January 08, 2013
The end of the calendar year brings the end of VFP’s fiscal year and therefore a variety of year-end financial activities for me. Now that I’ve been through them several times I don’t find them stressful and I enjoy working with professional accountants to accomplish them.
At the end of each month, Angela, a local accountant reviews our accounts looking for any errors I have made during the month and reconciling our accounts to the banks’. Monthly financial reports are reviewed by the Executive Director and Board Treasurer. Monthly income and expense reports are also provided to the 5 or 6 VFP national projects whose funds are handled through our office.
Angela is a true accountant. She loves finding a puzzle to unravel! In January she also identifies any money spent in the old year for services that will actually be received in the new year and books them accordingly. These are the kinds of things accountants think about.
Sometime in January, a CPA from a different firm will come in for a day to do an annual review of our books and provide a statement that serves in lieu of a full audit – which would be very expensive indeed. Larry is also a pleasure to work with. Along with looking at the numbers he counsels on financial policy, making sure we have appropriate policies in place for handling projects, endowments, etc. and that we are following them in our practices.
We will use the Financial Review numbers to provide a summary annual report for members and supporters. They also go back to the monthly accountant to prepare our 990 filing with the IRS. However, this report is not due until May and needs less of my participation.
This how VFP makes sure the resources you provide are accounted for and used as you intended. Thank you for making it all possible!