2010-2011 Dues - Are Due!!

All nfpFMA renewing members (and any new members joining at the September meeting) who plan to place lunch orders will be assessed annual dues of $70 for the 2010-2011 program year. Please make plans to bring your payment to the September meeting, Tuesday, September 28, 2010.

Thanks!!!

LEAN Accounting and Budgeting - Plan for it!

Today, Rick Feldt and Mike Lewis took the nfpFMA membership through the concept of LEAN accounting as it applies to budgeting. Most of the general public associates LEAN business practices with cost-cutting and layoffs. However, the best way to practice LEAN is to use it to change and streamline institutional practices. For the not-for-profit world, there are few institutional practices as entrenched as budgeting. To start budgeting LEAN, follow these Do's and Don'ts:

Don't

• Forecast to the wall (most budgets provide fewer and fewer projections as the end budget date draws near)
• Confuse forecasts with targets (be realistic with forecasts, optimistic with targets)
• Insist on forecast accuracy in an unpredictable world (forecasts are a best guess at most)
• Rely on Excel spreadsheets (instead, try to find a way to budget/forecast in the accounting software)
• Engage in excessive detail

Do

• Use a rolling 12 month forecast (update every quarter)
• Focus on critical drivers (rather than excessive detail)
• Use different time horizons for different decisions
• Match forecast with ability to see
• Move to advance planning (such as scenario planning)

LEAN budgeting involves changing from a static budget to a dynamic one, and in doing so, shortens the amount of time and resources spent on budgeting.

A good resource for LEAN accounting is, "Real Numbers: Management Accounting in a Lean Organization," by Jean E. Cunningham, Orest J. Fiume, and Emily Adams.

LEAN Accounting and Budgeting - Topic for June 22, 2010

If you are like most nfp finance people, you spend alot of time preparing financial information that very few decision-makers read, use, or understand. More and more nfp's are becoming aware of this phenomenon and are seeking solutions. One possibility is the adoption of LEAN accounting and budgeting practices. Aren't familiar with LEAN? Then make plans to join us at our final nfpFMA meeting of the program year, Tuesday, June 22, 2010 when Rick Feldt, Michael Lewis, and Kristin Parshay of Rubin Brown discuss how nfp's can get LEAN.

Audit Committees and Audit Planning Letters - For panic and stress-free audits!

This afternoon, Jeanette Bax-Kurtz and Karyn Nunn of Mueller Prost PC discussed ways Audit Committees can assist nfp's with audit preparation and other matters related to the audit. Some considerations they presented are:

• Selecting Audit Committee members - make an effort to select members who will further the exempt purposes of the nfp while minimizing conflicts of interest.
• General Rules Affecting Audit Committee Composition - seek out members of the public who possess expertise in the committee's role, are independent of the nfp and other members, are capable of making sound financial decisions, can understand nfp financial statements, and have a basic understanding of public audits.
• Typical Responsibilities of Audit Committees - include selecting audit firms, reviewing the audit plan and scope, approving the audited financial statements, monitoring internal controls, monitoring accounting policies and procedures, monitoring policies such as code of conduct, and conflict of interest policies, and monitoring federal and state tax filings (such as the 990).

The nfpFMA members also discussed the best way to prepare an Audit Planning Letter, in which the nfp provides the audit firm with notable changes from prior years or "need-to-know" information, and the impact of those changes and "need-to-know" information on the financials statements. Both Bax-Kurtz and Nunn agreed that Audit Planning Letters go a long way toward experiencing a successful audit.

Audit Committees and Management Letters - Topic for May 25, 2010

Are you aware that panic attacks experienced at the onset of the annual audit can be treated with preventative care? Jeanette Bax-Kurtz and Karyn Nunn of Mueller Prost PC will speak at the May 25, 2010 nfpFMA meeting to tell you that YES THEY CAN! The treatment involves nfp's taking two simple steps; forming a board Audit Committee and drafting a Management Letter. So please make plans to join us Tuesday, May 25 to hear Bax-Kurtz and Nunn take us through these activities.

How Healthcare Reform will affect nfp's - Sober up

Not-for-profits, along with all other US businesses, are in for a rude awakening when the healthcare reform legislation kicks in, as Phil Bushnell of Gallagher Benefit Services explained to the nfpFMA members today.  Phil distributed a timetable ranking the changes in order of when they will take effect, beginning in 2010. Some of the most prominent changes will be:

In 2010: Dependent coverage will be available to age 26; Coverage can no longer be rescinded for health reasons; Pre-existing condition exclusion for children under 19 years of age will end; Consumer rebates will be available; and Annual/lifetime coverage limits will end.

In 2011: Value of medical benefit must be reported by all employers (including nfp's) on their employees' W-2's; FSA reimbursement for OTC drug expenditures will end; and The CLASS program will be introduced (to reimburse medical out-of-pocket costs for early retirement employees) which is only expected to last less than the 1st month past its introduction date.

In 2012: No changes.

In 2013: FSA's and HSA's will be capped at $2,500 contribution levels; and High income individuals will begin paying more taxes to pay for costs of reform.

In 2014: Medicare tax rate will increase from its current levels of 1.45% for both employees and employers; Pre-existing exclusions will end; All citizens will be required to have insurance coverage; and All employers will be required to offer insurance coverage.

How the Health Care Reform Bill will affect nfp's - Topic for April 27, 2010

If you snoozed through C-SPAN's wall-to-wall coverage of the health care reform debate, then please make plans to join us when we meet in April to discuss the implications of the reform legislation on not-for-profits. At this meeting, Phil Bushnell of AJ Gallagher will discuss the new legislation and how nfp's can take steps to prepare for it.