Rylander, Clay and Opitz, LLP, a leader in not-for-profit tax, assurance, and advisory services is hosting an informative “Lunch ‘n Learn” seminar for non-profit accounting personnel. The topic of the panel discussion is “Accounting for Special Events” and will focus on various accounting issues related to raffles, auctions, sponsorships, internal controls surrounding cash collected at events, sales tax implications and other IRS reporting requirements related to special events. The seminar will be held on October 4th with registration beginning at 11:45 am. The program will start at noon and conclude at 1pm. It will be held at Easter Seals North Texas located at 1424 Hemphill St., Fort Worth. Please RSVP by September 29th by logging on to www.rcosolutions.com. The cost is $15 per person and includes lunch. For more information, please call 817-332-2301.

Employee relations create most of the operating headaches for a nonprofit organization. In fact, when a nonprofit finds itself in court, it usually is due to employee issues. Some nonprofits even incorrectly believe they are exempt from employment laws. In the next Funding Information Session on Tuesday, April 13th, (9 a.m. to 11 a.m.) Frank Sommerville will address:

• Applicability of employment laws to nonprofit organizations
• Employee vs. Independent Contractor
• Preventive measures to avoid employee issues
• Application of overtime pay
• Nondiscrimination laws
• Employee handbooks

Speaker:
Frank Sommerville is a shareholder in the law firm of Weycer, Kaplan, Pulaski, & Zuber, P.C. in Houston and Dallas, Texas. He holds a license as a CPA and he is also Board Certified in tax law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is a member of the American Bar Association, The State Bar of Texas, Dallas Bar Association, Christian Legal Society, and the TSCPA.

Fee: $30 for FIC members; $45 for nonmembers

Held at the Funding Information Center
329 South Henderson
Fort Worth, TX 76107

To register, click here.

Our next Executive Exchange is scheduled for Wednesday, March 3rd, located at the Funding Information Center, 329 S. Henderson in Fort Worth, TX. The training is designed for executive directors, presidents, chief financial officers, controllers and board members.

Topic: Exploring the New Governance Realities

Nonprofit governance is more in the spotlight than ever with the rewrite of the Texas Business Organizations Code and the Form 990. While the principles of good governance have not changed, laws, regulations, compliance and scrutiny certainly have. The following Panelists will discuss their experiences in the past couple of years and how Boards and regulators are dealing with the major issues:
• Carol Klocek, Executive Director, YWCA of Fort Worth & Tarrant County
• Sandy Kautz, retired nonprofit CEO and Realignment Consultant with Girl Scouts of the USA; Current Community Volunteer
• Becky DaVee, CPA – Rylander, Clay and Opitz, LLP 

Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Time: 11:30 – 1:30
Location: Funding Information Center, 329 S. Henderson, Fort Worth – 817-334-0228
Cost: $20 (lunch is provided)
Registration: http://www.fic-ftw.org/signup/EE%203.3.10.htm

One of the most critical tasks in monitoring and managing operations is to establish an annual budget. Whether you are responsible for one line item, one program, one department, or an entire organization, you will want to participate in this workshop held in the Fort Worth area, and sponsored by the Funding Information Center.

Participants will learn:

• The importance of sound budgeting
• The basic principles of budgeting
• How the budget is used as a planning and management tool
• Steps in the budgeting process
• How to develop various types of budgets, including programs and special events

Speaker: Christi Stinson, Executive Director, Funding Information Center
Fee: $20 for FIC members; $40 for nonmembers

Date: Tuesday February 16th, 2010

Time:  9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Location: Funding Information Center
329 S. Henderson, Fort Worth, TX 76104
817-334-0228
To register, follow this link.

Today, the Greater Fort Worth Chapter of NACBA is conducting a workshop for its members and Phill Martin, Deputy CEO of NACBA, will facilitate the dialogue. “Trust and Betrayal in Staff Teams” is the title of the workshop. Building trust and loyalty within an organization provide essential foundations of success in providing missional programs to the public. Everyone on the same page, working completely together, for the mission of the organization.

According to Steven Covey’s book The Speed of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything, trust means confidence. The following 13 behaviors either build or erode trust: Read the rest of this entry »

The National Association of Church Business Administration has organized an event to celebrate the power of peer-learning to address the increasing complexity of running the business of a church in contemporary society. 

Scrutiny of non-profits, including churches, has increased in recent years and has magnified with the current condition of the economy. It is even more important during these times to run the business of a church properly.  Honest mistakes and inadequate safeguards can expose churches to many different negative outcomes. This event will provide an opportunity for leaders from different sizes of churches to meet with each other in a training session format to learn from each other how to manage some of these current challenges.

Debbie Miller, secretary of the Greater Kansas City Chapter of NACBA said “Churches need to be the example to our communities in doing things right and with excellence.” Phil Martin, NACBA’s deputy CEO has also made the point that most church leaders do not get formal training in business administration. With these facts in mind, Church Administration Day is a chance for larger churches to reach out to smaller churches that may not even have an administrator. 

The information above was summarized from the article “Complexity of congregational life inspires first annual event for church administration”, which can be found at the following website: http://www.nacba.net/cad/.

For locations and contact information for regional training events:
http://www.nacba.net/cad/cad_locations.htm

For contacting a NACBA chapter in your area:
http://www.nacba.net/Structure/chapterlst.htm

For more information on National Church Administration Day:
http://www.nacba.net/cad/

For information on the National Association of Church Business Administration:
http://www.nacba.net/index.html

With unemployment nearing the double digits, there is a large population of professionals in the marketplace. You might have seen the news cast that played on NBC this Wednesday the 23rd (click here).

One thing to know is if you have any professionals donate services that you would normally have to pay for you should be recording that time as an “in-kind” contribution. FASB states that if the services donated (a) create or enhance nonfinancial assets or (b) require specialized skills, are provided by individuals possessing those skills, and would typically need to be purchased if not provided by donation.

Examples to watch for are …. Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know that your organization could be affected by a new nonprofit corporation statute? Beginning January 1, 2010, every Texas nonprofit corporation will be subject to the Texas Business Organizations Code. Will the new statute bring greater flexibility to governance? What is required in order for your organization to comply with this statute?

Speaker: 
Frank Sommerville, CPA/JD Frank is a shareholder in the law firm of Weycer, Kaplan, Pulaski, & Zuber, P.C. in Houston and Dallas, Texas. He holds a license as a CPA and he is also Board Certified in tax law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is a member of the American Bar Association, The State Bar of Texas, Dallas Bar Association, Christian Legal Society, and the TSCPA.

When: Tuesday, September 22nd (8:30 a.m. -10:30 a.m.) @ the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens
Fee: $20 for FIC members; $40 for non-members (No-shows will be billed)

Light Breakfast will be provided

*Cash/Check payments for all workshops may be made at the door or mailed in. 

Held at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens – Oak Hall
3220 Botanic Garden Blvd.
Fort Worth, TX 76107
(817) 871-7686

For more information, click here.

Today RCO is leading a governance conference provided to tax-exempt organizations in the Dallas-FW community and across the state. Nearly 70 tax-exempt participants and specialist will engage in governance topics. The pre-session workshop is designed to identify exceptional board qualities. The reverse will also be examined, what are the dysfunctional and passive qualities of boards.

During the luncheon session we will review the three different modes of governance, fiduciary, strategic and generative. What is the generative mode? Generative thinking is performed almost everyday, external to the board. So how does the board begin generative thought? Governance as Leadership, published by BoardSource provides examples of generative thinking and governance.

The afternoon session will be led by a panel of specialist, including Benton Clark, Christi Stinson, Frank Sommerville and Cory Halliburton. They will be reviewing principles of good and ethical governance, fiduciary responsibilities including conflict of interest and risks of certain ministries.

During the next month we will discuss the highlights of the conference.

Would you like your audit to go smoother?  Would you like to know the difference between a financial statement audit and a compliance audit?  Would you like to shorten the time the auditors are at your office?  If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you should attend the “Executive Exchange” hosted by the Funding Information Center on Wednesday, March 4th (11:30 – 1:00). 

Compliance=Accountability: Preparing for an Audit will be presented by Linda Low, Audit Partner and Donna Mayes, Audit Manager, both with Rylander, Clay and Opitz, LLP.  During this informative workshop, you will learn what can make your life easier, how to make the auditors’ happy, how to reduce/eliminate internal control deficiencies, and how to easily remedy common compliance issues associated with your single audit. 

For more information and registration, contact the Funding Information Center .