Understanding Administrative Expenses: Teleconference

In this teleconference, the presenters dispell some common myths by describing the legal aspects of reporting and discussing the norms and trends related to administrative expenses. Topics covered include:

  • payout
  • compensation
  • occupancy
  • travel
  • investment costs

The speakers also discuss the importance of understanding how perception (internal, legal, congressional, media, and public) can affect how you report expenses, and provide a global view of how these issues impact the sector as a whole.

Audio Recording (16.39 Mb)

Speaker Notes

Agenda

  1. Welcome
  2. Overview of Discussion
  3. Administrative Expenses – What Counts?
  4. Direct vs. Indirect Costs
  5. Using Benchmarks
  6. Impact of Legislation
  7. Importance of Perception on Reporting
  8. Improving the Sector
  9. Questions and Discussion

Speaker Bios

Thomas J. Raffa is the President and founder of RAFFA, Inc., a consulting, accounting and technology firm started in 1984 with over 150 professionals dedicated to serving the nonprofit community. The Firm currently provides services to over 400 nonprofit clients including audits, tax, consulting, technology, and outsourcing. Tom has over 28 years of varied experience in providing services to the nonprofit sector. He is a founding member on the Board of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management and is the Treasurer of the Board and on the Executive Committee of the Research Institute for Small and Emerging Business. Tom writes for various national publications and has been an instructor and speaker for many nonprofit training programs and conferences and various Federal agencies, and he lectures at the Georgetown University Law Center. Tom is a graduate of Georgetown University and has his CPA certificate from the District of Columbia.

Andrew Schulz is the Deputy General Counsel for the Council on Foundations. His responsibilities include maintaining ongoing expertise in a broad cross-section of tax, legislative and regulatory issues in order to provide assistance and consultation to Council members and the general public. Prior to joining the Council in 2000, Andrew was an associate at the law firm of Dorn & Klamp in Washington, DC, where he specialized in the laws affecting non-profit organizations. He has written numerous publications on legal issues affecting non-profits, including, most recently, Top 10 Ways Corporate Foundations Get Into Trouble. Andrew is a graduate of the College of Wooster (Wooster, OH) and the George Washington University Law School. He is a member of the Maryland Bar and the District of Columbia Bar.

Frank Smith is a senior tax manager with Raffa, P.C. in Washington, DC and has over 15 years of experience in the area of tax-exempt organizations. Frank currently manages Raffa’s exempt organization tax practice. Prior to joining Raffa, Frank was a senior manager in the National Tax Department of Ernst & Young where he specialized in analyzing and addressing tax issues related to the nonprofit industry. As such, he worked with a wide variety of tax-exempt organizations throughout the country and was responsible for monitoring the regulatory and legislative developments of the nonprofit industry on a daily basis. Frank has extensive experience dealing with issues related to tax exemption, including the preparation and review of annual tax returns, providing consultation services related to the organization and day-to-day operations of all types of exempt organizations, and researching and analyzing complex transactions engaged in by such organizations. Frank is a member of the Michigan Association of CPAs and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is also a long-standing member of the Council on Foundations’ Philanthropic Advisors Network. Frank received his bachelor's degree in Accounting and his master’s degree in Taxation from Brigham Young University in 1991.