Nonprofit Accounting Basics

Recent Articles

When Does Your Activity Become Lobbying?

What Your Nonprofit Needs to Know

Form 990 N e-postcard Must Use New IRS.gov Portal

Form 990-N, Electronic Notice (e-Postcard) for Tax-Exempt Organizations Not Required to File Form 990 or Form 990EZ, is used by smaller, tax-exempt organizations for annual reporting and c

Disqualified Persons and the Intermediate Sanctions Excise Tax Regime

Disqualified Persons and the Intermediate Sanctions Excise Tax Regime[1]

How Can I Explain the Bottom-Line Budget Impact of Multi-Year Grants?

Question: I am the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization that was recently awarded a 3-year grant. We recorded the grant in full last year.

Form 990 (Core Form)

The Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, contains a twelve page “core” form with the following twelve parts:

Best Practices

The Internal Revenue Service believes that promoting best practices in the areas of governance, management and disclosure will lead to a higher level of federal tax law compliance.

Definition of an Officer

An officer is a person elected or appointed to manage an organization’s daily operations, such as a president, vice president, secretary, or treasurer.

IRS Code Sections Relating to Exempt Organizations

The IRS maintains a listing of the code sections that apply to exempt organizations.

Form 990 Schedules

The following list notes the schedules that are part of the Form 990. Each schedule is completed only if the organization meets the requirements for filing the particular schedule.

Which 990 Form to File

There are threshold rules to consider when choosing the informational form an exempt organization should file. It should be noted that there are exceptions to each of these thresholds.