Rolanda S. McDuffie, CPA

Tip of the day

Getting 990-ready isn’t a year-end sprint. It’s a year-round habit.

Getting 990-ready isn't a year-end sprint. It's a year-round habit.

Chasing the big grant while ignoring monthly donors is backwards.
The small, steady money is the stable money ⬇️

Most nonprofit leaders were never told a funder can read their finances before the first phone call ⬇️

Your bank balance is lying to you.

Not on purpose. It just doesn't know the difference between money you have and money you've already promised somewhere else.

Here's how it plays out. You've got $18,000 in the account and it feels fine. But $9,000 is restricted grant money, $6,000 is payroll clearing Friday, and rent's due Monday. Your real spendable cash is a few hundred dollars, not eighteen thousand.

Essentially, bookkeeping is the practice of turning that misleading number into the truth.

Three habits get you there:

- Give every dollar a category, so you know what it's for.
- Mark restricted money separately, so you never spend it twice.
- Reconcile monthly, which simply means checking that your books and your bank agree.

What better looks like: you glance at your books, not just your bank, and know in ten seconds what you can actually spend.

Pick one day a month for reconciliation and set it as a repeating calendar event. That one habit prevents most cash-flow surprises.

The fastest way to get your nonprofit in trouble with the IRS? Bad accounting.
These mistakes happen every day ⬇️

You can't get the grant you want without the proof you're avoiding. Here's the fix ⬇️