For executive directors and nonprofit CFOs
Financial Clarity™
for nonprofit organizations.
ASC 958 fund accounting, functional expense allocation, federal-award compliance, and audit-ready statements. One team. No rotating pod.
28+
Nonprofit clients
$5M – $250M budgets
$1.8B+
Client annual revenue
Under management
4d
Median monthly close
Reconciled by day 4
Trusted by executive directors at:
Nonprofits operate under accounting conditions FASB designed to be different.
01Donor-restricted contributions are not revenue at receipt — they’re net assets with donor restrictions, released when the purpose is satisfied. Federal awards carry compliance obligations whose violation forfeits future eligibility. Functional expense allocation determines the program-ratio that donors and watchdog raters search for.
02Most nonprofits hire bookkeepers trained on for-profit GAAP. The result is books that pass at startup and fail at audit, at Form 990 filing, or at the Charity Navigator review that decides whether the next gift arrives.
03Debit & Co treats nonprofit accounting as its own discipline. Fund classification, functional expense methodology, grant drawdown modeling, federal-award compliance, and audit-ready statements — built for the way nonprofit organizations actually run.
When to engage Debit & Co.
Most engagements begin with three or more of these eight conditions.
- Donor-restricted contributions are recorded in unrestricted net assets.
Audit qualification; restated statements. - Functional expense allocation methodology hasn’t been refreshed in 2+ years.
990 disclosure unsupportable; program-ratio scrutiny. - Federal awards exceed $750K but no Single Audit has been engaged.
Uniform Guidance violation; future award eligibility risk. - Grant compliance reports are reconstructed at deadline, not maintained continuously.
Pass-through entity scrutiny; carryforward forfeiture.
- Endowment investment policy hasn’t been UPMIFA-aligned since 2018.
Fiduciary risk; board liability exposure. - Donor-advised fund grants and pledges are recognized at receipt, not promise.
Revenue recognition timing fails ASC 958. - The 990 is prepared by a tax CPA without a draft review by leadership.
Reputational risk; donor-search red flags. - Quarterly statements aren’t reconciled to the audited financials.
Board confidence erodes; auditor finds reconciling items late.
The Financial Clarity™ framework.
Three pillars. Every engagement maps to them.
01
Clean.
Close by the fourth business day. Reconcile restricted net assets, grant drawdowns, and cash. Deliver statements of activities, financial position, and cash flows.
02
Compliant.
Apply ASC 958 fund classifications. Maintain SEFA, pass-through documentation, and compliance memos. Build audit-ready schedules and substantiation each month.
03
Communicable.
Report program, management, and fundraising ratios. Present cost-per-beneficiary and donor cohort retention. Deliver the monthly packet for board review.
Budget & Forecast and Catch-Up & Reconciliation support planning, grant drawdowns, and remediation.
Six functions. One integrated finance scope.
Each function maps to a named Debit & Co. service. The mix reflects annual budget, federal-award complexity, and fund structure, which determine the appropriate finance scope.
Fund Accounting & ASC 958
Net asset classification (with / without donor restrictions). Release-from-restriction tracking. Endowment classification (true endowment, board-designated, quasi). Audit-ready documentation.
Pillar: Compliant · Delivered by: Staff Accountants
Monthly Close & Statement of Activities
Four-day monthly close. Statement of Activities, Financial Position, Functional Expenses, Cash Flows. Reconciled to the dollar.
Pillar: Clean · Delivered by: Comprehensive Bookkeepers
Cash Flow & Grant Drawdown Modeling
Cash flow forecasting calibrated to grant remit cadence. Drawdown schedule by award. Working-capital scenario layers for program expansion.
Pillar: Clean · Delivered by: Budget & Forecast
Program Outcomes & KPI Reporting
Program / Management / Fundraising ratios. Cost-per-beneficiary. Donor cohort retention. Reported in the same packet, every month.
Pillar: Communicable · Delivered by: Outsourced Finance Department
Federal Award Compliance & Single Audit Readiness
Schedule of Federal Awards (SEFA) maintained. Pass-through entity documentation. Uniform Guidance compliance memos. Single audit substantiation.
Pillar: Compliant · Delivered by: Audit & Attest
990 Substantiation & Audit Diligence
Form 990 schedule substantiation continuously maintained. Public support test calculation. Functional expense methodology defensible to IRS and Charity Navigator.
Pillar: Communicable · Delivered by: Staff Accountants
A sample monthly nonprofit financial package, delivered to your inbox.
Representative page from a $40M operating-budget engagement. Identifiers redacted. Includes net assets reconciliation, functional expense allocation, federal-award schedule. Delivered by the 4th business day.
Single email. No newsletter signup.
✓ On its way.
Thanks — we’ll email the sample within 1 business day.
Questions in the meantime? Email info@debitandco.com.
Leadership
The leadership behind your Financial Clarity™.
Founding Partner & Senior Controller
Aaron Ressel
20 years building high-performing accounting teams. Reviews every client deliverable for accuracy, GAAP compliance, and strategic value.
Founding Partner & CFO
Kevin Cahill
Brings seasoned CFO-level strategic insight to every engagement. Helps clients shift from reactive accounting to proactive financial management.
Where Debit & Co fits.
Specificity is a service. The list below is honest.
Engages well with:
- 501(c)(3) public charities and operating foundations
- Annual operating budget $5M to $250M
- Federal-award recipients (or expected within 12 months)
- Multi-fund organizations (restricted, board-designated, endowed)
- Boards expecting Single Audit or 990 prep within 18 months
- Organizations with documented internal-control policies
Not the right fit:
- 501(c)(6), private foundations, or for-profit corps (different rules)
- Annual budgets under $2M (overhead may exceed value)
- Single-program organizations without federal awards or restricted gifts
- Organizations needing fundraising-software setup support (Debit & Co partners with Bloomerang / DonorPerfect specialists; coordination included)
Frequently asked.
We already have a bookkeeper. Why switch mid-year?
Yes. Most engagements begin in Q2 or Q3, allowing a clean migration before year-end and Single Audit work. Migration takes 14 business days. For books already behind, Catch-Up & Reconciliation reconciles missed months and prior periods.
How is Debit & Co different from generalist accounting firms?
Three differences. First: a single team per engagement, not a pod with rotating leads. Second: Staff Accountants who can defend ASC 958 net asset classification to auditors. Third: a published monthly cadence — close by day four, board section drafted ten days before each board meeting.
Will Debit & Co handle a Single Audit?
Yes. Debit & Co. maintains the SEFA and pass-through documentation, then builds workpapers and schedules through Audit & Attest. A licensed CPA partner performs fieldwork and signs the opinion.
How fast is onboarding?
Fourteen business days from signed engagement to first close delivered. Onboarding includes prior-period reconciliation, net asset classification baseline, functional expense methodology, and integration with QuickBooks NPC, Sage Intacct, Microsoft Dynamics, or Aplos.
What’s included in the monthly close packet?
Reconciled Statement of Financial Position, Statement of Activities, Statement of Functional Expenses, Statement of Cash Flows. Restricted net asset roll-forward. Grant drawdown schedule. Program outcomes dashboard.
Can Debit & Co. handle tax work?
Yes. Debit & Co. prepares returns from the live ledger via Tax Services. A licensed CPA partner reviews and signs them in one engagement. Form 990 substantiation remains part of the scope.
How is pricing structured?
Pricing depends on annual operating budget, federal-award complexity, fund structure, and service mix. Budget & Forecast starts at $2,500. Catch-Up & Reconciliation starts at $2,000.
Ready for Financial Clarity™?
Book a 30-minute discovery call. Tell us your situation, we’ll be honest about fit, and you get a custom proposal in 48 hours.