Nonprofit Accounting in NYC
What We Handle
-
Form 990 Preparation — We prepare the 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF depending on your organization’s size and type. Every schedule is reviewed for accuracy and consistency with your financial statements.
-
CHAR500 Filing — New York requires registered charities to file the CHAR500 with the Attorney General’s Charities Bureau annually. Miss it and your solicitation registration lapses, which means you can’t legally fundraise in the state.
-
Grant Reporting & Compliance — Government and foundation grants come with spending restrictions and reporting deadlines. We track expenditures by grant, prepare the financial reports funders require, and flag any compliance issues before they become problems.
-
Fund Accounting & Bookkeeping — Nonprofits need to track restricted, temporarily restricted, and unrestricted funds separately. We set up and maintain your chart of accounts so the books reflect how your money is actually designated.
-
Donor Acknowledgment Letters — Proper substantiation letters for donations over $250, including the required language about goods or services provided in exchange. Get this wrong and your donors lose their deduction.
Nonprofit Compliance in New York
New York is one of the strictest states for nonprofit oversight. The Attorney General’s Charities Bureau actively monitors registered organizations, and the CHAR500 filing requirement catches nonprofits off guard more often than you’d expect. The form requires audited or reviewed financial statements depending on your revenue level — organizations with over $750,000 in revenue need a full audit by an independent CPA.
The 990 itself is a public document. Donors, grantmakers, and watchdog organizations read it. Executive compensation disclosures, governance answers, and program accomplishment narratives all get scrutinized. A sloppy 990 raises red flags even when the underlying finances are fine. We prepare the return with the understanding that people other than the IRS are going to read it.
For organizations that receive government grants — city council discretionary funding, state contracts, federal pass-through grants — the reporting requirements multiply. Each funder has different fiscal year assumptions, different budget line items, and different deadlines. We’ve worked with arts organizations, social services nonprofits, and community development groups across NYC, and the consistent theme is that the accounting needs to be structured for the reporting, not the other way around.
Ready to Get Started?
Tell us about your organization and we’ll outline a plan for getting your compliance and reporting on track.