Overcoming Confusion Regarding FAR Cost Principles
By Paul Calabrese, Principal It may surprise you, but even government agencies get confused when it comes to which cost principles apply to a commercial government contractor (GovCon) versus a nonprofit organization. Typically, GovCons obtain federal procurement contracts while nonprofits receive financial assistance awards as grants or cooperative agreements. So, what happens when the agency…
Preparing for an Audit Made Easier with Financial Compilations and Reviews
By: Steven Lyons, CPA | Senior Manager, Outsourced Accounting and Advisory Services In addition to providing a more cost-effective alternative to a financial statement audit, compilations and reviews offer businesses and nonprofit organizations a number of important advantages. Perhaps most important, compilations and reviews help your organization prepare for a future financial audit because they…
UG Compliance Requires Awardees Address Key Sub-Recipient Risk Areas
By Tom Netznik, CPA | Nonprofit Audit Manager Whether your organization has historically provided sub-awards to domestic or international nonprofit organizations or is new to these types of transactions, there are important steps you should take to not only ensure compliance with federal regulations, but also protect your organization from possible loss due to unallowable…
Best Practices for Nonprofits Implementing ASU 2016-14
By Alison Albrecht, CPA | Nonprofit Audit Supervisor The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-14, Presentation of Financial Statements of Not-for-Profit Entities, to enhance the presentation of financial statements and provide more meaningful information to the readers of the financial statements. One of the changes included in the ASU 2016-14…
Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance and Your Nonprofit Organization
By Mac Lillard, CPA, CITP, CISA, CFE | Audit Senior Accountant According to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Council (PCD DSC) any organization that stores, processes, and/or transmits cardholder data is required to be compliant with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). There is a common misconception that use of a third-party provider…
Why is Preparation of a Complete and Accurate SEFA so Imperative?
By Laura Malcom, CPA | Audit Manager The schedule of expenditures of federal awards (SEFA) is the “meat” of any Uniform Guidance audit. Often it is one of the first pieces of information that a CPA firm will request when designing and planning the audit. The total expenditures reported in the SEFA is the determination…
Anticipating Going Concern Issues Can Save Nonprofits Valuable Time and Effort
By: Omid Mohebbi, CPA | Audit Supervisor Introduction Auditors occasionally come across going concern issues in the course of performing their audit procedures. These issues essentially refer to the ability or inability, as the case may be, of the audited entity to continue operations beyond a certain timeframe, which the standards refer to as “a reasonable…