- Other – do you have any suggestions? Please let us know if you like either of our suggestions or have another for us.

Yesterday I was in a brainstorming meeting with some church leaders and one of the guys mentioned something about the World Series.  My brain instantly went to Moneyball.  We then spent the next several hours talking about this concept.  Does or could this concept apply to church?  In the church context, if the win (ie. winning a game) is helping someone come to faith in Christ, then what is the Run?.. What is the hit?  Could a run be seeing that person in a relationship with a strong believer that has an influence in their life?  Then, to a church, could a hit possibly be developing a leader capable of sharing their faith?  ie. Developing a leader (hit) leads to them in relationships with non-believers (run), which leads the non-believer to faith (win).

Could this make us think of church differently?  This may not seem that outside of the box.  Big deal – develop leaders.  Maybe you think this is already a priority to you as a church.  The big difference… the outside the box… is:  How does church attendance help develop a leader?  Maybe more focus should be on the people, relationship, and development, than attendance… this is not easy for the American church.  I am not saying churches need to stop holding services.  I am just communicating a fascinating concept that pushes on the paradigm a little.

I think this same concept can push on nonprofits as well.

What do you truly consider a win?

What would then be your runs?

What would then be your hits?

Are you focused on the win or on getting hits? And could a shift to focusing on hits actually help you get more wins?

Yes!  Nonprofits must file 1099′s, just like anyone else.  Kind of like a W2 is how you notify an employee of how much money they made, a 1099 is a tax form that lets people know other sources of income, such as contractor income.

There are many different types of 1099 forms.  These variants are based on the income source.  Here are just some of the more common ones:

• 1099-C: Cancellation of Debt
• 1099-CAP: Changes in Corporate Control and Capital Structure
• 1099-DIV: Dividends and Distributions
• 1099-G: Government Payments
• 1099-INT: Interest Income
• 1099-LTC: Long Term Care Benefits
• 1099-MISC: Miscellaneous Income
• 1099-OID: Original Issue Discount
• 1099-PATR: Taxable Distributions Received From Cooperatives
• 1099-R: Distributions from Pensions, Annuities, Retirement Plans, IRAs, or Insurance Contracts
• 1099-S: Proceeds from Real Estate Transactions
• 1099-SA: Distributions From an HSA, Archer MSA, or Medicare Advantage MSA
• 1042-S: Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income
• SSA-1099: Social Security Benefit Statement

The 1099-Misc is probably the most relevant one for you.  Nonprofits will need to fill out a form 1099-MISC for persons, vendors, subcontractors, independent contractors, and others in the following circumstances:

$600 or more per year is paid for:

What would you do with $200 dollars in Visa cash? Go out to a nice dinner? Buy yourself something? Pay your gas for the month… ok, couple weeks? Aplos is giving away a $200 Visa gift card to one lucky person!

Aplos is fund accounting software for nonprofits. We realize nonprofits and churches need to spend time on their mission – not on trying to figure out complicated accounting software. Click here to learn more about Aplos.

As for the giveaway, entering to win is simple, just like our software.

Official Contest Rules

$200 Visa Gift Card Giveaway

No purchase is necessary to enter or win. A purchase will not increase your chance of winning. The Aplos Twitter Giveaway (Giveaway) is sponsored and run by Aplos. Participation in the Giveaway constitutes entrants full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Rules.

Giveaway Period. The Giveaway commences at 2 P.M. PST on January 23, 2012 and ends at 11:59 P.M. PST on February 3, 2012. There is no minimum number of entrants, so if you are the only one to post, you win. Sponsor shall select one (1) winner, at random, at the end of the giveaway period.

Eligibility. The Giveaway is open to anyone age 13 or older as of the date of entry who resides in the 50 United States, except where prohibited by law or in any state that would require advance registration of this Giveaway. The Giveaway is void in Puerto Rico and U.S. territories and possessions. You are not eligible to participate in the Giveaway if you are not located within the 50 United States. Giveaway is void where restricted or prohibited by law. Employees of Aplos and their immediate families (parents, siblings, children, and spouses of each) are not eligible.

How to Enter.

1. Go to your twitter page, if you don’t have one you can start one for free. www.twitter.com

2. Make sure you are following Aplos_Software. This is the only way we can notify you if you win!

3. Tweet out the following message exactly as it appears only once. (Multiple entries could jeopardize your Twitter account)

#Win a $200 Visa Gift Card from Aplos, simplifying #fundaccounting! Follow @Aplos_Software and ReTweet www.aplossoftware.com/blog/?p=752

4. If youve completed ALL 3 steps prior to the cutoff date, as set forth below, you’ve successfully entered for a chance to win a $200 Visa Gift card from Aplos.

Sponsor reserves the right to deny any entry based on submission of incomplete information or non-compliance with these Official Rules. Sponsor is not responsible for late, lost, delayed, damaged, misdirected, incomplete, illegible, or unintelligible entries.

Winner Selection. Sponsor will select one winner, at random, for giveaway. The cutoff date for posting a tweet for the giveaway is February 3, 2012.  The winner will be notified via direct tweet through the email associated with the corresponding Twitter Account. The winner has three (3) days from this email notification to respond and confirm the winning entry. If the initial winner does not respond within this period, then a second drawing will be held. If necessary, subsequent drawings will be held until there is a confirmed winner provided time permits. The winner shall be required to complete an affidavit or declaration of eligibility/liability and, where permitted by law, a publicity release, which must be signed and returned and received by Sponsor within seven (7) days of the date printed on the prize notification. Failure to comply may result in forfeiture of all rights to prize(s). Sponsor is not responsible for and shall not be liable for late, lost, misdirected, or unsuccessful efforts to notify winners. If a prize or prize notification letter is returned as undeliverable, prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner will be awarded.

Prize. $200 Visa Gift Card

General Terms and Conditions. By participating, entrants agree that Sponsor, its shareholders, agents and representatives, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising, promotion and fulfillment agencies, and legal advisors are not responsible or liable for, and shall be released and held harmless from: (i) telephone, electronic, hardware or software program, network, Internet, or computer malfunctions, failures, or difficulties of any kind; (ii) any condition caused by events beyond the control of Sponsor that may cause the Giveaway to be disrupted or corrupted; (iii) any printing or typographical errors in any materials associated with the Giveaway; (iv) any and all losses, damages, rights, claims and actions of any kind in connection with or resulting from participation in the Giveaway, acceptance, possession, or use of any prize, including without limitation, personal injury, death, and property damage, and claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy. Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to amend and interpret these Official Rules at any time, and to terminate, suspend or cancel Giveaway at any time for any reason, including, without limitation, if a computer virus, bug, or other technical problem or security breach corrupts the administration, security, or proper conduct of the Giveaway. Participation in this Giveaway constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use winners name, hometown (including state or province) and/or likeness for promotional purposes without further compensation. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of participant and Sponsor in connection with the Giveaway, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules or provisions (whether of the State of California or any other jurisdiction), that would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of California. Any claim arising out of the foregoing shall be instituted solely in a court situated in Fresno County, California, and entrant and Sponsor irrevocably agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of such court. All federal, state and local laws and regulations apply. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Sponsor. Aplos Software, Fresno, California.

Twitter Disclaimer. Multiple entries could jeopardize your Twitter account according to Twitter Terms and Conditions. Creating multiple accounts in order to obtain more than one entry is prohibited and could result in a suspension of all Twitter accounts.

Good Luck!

Don’t let tax season scare you. As the bookkeeper for a small non-profit, my job description sometimes places me in situations where I lack experience. This year, our non-profit hired a grant writer as contracted labor. Because of this, we needed to supply the individual with a 1099. I was so excited to find a quick and easy way to have someone take care of the paperwork for me and answer my questions. If you are looking for a great resource to help you with your small payroll filings, I recommend a website, www.wagefiling.com. For a nominal fee, they will submit your W-2’s and 1099’s to the IRS as well as give you copies to send to the individuals on your payroll.

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Aplos is also planning on adding this functionality into our product, but since it isn’t ready yet, we wanted to make sure you were taken care of.

Click here to read about the accounting equation and the difference between an income statement and a balance sheet.

Balance sheet accounts (assets, liabilities, equity) always build on past numbers, since they are a snapshot… You can’t get to how much money do we have on 12/23/11 without knowing the sum total of all previous cash movements… since you need to know the amount ‘as of’ a certain day, these numbers will never clear out… they just build and build forever. So to answer your question – no, you would not create any closing entries to zero out assets, liabilities, and equity… they need to keep building on the past.

Now, the question about ‘closing entries’ is normally associated with income statement accounts… When accounting courses are taught, this is a key element of conversation because accounting is taught absence the features or functionality of any software that may be in use. If you were tracking your accounting by paper then your income and expense accounts would just continue to grow and grow (like your balance sheet accounts)… then when you would ask ‘how much money did we bring in (income) as of 10/1/11, your paper records would not know to exclude any thing prior to 1/1/10… you would end up with the total you ‘brought in’ since your org started through 10/1/11. So closing entries were used. At the end of each year a closing entry is used to zero all your income and expense accounts and bank any net income to your equity accounts…
So, if you had an income account with a balance of 10 (credit balance), and you had an expense account with a balance of 7 (debit balance).. then your closing entry would look like this:
income 10 (debit 10, so it offsets the 10 credit balance)
expense 7 (credit 7, so it offsets the 7 debit balance)
equity 3 (credit 3, so the transaction balances… the is moving the net income to equity).

Aplos does this ‘closing entry’ automatically in the report screen depending on the dates you pick for your report. The balance sheet is not affected.. The income statement knows that if you are asking for a report from 1/1/11 – 12/31/11 to create this ‘closing entry’ for the sum of everything prior to 1/1/11 and consider that closing entry when creating the report.

To sum it up: You don’t need to do anything at the end of the year regarding closing entries while using Aplos. Try Aplos free for 15 days by clicking here.

Asset, Liability, and equity show up on the balance sheet.
Income and expense show up on the income statement.

The accounting equation is:
Assets = Liability + Equity

The balance sheet (and thus assets, liabilities, and equity) are based on a single point in time… consider them a picture or a snapshot in time. Income statement is based on a date range. So, for instance, you would ask how much money (cash – asset) did I have on 1/1/11 rather than asking how much money (cash-asset) did I have between 1/1/11 and 12/31/11… asset = balance sheet = snapshot.

But you would ask how much money did we bring in (income) between 1/1/11 and 12/31/11… you wouldn’t ask how much money did we bring in as of 12/31/11 (and even if you did ask that, what you really meant is “since 1/1/11″).

Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Income, and Expense.

Asset, Liability, and equity show up on the balance sheet.

Income and expense show up on the income statement.

The accounting equation is “Assets = Liability + Equity”

We hope this helps! As always, if you or your organization need anything at all please feel free to reach out to us…

http://www.tsne.org/site/c.ghLUK3PCLoF/b.2429769/k.32C1/Articles__Nonprofit_Budget_Tips.htm

Sometimes what sounds like a truly wonderful idea in theory begins to seem impossible down on paper.  While venturing down different avenues to pursue goals, you might be surprised at how much “red tape” you have to navigate.  You also might find yourself extremely discouraged to find out that a great idea is going to take a great deal more work in order to see the payoff.  You and I both know that anything worth having, though, takes perseverance and stamina…and some insight into how others have mananged to push through despite discouragement.  One of the most frustrating tasks I have found myself are understanding the legal issues in many situations.  Below I have linked to a great article from the “Nonprofit Law Blog“.

While the article may not completely resolve the red tape issue, you might find some ways to avoid potential legal pitfalls.

Top 5 Fundraising Legal Tips