To help your organization prepare for year-end, here is a summary of projects to complete.
Budget
Budgeting for next year’s income and expenses can be a great tool in financial planning. It is a good idea to include the budget as an agenda item in your year-end meeting because your organization’s Board of Directors will want to review and approve the proposed budget.
Donor Recognition
Thank you notes to donors can be a formal contribution receipt for tax purposes or a simple note of appreciation for their continued support. To make sure all donors are included, complete a reconciliation between your donor database and general ledger. For non-cash donations, remember to simply thank the donor for the gift. Do not place a value for the amount received unless the donor gives you the receipt for amount paid.
Policy Review
It is good practice to review policies annually for any necessary updates due to staff turnover, a shift in programming, or changes in the external environment. One of these policies to review should be your Functional Expense Allocation policy. If your organization experienced turn over in key staff positions, this could mean that your expense allocation needs to be updated to reflect changes in responsibilities.
Inventory
A physical count of inventory items should be taken as close to year-end as possible. Account records should then be updated for any missing, broken, or obsolete items. If the count cannot be completed on the last day of the year, be sure to include any sales and purchases between the count date and the year-end date in your reconciliation.
Fixed Asset List
Year-end is a good time to make sure your fixed asset list includes all asset purchases, sales, and dispositions. Whether you maintain the list yourself or use an outside vender, an updated fixed asset list will allow you to accurately report your fixed asset activity.
Cash to Accrual Adjustments
If your organization operates on the cash basis throughout the year, year-end is when you will need to make cash to accrual adjustments. This means reviewing the balances of accounts such as prepaid expenses, payroll accruals, deferred revenue, accounts receivable, and accounts payable to make sure they are properly reported.
Restrictions and Net Asset Reconciliation
If your organization receives restricted donations throughout the year, year-end is a good time to complete a reconciliation of net assets with donor restrictions. Start with the balance at the end of last year, add in any restricted contributions you received in the current year and then subtract out any restricted funding spent during the year. This will give you a new balance of the remaining net assets with donor restrictions. To reconcile net assets without donor restrictions, again, begin with the prior year balance, add all unrestricted income, add any restricted funding spent during the year, and subtract all expenses. In total, your net assets with donor restrictions and net assets without donor restrictions should equal prior year’s balance plus the current year’s net income or loss.
Please contact your Hawkins Ash CPAs representative if you have questions related to year-end tasks.
