The New England Not-For-Profit Accounting Advisor

In August the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released its 2021 Compliance Supplement, 2 CFR Part 200 Appendix XI (Compliance Supplement). The annual compliance document provides details and guidance on the pertinent audit areas under the Uniform Grant Guidance. Not-for-profits that receive federal grants are often subject to Uniform Grant Guidance requirements, which include an audit over their administration and controls of their federal grants. Below are some of the key takeaways from the 2021 edition.

Topics: not-for-profit, OMB, NFP, Office of Management and Budget, compliance supplement

A significant number of organizations across the nation are likely eligible for the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC), but since few have claimed it, the tax break may expire early.

If passed, the proposed $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will end the pandemic-era tax break three months early, on Sept. 30 rather than the current date of Dec. 31, 2021. Eligible organizations would still be allowed to claim the ERTC for 2020 and the first quarter through the third quarter of 2021, but there would be no credit for the fourth quarter.

Topics: NFP, COVID19, COVID-19, CARES Act, Paycheck Protection Program, PPP, PPP Loan, SBA, Employee Retention Credit, Employee Retention Tax Credit, ERTC

The CBIZ Main Street Index report takes the pulse of organizations like yours and provides useful data and insights for your organization to leverage. The information below highlights the data from Main Street Index for the Not-For-Profit Industry. See how your organization compares to other not-for-profits in the areas of revenue, growth areas, and workforce arrangements. 

Topics: NFP, nonprofit, Nonprofit Board, COVID-19, Paycheck Protection Program, PPP, higher education, ERTC, health and human services, revenue, emergency disaster loans, post-pandemic, hybrid, main street index results

Higher Education continues to be an attractive target for cyber criminals. In July 2020, Comparitech reported that 1,327 data breaches in the education sector had resulted in the exposure of 24.5 million records since 2005. Higher education accounted for three-quarters of those breaches. Why not, with the gold mine of data that pays the bills for cybercrime, including students, families, employees, faculty, partners and donors’ information?

Topics: enterprise risk management, Chief Financial Officers, CFO, NFP, board members, cybersecurity, cyber risk assessment, nonprofit, Nonprofit Board, cyber attacks, risk assessment, higher education, NIST

With the modifications made to the incentive, organizations continue to evaluate how to maximize the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC). The ERTC is a special incentive created within the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities (CARES) Act that encourages employers to retain their workforce during periods of economic disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. It provides immediate reductions to payroll taxes and cash refunds for credits in excess of payroll taxes, for both commercial and not-for-profit employers. A business must have been subject to government shutdown orders or experienced a significant decline in gross receipts to qualify.

Topics: AICPA, IRS, NFP, COVID19, COVID-19, CARES Act, Paycheck Protection Program, PPP, PPP Loan, Employee Retention Credit, Employee Retention Tax Credit, ERTC

On July 27, 2021, the Government Audit Quality Center of the AICPA announced that the initial 2021 compliance supplement relative to federal awards is expected to be released in August 2021. This should resolve much of the ambiguity around major program determination and testing requirements for this year. The key take-away points are as follows:

Topics: AICPA, NFP, nonprofit, Nonprofit Board, COVID19, higher education, SEFA, health and human services, HEERF, Provider Relief Funds, compliance supplement

The Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) was enacted as part of the early COVID-19 stimulus measures, and can be claimed through Dec. 31, 2021 by eligible employers who retained employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, the ERTC was expanded through the American Rescue Plan Act to potentially cover more organizations and situations. While not-for-profit organizations are eager to take advantage of the ERTC, there are some logistical hurdles between taking the credit and reaping its benefits.

Topics: NFP, COVID19, COVID-19, Paycheck Protection Program, PPP, PPP Loan, Employee Retention Credit, Employee Retention Tax Credit, ERTC

The window of opportunity to take advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has closed, but considerations for the program, particularly around its most appealing benefit, remain.

Topics: tax, NFP, COVID19, COVID-19, CARES Act, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Paycheck Protection Program, PPP, PPP Loan, SBA, Small Business Administration, PPP Loan Forgiveness

Not-for-profit entities have a new, optional accounting alternative for evaluating goodwill impairment triggering events. The accounting alternative is intended to simplify and eliminate the requirement to monitor for triggering events throughout the reporting period that would cause an entity to perform a test for goodwill impairment. Rather than performing a continuous assessment of triggering events, an entity electing the alternative would evaluate the existence of a goodwill impairment triggering event as of an interim or annual reporting date. The new alternative is available for not-for-profit entities that account for goodwill as an indefinite-lived asset as well as not-for-profit entities that have elected to amortize goodwill. It is available for entities that have not yet issued their Dec. 31, 2020 financial statements and could cause some entities that experienced significant, but short-lived impacts from COVID-19 to forgo performing a test of goodwill impairment during 2020. The policy election to apply the alternative can also be made at a future date.

Topics: accounting, goodwill, goodwill impairment, GAAP, not-for-profit, FASB, NFP, intangible assets, COVID19, reporting, accounting alternative, FDIC, indefinite-lived asset

As the country continues to implement the COVID-19 vaccine distribution in phases, employers may deliberate whether to encourage voluntary compliance or mandate employee vaccination.

Topics: not-for-profit, NFP, employees, COVID-19, OSHA, Covid vaccine, legal, vaccination, EEOC, ADA, employers