reports are a printout rather than a reconstruction:
- Budget-to-actual by grant, program, and funder
- Restricted revenue recorded and released as restrictions are met
- Shared and personnel costs allocated to grants on a consistent, documented basis
- Spend-down tracking, so unspent award balances don't surprise you near the end of a grant period
- A reporting calendar built around each funder's deadlines
- Documentation and audit trail behind every figure you report
If you hold federal awards, I can also help you think through indirect cost recovery and what your auditors will expect if your federal spending crosses the Single Audit threshold.
Reserves, cash, and the questions boards ask
Most board conversations come down to a few questions. You should be able to answer them from the monthly reporting package, not from a special analysis:
- How many months of operating expenses do we have in reserve?
- How much of our cash is actually unrestricted?
- What does cash look like over the next six months if a grant payment is late?
- Are we on budget for the year, and where are we off?
- What does each program actually cost to run?
Need a full budget or a multi-year forecast built from scratch? That's Fractional CFO work, available separately.
How I help
- Comprehensive monthly financial statements
- Support for grant/fund accounting and board-level financial reporting
- Functional expense allocation and restricted net asset tracking
- Monthly close, account reconciliations, and journal entries (bill pay and invoicing with the Strategic Partner plan)
- Fund and grant tracking set up in your accounting system, not in a side spreadsheet
- Audit preparation and coordination with your auditors
- Schedules and support for whoever prepares your Form 990
- Regular advisory check-ins, plus year-round access to your CPA
Tax preparation — including the Form 990 — and payroll processing aren't included, though I'm glad to coordinate with your preparer or provider.
Relevant experience
- Nonprofit audits at CohnReznickI know what auditors look for — and how to build books that hold up under scrutiny.
- Nonprofit board memberI serve on the board of a wildlife conservation nonprofit, so I've read these reports from the board side of the table too.
- Tax credit and restricted funding workAudit experience with tax credit funds and real estate entities — complex, restricted money with strings attached.
Let's talk about your organization
A short discovery call — no pressure, no obligation — to see whether my services make sense for where you are.