Accounting built for mission-driven organizations.
Restricted funds, grant reporting, board governance, and Form 990 are a different discipline from commercial accounting. It’s the work we do most.
- Monthly service
- $575–$1,500
- Form 990
- $900–$2,500
- Standards
- GAAP for nonprofits · GASB
Why this is a specialty, not a sideline
A commercial bookkeeper who has never tracked a restricted grant will produce statements that look fine and answer none of the questions your board, your funders, or your auditor will ask.
Fund accounting, functional expense allocation, board governance disclosures, and the public scrutiny that comes with a Form 990 have no equivalent in for-profit work. Getting them wrong costs organizations funding and credibility — and the mistakes usually surface at the worst possible moment, in front of a funder or an auditor.
What we handle
Full-cycle bookkeeping with restricted and unrestricted funds tracked separately. Monthly statements in the formats your board expects. Budget versus actual against the budget you approved. Grant and funder reporting. Form 990 preparation or the financial summaries a separate preparer needs. And records kept audit-ready all year rather than assembled each spring.
Community development and real estate
Organizations doing neighborhood revitalization, housing, or property-based programs sit at an unusual intersection — mission on one side, real estate finance on the other. That combination is unusually well matched to this firm’s background, which includes hands-on real estate development and project financing alongside the accounting.
Where the audit line sits
If we keep your books, we keep you audit-ready and support you through fieldwork, but we cannot issue the opinion — independence standards prohibit it, and a report from your own accountant would not satisfy the funder asking for it. We will help you find and evaluate an independent auditor. For organizations whose books we do not keep, we perform audits directly.
Without an internal accounting department
This structure suits organizations with streamlined transaction volume that want consistent professional oversight but cannot justify a full-time hire. A CPA’s judgment on the work, a bookkeeper’s hands on the entries, at a fraction of a salary.
Nonprofit fee ranges
Monthly CPA service
$575 – $1,500 / month
Form 990 preparation
$900 – $2,500 / year
Budget creation
$400 – $1,200
Grant reporting
$95 – $150 / hour
QuickBooks cleanup
$500 – $1,500 one-time
Independent audit
$6,000 – $12,000 Only where we do not keep the books.
The compliance year
What a year with us looks like.
Monthly rhythm, quarterly check-ins, and a year-end that is a review rather than a scramble.
Monthly
Close and report
Transactions recorded, accounts reconciled, restricted funds tracked, and the reporting package delivered to leadership.
Quarterly
Review with leadership
Financial check-in, budget performance discussion, and recommendations on process or organization where we see room.
Year end
Close and prepare
Accounts finalized, classifications confirmed, reconciliations balanced, and the year-end statement package assembled.
Filing season
990 and audit
Form 990 prepared or supported, and documentation handed to your auditor with the schedules they will ask for.
Questions
Questions from nonprofit leaders
We are small. Do we need a CPA at all?
Our treasurer is a volunteer with no accounting background.
We have never been audited but a funder is asking.
We are behind on our 990 filings.
Can you work with our existing bookkeeper?
Request a proposal.
Tell us your organization's size, fiscal year, and what your funders require. You will get a written scope and a flat monthly fee.