| A not-for-profit's monthly reports communicate critical | | | | made will cause the reports' users to make different |
| information to the organization's management. | | | | decisions than they would make if the information |
| Sometimes, these readers can be so eager to see the | | | | were complete, and if the answer is "Yes", keep |
| month-end results that they want accountants to | | | | working until you can say "No". |
| by-pass procedures they believe must be performed | | | | Gathering receipts and other back-up for credit card |
| in order to avoid distributing misleading information. But | | | | purchases or travel expenses: Frequently, for credit |
| it is possible to do a 'soft' close and speed up | | | | cards carried by employees, receipts and the |
| completion of the financials without compromising | | | | information you need to record an expense are |
| important procedures financial statement users. | | | | missing when it's time to pay the bill. In order not to hold |
| Here are a few common problems that cause | | | | up financial statements, post debits for missing charges |
| delayed monthly closings and some suggestions for | | | | on employee cards to Employee Receivables so they |
| how to deal with them. | | | | land on the balance sheet as assets. Think about them |
| Waiting for bank statements: Recording of revenue | | | | as you would cash advances for travel. Once you |
| and expenses can't be considered complete without | | | | have the receipts in hand, you can journal-entry them |
| reconciling accounting records with the bank, and it's | | | | out of Employee Receivables to the appropriate |
| advisable to have the bank reconciliation done before | | | | expense account. |
| reports are distributed. But do you have to wait for the | | | | Undocumented amounts on cards used for office |
| bank statement to arrive in the mail to reconcile? Not | | | | purchases can be charged to miscellaneous expense |
| any more! Financial managers should be authorized to | | | | until you get the information you need. |
| read information about all of their organization's bank | | | | Lack of appropriate expense coding to programs or |
| accounts. | | | | funding sources: Help managers and other employees |
| Waiting for invoices from contractors, suppliers and | | | | responsible for coding to accomplish this timely! You |
| vendors to arrive: You know they're coming, but you | | | | can stamp each invoice that arrives with a |
| don't know how much you owe. Don't worry about | | | | custom-made stamp (they cost about $20) that has a |
| any that will have a minimal effect on either the | | | | blank space for the account, program, grant and so on. |
| monthly reports or on grant reporting. If the amounts | | | | Another option is to use purchase orders so the |
| will be too big to ignore, call up the contractor and ask | | | | coding is required before the purchase is made. |
| them to email or fax their invoice. You can post | | | | Executive directors' or other colleagues' urgent |
| estimates to Accrued Expenses using a reversing | | | | requests for reports or projects at the last minute: |
| entry to the GL; then when the bill arrives, post it to | | | | We've all experienced this cause of delay. It can be |
| accounts payable as you normally would. | | | | difficult to get everyone what they need without |
| Difficulty with a reconciliation: It's good practice to tie | | | | putting in overtime. It helps to be proactive: make sure |
| out all asset, liability and net asset accounts before you | | | | you know when grant reports are due. At month-end |
| distribute month-end reports, but if you run into trouble, | | | | before your time is completely devoted to the closing |
| it can really slow you down and make you late with | | | | process, ask your management team about other |
| your reports. Consider, though, that if your AP | | | | requests that may be coming in the next week or two. |
| subsidiary ledger is off $50 or your bank reconciliation | | | | Try to set a common schedule so you are able to |
| has an unknown $5.00 transaction, the financial reports | | | | meet requests on time without stressing or letting |
| will be just as useful before the reconciliations are | | | | people down. |
| done as they will afterwards. Weigh the benefits of | | | | I hope you can apply at least one of these |
| early reporting against the benefits of absolute | | | | suggestions to relieve some of the pressure! |
| accuracy. Ask yourself if the corrections you haven't | | | | |