West Des Moines Community Schools Community Education

Welcome to Bookkeeping for Nonprofits! This course is for those who already understand proper bookkeeping procedures but need to apply these procedures to nonprofits. In this course we will review the rules of debits and credits, regardless of if it’s a for profit business or a nonprofit organization, the rules of debits and credits remain the same! You will learn what the chart of accounts looks like for nonprofits (hint - there is no equity). You will learn how to record transactions, with a focus on how money filters into a nonprofit organization and how you track the spending of funds received. The course finishes with preparing financial statements for a nonprofit.

Even though a nonprofit organization is not in business to make a profit, they still have expenses just like a for profit business does and they still have money coming in. It’s important that you understand how to handle bookkeeping procedures for this unique type of organization. In order for any organization to be successful, and to make sound decisions, you have to know the financial health of your organization. Let’s get started!

To progress through this course you will:

• Read the print readings.
• Have the option of accessing the online readings.
• Listen to the audio presentation for the Unit and view the slides.
• Have the option of taking a self-quiz to see how much you have learned.
• Engage in written online discussion with your instructor and other participants.
• The content (readings, audio lectures, slides) and self quizzes are accessible for the entire course, so you can work ahead, or go back and review again, at your convenience.

Discussion:

• The discussion for each unit lasts one week. All comments are made in writing and can be made at any time of the day or night.
• Your instructor will log into the discussion area at least once a day and answer questions, make comments, and respond to comments by you and the other participants.
• We encourage you to make 2-3 comments each day to maximize your learning and enjoyment of the course.