Course 303 - Financial Accounting & Reporting

Course 303 - Financial Accounting & Reporting (3 credits) 

Two essential issues are covered - the mechanics of non-profit accounting and the necessity of financial accountability. The outcome of this course is the development of an accounting policy manual for a nonprofit organization.

This course counts toward credit as a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE Certification).

Professor: Barbara Clemenson

Learning Objectives for this Course

Week One

• To introduce the student to Course 303 and its instructor.
  
• To give the student an overview of the different types of accounting.
  
• To introduce the student to basic accounting terms as well as to available financial information through www.Guidestar.org.

 

Week Two

• To help the student understand the difference between bookkeeping, accounting and auditing.
• To enable the student to understand the difference attest services offered by auditors, what they mean and when each is appropriate.
• To introduce the student to the four nonprofit financial statements.

Week Three

• To introduce the student to the Balance Sheet of an organization, in order that they may understand:

  • Assets - What the organization owns
  • Liabilities - What the organization owes
  • Net Assets - What the organization owns without debt; that is, what it is worth.
    
    
• To help the student understand the difference between:
  • Unrestricted funds
  • Temporarily restricted funds, and
  • Permanently restricted funds

Week Four

• To introduce the student to the Income Statement, and the organization's income, expenses and profit or loss.
• To help the student understand the importance of profit in nonprofit organizations.
• To introduce the student to the Statement of Functional Expenses.

Week Five

• To help the student further explore the Income Statement, specifically looking at issues of:
  • Allocations
  • Estimations, especially of In-Kind donations
  • Classifications
• To introduce the student to the use of an Excel Spreadsheet.
• To begin to understand the fundamentals of trend and ratio analysis and how they can provide us insight into an organization's financial situation.
  

Week Six

• To introduce the student to the Statement of Cash Flow so that they understand cash in-flow and out-flow concerning:
  • Operations
  • Investing
  • Financing
• To help the student begin to explore trend and benchmark analysis, to understand why these comparisons are important, and to see what these analyses can tell us about our organization.

Week Seven

This week's lessons begin to introduce the students to the regulatory environment in which nonprofit organizations operate.   This week we concentrate on regulation at the organizational level.

• To help the student understand the concepts and importance of Internal Controls.
• To provide the student with the opportunity to assess an organization's Internal Controls and propose possible corrective action.
   

Week Eight

This week we continue our look at regulation, looking at oversight at the organizational level by both auditors and outside watch-dog agencies. 

• To familiarize the student with audited financial statements and the auditors' opinion.
• To help the student understand how outside agencies assess and certify nonprofit organizations.

Week Nine

This week we will finish looking at the regulatory environment in which nonprofits operate, focusing on the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on our organizations.

• To introduce the student to Sarbanes-Oxley and its impact on nonprofit organizations.
• To enable the student to reflect on this course's material and how it applies to their accountability before God.

Course Materials & Tuition 

Streetsmart Financial Basics for Nonprofit Managers	$32.00
Digital Media Fee	$50.00
Tuition	$450.00
Total Cost of Course	$532.00

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