Why Hire an Outsourced Administrative Professional?

Membership based nonprofit organizations often would not exist without the support of a dedicated Board of Directors who run the organization. However, these board members are often also full-time professionals.
When considering whether to rely on your board of directors or hire an outsourced professional, consider 3 benefits of outsourcing your administration:
 
First, you avoid conflicts of interest. Since a board member has a personal, fiduciary duty to oversee the operations and finances of the organization, it can sometimes create a conflict of interest for them to operate the organization and do the bookkeeping.
 
Second, outsourcing administrative tasks gives your board more time to focus on fundraising and growing membership – which is their best and highest use – rather than doing administrative tasks.
 
Last, an outsourced professional provides a reliable, consistent expert and a dedicated point of contact – across all board term limits and rotation of officer positions.
 
Outsourced administration is often the most cost-effective and efficient way to access professional expertise and help your membership organization grow.

As your organization grows, it’s likely that you’ll need a financial statement audit. What can you expect from an audit?
 
First – Who does the audit?
 
Your board of directors will likely use an RFP process to find an outside, independent CPA firm with experience in nonprofit accounting, hopefully within your organization’s niche. A team of one senior auditor plus one or more audit staff will be assigned to handle the audit.
 
What do auditors do?
 
They get to know your organization before starting the audit, by reading and reviewing your organizational documents as well as discussing your internal procedures with you and your staff.
 
During the audit, they will test your financial statements and transactions to make su
re that you are following generally accepted accounting principles, that internal controls are reasonable, and that the statements reflect the reality of transactions of the organization.
 
Next time, we’ll learn 2 more things to expect during your financial statement audit.