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Cash v Accrual

I'm the treasurer for a small non-profit club. The books I inherited and our federal 990-EZ return are cash basis. Membership dues are due at the end of our fiscal year, so the dues received in a given year may be a lot different than the dues earned. To show the dues actually earned, is it OK to use an adjustment account to attribute the revenue to the proper year, or isn't that allowed for cash-basis accounting? If it is allowable, should the actual or earned revenue be reported on the federal return? What is the right way to handle this?

Thanks for your advice.

Bill Bickner

Reply to
wbickner
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wrote

Most NFP entities report on a cash basis.

In cash basis accounting you only report the amount collected and/or the amount spent.

Report the actual amount collected, and claim the actual amounts spent.

If you are keeping books in QB, just modify your report to the cash basis and you have all your numbers without having to make convaluted additions and subtractions.

Reply to
Paul Thomas, CPA

your revenue should "tie" or agree to your bank statement of deposit slips...

Reply to
~^ beancounter ~^

Thanks, Paul. That's what I thought. I asked this question because the previous treasurer was upset that my year-end report for last year showed dues collected exceeded dues earned by more than fifty percent. Her practice was to use phony dates to show receipts received in the year earned. I'd also prefer to have reports that show members our actual performance for the year. I'd hoped that adjustment accounts would be a way to do that, but realize that that strays from a cash basis. Any suggestions?

Reply to
wbickner

wrote

If you wanted to show it in all it's glory (or ugliness) create a line item for "Dues charged" and just below that "Dues Past Due" (a contra income account) for a "Net Collected Dues Income". One of my Homeowners Assn's does this so they can see how many (in dollars) of their neighbors are bums.

Reply to
Paul Thomas, CPA

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