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    Form 990 Services

    The Form 990 may be the most widely read document your organization produces, and most organizations give it the least attention.

    Grantmakers review it during due diligence. Charity rating organizations score against it. Prospective board members read it before saying yes. Journalists use it. Major donors, or their advisors, look at it. It is posted publicly and it stays available for years.

    A return can be entirely accurate and still damage the organization, because the narrative sections were left thin, the functional expense allocation makes the program ratio look worse than reality, or a governance question was answered no when a policy could easily have been adopted.

    We prepare the 990 as a compliance filing and as a public document, because it functions as both for your organization.

    Request a Form 990 quote

    Returns we prepare

    Form 990. The full return for organizations above the filing thresholds.

    Form 990-EZ. For smaller organizations that qualify.

    Form 990-PF. For private foundations.

    Form 990-T. For organizations with unrelated business taxable income.

    Form 990-N. e-Postcard filing for small organizations that qualify.

    Where the 990 is read most closely

    Program service accomplishments. This is the narrative describing what the organization did. This is the section grantmakers read, and it is routinely left as one thin sentence carried over from a prior year. It is an opportunity that costs nothing to use well.

    Functional expense allocation. Program, management and general, and fundraising. The program percentage derived from this schedule drives rating organization scores and donor perception. Allocation should follow a documented methodology rather than habit, and many organizations understate program expense because nobody has revisited the method in years.

    Compensation reporting. Officer, director, key employee, and highest compensated employee reporting, plus the questions about how compensation was set. Reasonableness and process matter here, and intermediate sanctions exposure is real.

    Governance. Whether the organization has a conflict of interest policy, a whistleblower policy, a document retention policy, and whether the board reviewed the 990 before filing. These are not legally required, but well-governed organizations have such policies in place. Most are straightforward to adopt.

    Related organizations and transactions with interested persons. Disclosure that draws attention when incomplete.

    Public support. Schedule A and the support test calculation, which determines whether the organization remains a public charity.

    Unrelated business income

    This is an area organizations often get wrong, usually without realizing there is a question.

    Income can be unrelated business taxable income even when the money funds the mission. Common sources include advertising in publications, certain sponsorship arrangements that cross from acknowledgment into advertising, rental income where services are provided or debt financing exists, sales of merchandise unrelated to the exempt purpose.

    The separate trade or business rules require income and loss to be tracked by activity, so losses from one activity cannot offset income from another. Organizations that previously netted everything together often owe more than they expect once the activities are separated.

    We identify the activities, apply the exceptions and modifications, and prepare the 990-T where required.

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    Public support testing

    A public charity must satisfy a support test measured over a rolling period. Organizations that rely on a few large single donors or receive an unusually large gift can fail without noticing.

    Failing means reclassification as a private foundation, which brings excise taxes, distribution requirements, self dealing restrictions, and a real loss of flexibility. It is also largely avoidable with monitoring, because the calculation is visible years before the outcome.

    We run the calculation annually and tell you when the trend is heading the wrong direction, while there is still time to change it.

    Deadlines

    The 990 is due on the fifteenth day of the fifth month after fiscal year end, with a six month extension available. For calendar year organizations that is May 15, extended to November 15. Late filing penalties add up quickly if the return or extension is not filed timely.

    Failure to file for three consecutive years results in automatic revocation of exempt status, which is expensive to reverse.

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    Common questions

    Group 247-1

    How much does 990 preparation cost?

    It depends on organization size, number of schedules, whether a 990-T is required, and how many state filings apply. We quote in advance

    Group -3

    Can you prepare our 990 if another firm audits us?

    Yes.
     

    Group -9

    Our current preparer files it and we never discuss it. Is that normal?

    It is common and it is a missed opportunity. The return should be reviewed and shared with the board before filing, and the narrative sections should be written deliberately.

    Group -6

    We think we might have unrelated business income. What now?

    Tell us what the activities are. Identifying it correctly is better than the alternative, and there are more exceptions available than most organizations expect.

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    We lost our exempt status for non-filing. Can it be restored?

    There is a reinstatement process, and the path depends on how long ago and the organization's size. Bring us the notices.

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    Do you work with organizations outside Utah?

    Yes.


    Request a Form 990 quote

    Tell us your organization type, fiscal year end, approximate revenue, and whether you have activities that might generate unrelated business income. We will contact you about how we can help.

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