Center for Civic Partnerships

Finance and Accounting

Online Resources

Financial Management FAQ – Alliance for Nonprofit Management
This section of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management’s website includes pages on a number of financial management issues, such as cash flow, budgets, audits and financial statements.
www.allianceonline.org/FAQ/financial_management

Suggested Reading

Articles

Strategies Checklist from Coping with Cutbacks: The Nonprofit Guide to Success When Times Are Tight. Based on the book (see below), this website contains a checklist of potential strategies for nonprofits. It is designed to help organizations think creatively about their culture, mission, future, response to immediate financial crises, and long-term preparation for the changing culture. The suggestions categories can help one organize his/her thinking and analyze the organization’s current approach to fulfilling its mission.
www.fieldstonealliance.org/productdetails.cfm?PC=13

Basic Overview of US Nonprofit Financial Management by Carter McNamara. This overview provides an overall perspective on the basic processes involved in nonprofit financial management. The activities described on in this article occur regularly as part of the yearly accounting cycle.
www.mapnp.org/library/finance/np_fnce/basics.htm

Publications

Dropkin, Murray and LaTouche, Bill. The Budget-Building Book for Nonprofits: A Step-by-Step Guide for Managers and Boards. A hands-on resource that shows nonprofits how to budget as a team. The book includes step-by-step instructions and terrific worksheets and forms for easy entry. www.amazon.com/Budget-Building-Book-Nonprofits-Step-Step/dp/0787940364

Ruegg, Debra L. and Venkatrathnam, Lisa M. Bookkeeping Basics: What Every Nonprofit Bookkeeper Needs to Know. Bookkeeping Basics provides step-by-step instructions, detailed examples, clearly defined terms, and reproducible forms, so even the novice bookkeeper can track financial activity and meet the basic bookkeeping requirements of a nonprofit organization. www.authenticityconsulting.com/pubs/misc/bookbsx.html

Angelica, Emil and Hyman, Vincent. Coping with Cutbacks: The Nonprofit Guide to Success When Times Are Tight. It’s a familiar refrain, “How do we get more money to keep our nonprofit in business?” Yet, the authors of Coping with Cutbacks say for long-term success you should really be asking, “How do we involve other segments of the community in our work?” This unique guide shows you ways to make new connections, create buy-in, and bring new partners to the table to accomplish your mission. It also gives you a six-step process for coming up with solutions to problems—financial or otherwise—plus 185 specific cutback strategies you can put to use right away. www.authenticityconsulting.com/pubs/misc/cutbacks.htm

Dropkin, Murray and Haydon, Allyson. The Cash Flow Management Book for Nonprofits: A Step-by-Step Guide for Managers and Boards. The first and only guide of its kind to offer nonprofit executives help with the vital task of cash flow management! Murray Dropkin reveals how to create an effective plan for cash flow management. This guide offers nuts-and-bolts suggestions for using this plan to develop successful strategies for the day-to-day and long-term financial planning of any nonprofit organization. www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787953857.html

Ruppel, Warren. Not-for-Profit Accounting Made Easy. A practical, introductory guide to the fundamentals of not-for-profit accounting, this book 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. www.amazon.com/Not-Profit-Accounting-Made-Easy/dp/0471206792