Auditors examining a non-profit’s financial statements spend considerable time on the revenue figures. They look at the accounting methods used to record revenues and perform a detailed income analysis. You can use the same techniques to increase your understanding of your organization’s revenue profile. In...
Technology is tricky. Much of today’s software is engineered so well that it will perform adequately for years, but new and better features are being created all the time. In addition if you’re not getting as much out of your financial data as your competitors,...
Because donations to charity of cash or property generally are tax deductible (if you itemize), it only seems logical that the donation of something even more valuable to you — your time — also would be deductible. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Donations of time...
A business owner first became suspicious when one of her managers bought an expensive boat that seemed beyond his pay grade. A closer look at the employee and his department revealed sloppy record keeping and financial discrepancies. Was he stealing from the company? Forensic accountants can...
Implementing changes in accounting rules can be a real drag, but the new hedge accounting standard may be an exception to this generality. Many companies welcome this update and may even want to adopt it early, because the new rules are more flexible and attempt...
Once an employer identifies a prospect for an open position and sets up an interview, another great challenge arises: how do you effectively use the interview to determine whether this person is right for your organization? One way is behavioral interviewing — a technique in which...
If your non-profit wants to improve its budgeting, forecasting, fundraising, or other functions but is having a hard time identifying both problems and solutions, data analytics can help. This form of business intelligence is already considered invaluable in the for-profit world, and it can be...
On one hand, every company’s inventory is a carefully curated collection of inanimate objects ready for sale. But, on the other, it can be a confounding, slippery, and unpredictable creature that can shrink too small or grow too big; despite your best efforts to keep...
‘Going green’ at home, whether it is your principal residence or a second home, can reduce your tax bill in addition to your energy bill, all while helping the environment. The catch is, to reap all three benefits, you need to buy and install certain...
Skimming is the theft of cash receipts. It occurs when an employee steals an incoming payment before it is recorded on the books. Here we will look at how this fraud scheme works so you can prevent it from happening to your company. Behind the scheme In...