2009/5/13 Thomas Dalton <[email protected]>: > 2009/5/13 Robert Rohde <[email protected]>: >> As it is, this is being released more than 10 months after the end of >> the fiscal year which is rather a lot. > > Indeed. Normally waiting a while for this kind of stuff doesn't > matter, but an organisation like WMF is moving so quickly that it's > pretty much irrelevant publishing this information now. (A lot of it > was already released in the annual financial statements, though, I > think.)
I won't reply to everything in this thread, but I will quickly reply to this. (I'm on a break from a budget prep meeting.) Here's how it works with regards to 990s: Organizations are required to file their 990s within five months of the end of the fiscal year. Many organizations also obtain extensions; it's totally normal. If you go here http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/knowledgebase/detail.php?linkID=214&category=118&xrefID=2579 --to the U.S. National Center for Charitable Statistics-- you can see a spreadsheet analyzing filed 990s. It shows that 62% of returns in the study were filed between the 5th and 9th month after the close of the organizations' fiscal years. Ten percent were filed prior to the 5th month; 17 percent in months 10-12; and 8 percent more than a year after the end of the organizations' fiscal year. The NCCS says "One possible reason suggested by practitioners [that 990s are not filed more quickly] is that auditors, who typically complete organizations' Forms 990 as well, must schedule their audits to permit a steady workflow. Thus, an accounting firm specializing in nonprofit or corporate returns will have an organization obtain an extension so the firm can schedule the audit for, say, 6 months after the close of the organization's fiscal year during a slack period for the firm." Our form was filled out by our audit firm, KPMG, and then reviewed by Veronique, me, the audit committee, and the board, before being filed. (That level of review is considered best practice.) Thanks, Sue _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
