Responsibility for accounting obligations lies with a management body, irrespective of whether an accountant is employed under an employment contract, civil law contract concluded with an accounting office or whether accounting records are kept by volunteers.
During our long-term work with non-governmental organisations, we have noticed that the specificity of NGO accounting is so significant that only a specialised entity is able to guarantee the correctness of performed works.
When selecting an accounting office, we suggest that the following issues are discussed:
- Accounting policy and company chart of accounts – every organisation should have these documents.
- The way of segregating revenues and costs in terms of statutory unpaid, paid or business activity.
- The way of allocating funds received within the framework of 1% and records connected with spending these funds.
- Financing sources and their impact on record-keeping and accounting obligations, specificity of tax settlements for NGO, e.g.: VAT structure of shared costs, income tax exemption rules.
