Not-for-Profit Accounting Made Easy [Hardcover]

Warren Ruppel (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471206792 | ISBN-13: 978-0471206798 | Publication Date: March 15, 2002 | Edition: 1

A practical, introductory guide to the fundamentals of not-for-profit accounting

Not-for-Profit Accounting Made Easy focuses on accounting fundamentals for those who run financial and accounting operations in not-for-profit organizations but do not have a professional understanding of accounting principles and financial reporting. It explains complex accounting rules in terms nonaccountants can easily understand in order to help them better fulfill their managerial and fiduciary duties. Always practical and never overtechnical, this helpful guide conforms to FASB and AICPA standards and:
* Shows how to read and understand a not-for-profit financial statement
* Explains financial accounting and reporting standards
* Helps managers and other nonaccountants become conversant in the rules and principles of accounting
* Updates board members, executive directors, and other senior managers on the accounting basics they should know for day-to-day operations
* Features tables, exhibits, and charts that illustrate the content in a simple and easy-to-understand manner


Suitable for fundraising managers and executives-as well as anyone who needs to read and understand a not-for-profit financial statement-this is the ultimate not-an-accountant's guide to not-for-profit accounting.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Today, there are more than one million not-for-profit organizations in the United States, ranging from country clubs to churches and everything in between. Because these organizations’ finances are closely scrutinized, it is important that those individuals responsible for accounting and finance functions–often nonaccountants–are well informed on the particulars of accounting for not-for-profits. This book shows how to read and understand a not-for-profit financial statement, while providing those responsible for accounting functions with a basic understanding of the accounting and financial reporting practices of a not-for-profit.

This simple, practical book is helpful not only for nonaccountants with accounting duties but also for people who work with not-for-profits in a variety of capacities. Management and staff, board members, consultants, donors, and creditors can all benefit from understanding the fundamental principles of not-for-profit accounting. Since not-for-profit accounting differs in many subtle ways from normal business accounting, this book also helps professional accountants brush up on the idiosyncrasies that separate the two.

Not-for-Profit Accounting Made Easy explains not-for-profit accounting principles and reporting standards in simple terms that are easily understood by those with little or no prior accounting experience. It conforms to FASB and AICPA standards and forms and covers these topics, among others:

• Basic accounting terminology
• Fundamental accounting concepts
• Basic financial statements of a not-for-profit organization
• Accounting for contributions, investments and financial instruments, activities with joint costs, affiliated organizations, and collections
• Accounting peculiarities of health care, education, and religious and cultural not-for-profits
• Accounting for mergers between not-for-profits
• Accounting for pension plans and other employee benefit plans
• Lease accounting fundamentals
• Basic not-for-profit organization financial statement analysis for board members and potential donors
• Upcoming accounting and financial reporting changes
• Defining and accounting for split interest agreements

From the Back Cover

A practical, introductory guide to the fundamentals of not-for-profit accounting

Not-for-Profit Accounting Made Easy focuses on accounting fundamentals for those who run financial and accounting operations in not-for-profit organizations but do not have a professional understanding of accounting principles and financial reporting. It explains complex accounting rules in terms nonaccountants can easily understand in order to help them better fulfill their managerial and fiduciary duties. Always practical and never overtechnical, this helpful guide conforms to FASB and AICPA standards and:

• Shows how to read and understand a not-for-profit financial statement
• Explains financial accounting and reporting standards
• Helps managers and other nonaccountants become conversant in the rules and principles of accounting
• Updates board members, executive directors, and other senior managers on the accounting basics they should know for day-to-day operations
• Features tables, exhibits, and charts that illustrate the content in a simple and easy-to-understand manner

Suitable for fundraising managers and executives–as well as anyone who needs to read and understand a not-for-profit financial statement–this is the ultimate not-an-accountant’s guide to not-for-profit accounting.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 252 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471206792
• ISBN-13: 978-0471206798
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #948,128 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, but not quite "easy", September 21, 2002

By 

Brian D. Mcmahon (Scotts Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not-for-Profit Accounting Made Easy (Hardcover)

This book is exactly what I (as a newly-minted board member) needed to help me figure out some of the oddities and kinks in nonprofit financial reports. Information is presented clearly and logically.

Only two little problems kept me from awarding five stars.

1. If you have no accounting background at all, you may find it difficult to make sense of some parts of the book. At several points, a general familiarity with accounting concepts and terms is assumed. I had taken an introductory accounting class a few years ago at a community college, and with that background, had no trouble at all with the book. I suspect that if I'd read this book before taking that class, I would have given up in hopeless confusion after the first chapter. Be warned.

2. The book contains examples of financial reports. That's good. Unfortunately, it shows all the dollar amounts as "$XXXX.XX" or similar. That's bad. It would have been much better to construct an example with actual numbers, so the reader could see which numbers flowed where.

If you know even a little bit about accounting, and you are involved with the finances of a nonprofit organization (staff, board, major donor), this is a valuable resource.

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Accounting Made Difficult, September 26, 2003

By 

Carlos Garcia (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not-for-Profit Accounting Made Easy (Hardcover)

If you are looking for a straightforward, easy-to-read explanation of not-for-profit accounting, keep looking. I ordered this book recently and while the first chapter provides some useful defintions, the rest of the book is mind-numbing. In fact, I gave up after chapter 3. If you have to re-read paragraphs two and three times to understand what the author is trying to say, then it's not "accounting made easy."

In addition, the examples of financial statements only offer "XXX" rather than actual numbers. Samples with actual numbers would have been much more useful.

Charity Channel (www.charitychannel.com) also gave this book a negative review.

There are better guides out there.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than college textbooks, March 20, 2006

By 

K. Thompson (Ventura, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not-for-Profit Accounting Made Easy (Hardcover)

The author wrote this book assuming that non-financial people need to understand accounting, making this easy to read and understandable. Having gone through a college course on accounting, and being forced to use three other books (which were also worthless), I only wished I read this book first. Although it's designed for not-for-profit organizations, it explains the differences with for-profit organizations, and explains why certain things can be done, or can't be done. For anyone who is starting fresh, starting a new company, or planning on taking accounting in college, I would strongly recommend you invest $30 (my accounting textbook was over $100) and the first chapter alone, summarizes the the first 10 chapters of several college textbooks.