Nonprofit News by Soft Trac

I have resolved myself to the fact that I am no longer cool. When I go out, it’s generally with a husband in tow and 10:00 pm is a late night for us. I no longer care if my hair is in style or my clothes are fashionable. All of this would probably explain why I didn’t jump on the Facebook, Twitter or Linked In bandwagons right away.

Over the past few weeks, however, I have discovered what the fascination is all about. Even as I connect with high school and college friends on Facebook, the application of these readily available social media to fundraising become increasingly obvious. In this age of tightening resources, the use of these media as money saving mechanisms is also blindingly obvious, or at least should be.

On Facebook, for example, an organization can create an event and invite their friends. You can upload videos. Download free applications that will allow you to add items like an auction to your page. You can create a discussion board. Add a map to help people find your organization.

Obviously, a resource like Facebook isn’t intended to ferret out donations of large sums of money from relative strangers. But, if the current economic situation has shown us anything, it should be that relying on the few for large sums of money that can be wiped out by a bad run in the market is a risky strategy. Exploring avenues like Facebook and other social media can lead your organization to create new relationships with donors that may have shallower pockets, but who swim in a deep pool of social media, surrounded by friends, acquaintances, and strangers with money to give.

I know there are relatively few of you out there who are taking advantage of this tool. If you’re one of them, tell us why. If you are using Facebook, tell us how.

I came across a situation the other day where an organization had issued a payroll check to an employee who proceeded to not cash it and the organization had lost contact with the individual. The point of this story isn’t why they didn’t cash it (which in itself is a whole other thought) but rather what do you do when you’ve issued a check to someone and it doesn’t get cashed, you lose touch with the person and can’t locate them regardless of the many attempts.

As tempting as it is to just void the check and forget about it, there are proper procedures that should be followed. Each state will have different rules and you should check with your specific state for details, but in the State of Maine there is the “Maine’s Unclaimed Property Act”.

In Maine, if you have property belonging to another person and you’ve held it for the required dormancy period (which ranges from 1 to 15 years depending on the property) it should be reported as unclaimed property to the state.

For specific details on the required dormancy period or how to report unclaimed property to the State of Maine visit: http://maine.gov/treasurer/unclaimed_property/report_property/index.html

As for what to do in Sage MIP Fund Accounting will depend on whether it is an AP check or a Payroll Check.

If it is an AP check, you would want to void the check, referencing it as a lost check. This will clear it out of your bank reconciliation. This entry will debit cash and credit AP. Now you need to reverse the invoice. Then enter a new invoice to the Treasurer, State of Maine referencing the unclaimed property and the appropriate information about the
original check. When you cut the check to the Treasurer it will clear out AP leaving you with the debit to the expense and a credit to cash.

If it is a Payroll check it’s a little more complicated as you can’t void the check because it will impact your tax reports and those were reported correctly. So you’ll need to create a journal entry debiting cash and crediting a liability such as Due to State. Then when you are ready to send the money in to the state you’ll enter an invoice debiting the Liability “Due to State” and crediting AP. When you cut the check the AP will be debited and cash credited.

Hope this find you well. Here are some Sage Knowledgebase articles regarding tax forms to order and a useful PR Q&A article.

Please note that if you want to use Aatrix to file forms for you, you can set up an account with them. Find their web site in the Sage MIP Aatrix Q&A attached.

Regards,

Sharon Blakeslee
Nonprofit Accounting Specialist
Soft Trac, LLC
207.221.0342

MIP Tax Forms Article 296550

W-2-Red Copy 273286

PR Tax Calc QandA 303703