News & Events

Do’s and Don’ts of Tax-Exempt Status Guidance Papers Now Available

Not-for-Profit Organizations From Infancy to Adolescence to Adulthood!

Creating a Tax-Exempt Organization

This paper walks through the do’s and don’ts of creating a tax-exempt organization with focus on: 

  • Recruiting board members
  • Creating bylaws
  • Special rules for low-income housing entities
  • Incorporation
  • IRS forms and paperwork requirements
  • State considerations

STaying Tax-Exempt

Now that your organization has tax-exempt status, how do you keep it?

This paper outlines the do’s and don’ts for maintaining your tax-exempt status. Topics covered include: 

  • Fundamentals of maintaining tax-exempt status – organizational and operational tests
  • Unrelated business income taxes
  • Safe harbor guidelines
  • Lobbying
  • Public charity status

Jan. 23, 2019 – Annual Accounting Updates Webinar

Join Strength Matters for our annual “must read” webinar for nonprofit affordable housing CFO’s, COOs and lenders outlining the significant accounting standards that changed in 2018.
 
Dave Conway of Novogradac will explain and discuss the status of several FASB projects currently in process and what to be planning for in the next year. 
 
 
Download webinar slides

12/13/18 2PM ET – Functional Expense Reporting Webinar

Join Strength Matters for a one-hour webinar on the new Functional Expense Reporting requirements. Scott Seamands of Lindquist, von Husen & Joycewill cover the new requirement to present expenses in both natural and functional formats for 2018 financial statements.

Register for the Webinar

Download Slides

Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Credits for CPAs
Although we are not yet part of the NASBA Registry of CPE Sponsors for webinars, we follow NASBA guidelines in our program. You may request a certificate of completion and petition your state board of accountancy to request that the credits be allowed. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit.
 
Learning objectives:   
  • Discuss the new requirement to present expenses in both natural and functional formats for 2018 financial statements.
Instructional delivery method: Group internet
 
CPE credits: 1 CPE (50 minutes of instructional time = 1 CPE)
 
Field of Study: Accounting
 
Program level: Intermediate
 
Who Should Attend: Senior-level management experience in nonprofit real estate development
 
Prerequisite: Nonprofit housing development organization management or related financial management experience
 
Advanced preparation required: None required.
 
Registration: Participants should register in advance using the button above
 
Participation Requirements: To receive a certificate of completion for a webinar, participants must be logged into the webinar and dialed into the audio portion (if joining audio by computer, no separate dial-in required) by 10 minutes after the stated start time, complete all engagement activities (including polls), and participate in the full webinar.
 
Please email consult.lwells@gmail.com after the event to request a certificate.
 
Contact: For more information regarding policies, or to issue a complaint, please email Lindsay Wells at consult.lwells@gmail.com or Angela Gravely-Smith at AGravelySmith@nw.org.

11/29/18 2PM ET – New Liquidity Footnote Webinar

Join Strength Matters for a one-hour webinar on the new liquidity footnote disclosure requirements. Scott Seamands of Lindquist, von Husen & Joyce and Karen Kent, of Kevin P. Martin & Associates will lead this webinar and provide guidance on how to begin drafting your organization’s 2018 financial statements. CPE credit available.  

Register for the Webinar

Download Slides

December Boot Camp in Pittsburgh, PA

The next Strength Matters Boot Camp will be in Pittsburgh, PA, on December 3-4, 2018 during NeighborWorks National Training Institute. 

Event Overview and Registration

 Email info@strengthmatters.com with questions. 

Strength Matters Boot Camp is designed to provide an overview of the accounting and financial reporting issues faced by a nonprofit housing enterprise. Accounting professionals working in this field require industry-specific information. The course also offers CPE credit. Examples of topics covered in this course:

  • The accounting differences unique to each entity type, such as limited partnerships.
  • Funding sources unique to the industry, such as HUD, Low Income Housing Tax Credits and other programs. Funding requests from these and commercial sources are examined both in lecture format and through case study.
  • Project surplus cash calculations and the loan and regulatory agreements to be considered.
  • Using materials published by Strength Matters, participants also focus on financial reporting issues that arise throughout the life cycle of an affordable housing property, from predevelopment through year-15 buyouts and beyond.

2018 Financial Management Conference Agenda

2018 Strength Matters Financial Management ConferenceThe Financial Management Conference, formerly the NeighborWorks CFO Convening, is open to all community developers – real estate developers, CDFIs, and CDCs. The conference agenda is outlined below.

Registration for the 2018 Financial Management Conference is now closed. Please contact Omayra Colon at colon@housingpartnership.net for additional information.

STRENGTH MATTERS FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
Tuesday, October 16th, 2018
12:00PM – 12:45PM  OPENING CONFERENCE LUNCHEON
12:45PM – 1:45PM OPENING PLENARY – CAPITAL FOR SCALE TO IMPACT CHANGE
David Erickson, director of Community Development at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, will provide keynote remarks and seed a discussion on community development investment and social impact capital from a number of perspectives to kick-off the broader financial management conference. For the discussion that follows, David will be joined by Chrystal Kornegay, executive director of MassHousing, and other key leaders in the Strength Matters network.
1:45PM – 2:00PM BREAK
2:00PM – 4:00PM
 		 CONCURRENT SESSIONS
 
  • Advanced Real Estate Capital Structures – As more Americans struggle with housing affordability, community developers are diversifying their capital sources and structures. How? And with whom?
  • Advanced CDFI Capital Structures – As CDFIs expand their reach to more communities, new capital structures are needed to continue to grow. What structures are being innovated and which investors are providing this capital?
  • Sizing Ourselves Up for Enterprise Capital – Enterprise capital comes in many shapes and sizes. What kinds of capital are available? How is your organization underwritten for each? How does this affect your balance sheet and place calls upon your financial management capacity? 
  • Managing and Measuring Impact – Like our financial story – our impact story, year over year, becomes part of how we attract and steward investors. As this practice is maturing, what are investors learning about how they frame impact? What are community practitioners learning about managing impact and communicating to investors?
  • Opportunity Zones – How are Opportunity Zones shaping up? What kind of community investments will fit into these funds? What kinds of funds are being established?
 
 6:00PM – 7:00PM COCKTAIL RECEPTION AT THE WESTIN DALLAS  
Wednesday, October 17th, 2018
8:30AM – 12:00PM CFO/FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT WORKSHOPS
Five tracks of workshops will be provided.  Sessions will be led by your peers and others by experts in their field. You are free to participate in workshops in different tracks throughout the day. Final schedule of workshops will be made available shortly before the meeting.  Sample topics are provided below.
. 
 
  1. Financial Reporting Track –  FASB updates; Quantifying Enterprise Risk and the Liquidity Footnote; Navigating Functional Expenses Reporting
  2. Management Track – Managing Employee Benefits;  Cybersecurity; Dashboards; Using Financial Planning & Analysis to Strengthen Your Business
  3. Rental Housing Track – The Changing World of Tax; How about Income Averaging in the Tax Credit; Positioning Your Organization in your Partnership Agreements for Waterfalls and Developer Fees (FASB)
  4. Home Building Track – Managing Shared Appreciation Homeownership (saving long term affordability in growth markets), New Markets Tax Credits fueling single family development (speaking from experience, wisdom earned the hard way); keeping it affordable: Construction and Design Peer Exchange, and more
  5. Lending Track – Managing Interest Rate Risk; Meeting the Reporting Demands of Internal and External Stakeholders; Financial and Loan Portfolio Management: managing multiple loan products
 
12:00PM – 1:00PM CFO Café
Enjoy a working lunch and meet with experts and/or consult with your peers on the following topics (and other topics that emerge): 

• Cash Forecasting – meet with consultants who can help you with your cash forecast
• Software – compare notes with your peers
• NeighborWorks OAD Review Process
1:00PM – 4:30PM
 		 AFTERNOON SESSIONS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  1. Financial Reporting – FASB updates; Quantifying enterprise risk and the liquidity footnote; Navigating Functional Expenses reporting
  2. Management Track – Managing employee benefits; Cybersecurity; Dashboards; Using Financial Planning & Analysis to Strengthen Your Business
  3. Rental Housing Track – The Changing World of Tax; How about Income Averaging in the Tax Credit; Positioning Your Organization in your Partnership Agreements for Waterfalls and Developer Fees (FASB);
  4. Homebuiding Track – Managing Shared Appreciation Homeownership (saving long term affordability in growth markets), NEW MARKETS TAX CREDITS FUELING SINGLE FAMILY DEVELOPMENT (speaking from experience, wisdom earned the hard way); KEEPING IT AFFORDABLE: Construction and Design Peer Exchange, and more
  5. Lending Track – Managing Interest Rate Risk; Meeting the Reporting Demands of Internal and External Stakeholders; Financial and Loan Portfolio Management: managing multiple loan products
 6:00PM – 7:30PM  RECEPTION AT THE DALLAS FEDERAL RESERVE BANK
Thursday, October 18th, 2018
8:30AM – 9:15AM
 		 PLENARY – LESSONS FROM THE FIELD: NAVIGATING CHANGE MANAGEMENT 
Sheila Maith, a leading industry consultant and executive coach and an expert in organizational change management, will reflect on her experience in the field and provide context for the morning discussions.
9:15AM – 9:30AM BREAK  
9:30AM – 11:30AM  CONCURRENT CHANGE MANAGEMENT SESSIONS  
 
  • Know Thyself: The First Step – Cash forecasting, financial analytics, and competitive analysis – the first critical steps of strategic planning
  • Assessing Options for the Future – So many ideas, so little time… Here is an analytical frame for evaluating and narrowing your options with your staff and board leadership
  • Merging/Combining – Merging, partnering, combining – all these options are before us. There’s the process of evaluating these possibilities; then there’s the often hard job of getting all the systems lined up to implement the plan.
  • Succession Planning – Succession is upon us, creating its own current of change; We’ll examine strategies for building the financial management office talent pool and navigating staff and talent growth needed as your organization changes
  • Driving Toward Efficiency: Process Change – Tightening the reins on process management is often the underutilized toolkit needed for cost control and increased competitive efficiency
 
11:30AM  CONFERENCE ADJOURNS