This resource for nonprofit managers and board members simplifies accounting concepts and provides practical advice that can help nonprofits achieve a higher degree of accountability. Clearly written, concise, and insightful, the second edition of the popular resource explains in plain English how to read, interpret, and implement financial data from bookkeepers and accountants to make management decisions that ensure an organization's long-term financial viability. Thomas A. McLaughlin has over 25 years of nonprofit experience as a nonprofit manager, trade association executive, and consultant. He is nationally recognized as an expert in nonprofit mergers and alliances, financial management, and strategic planning.
Pt. 1 Analysis 1
Ch. 1 Organizational Structure: Programs and Corporations 3
Ch. 2 Mission: Managing Your Two Bottom Lines 19
Ch. 3 Accounting as a Second Language - A Nine-Point Program 25
Ch. 4 Assets Are for Boards, Activities Are for Managers 37
Ch. 5 Balance Sheets: How They Get That Way 41
Ch. 6 Financial Analysis: A Few Diagnostic Tools 67
Pt. 2 Accounting 89
Ch. 7 Nonprofit Accounting: Acknowledging the Strings Attached 91
Ch. 8 Cost Accounting: How Much Does It Cost? 99
Ch. 9 Auditing: Choosing and Using an Auditor 111
Pt. 3 Operations 121
Ch. 10 Cash Flow Management: Why Cash Is King 123
Ch. 11 Capital: Why Capital Is Not a Four-Letter Word 141
Ch. 12 Budgeting: Taming the Budget Beast 157
Ch. 13 Indirect Costs and Other Despised Items 171
Ch. 14 Pricing: How Much Should It Cost? 179
Ch. 15 Profit: Why and How Much? 193
Ch. 16 To Raise More Money. Think Cows 205
Pt. 4 Control 211
Ch. 17 Insurance: The Maddeningly Complicated Art of Covering Your Assets 213
Ch. 18 Internal Controls for External Goals 219
Ch. 19 Enron Spawn 239
Ch. 20 Management Controls: Toward Accountability for Performance 249
Appendix A A Financial Management Cultural Primer 257