Jen: This is The PKF Texas – Entrepreneur’s Playbook®. I’m Jen Lemanski, and I’m back again with Carlos Gomez, an audit manager and one of the faces of the PKF Texas Contract Compliance Services team. Carlos, welcome back to The Playbook.

Carlos: Hey Jen. Thank you.

Jen: In a previous episode, we talked about operational management audits, and you mentioned about findings and how we could find up to 10%. That sounds like a lot to me. What do we do in that process and what do findings look like?

Carlos: When we say 10% like that, that’s an industry standard throughout most contract compliance engagements. It’s 10% upon the amount of what we’re auditing or what our coverage is; whether it be gross sales or royalties, 10% is what we typically see. But we’ve had cases where certain clients I’ve seen have recovered 45% up to 100%, and that includes interest and audit fees on top of that, once those are recovered, because they meet a certain threshold within the agreement that now that third party is responsible for the fees. And then another great thing to keep in mind, too, is that the return on investment, like, our fees are never going to encompass the total amount that we find for you.

Jen: So, when we say recovered fees, what does that exactly mean? Is it something that was missing in the contract? Was it something that one of the parties didn’t do? Explain what that looks like.

Continue Reading Recovering Fees in Operational Management Audits – A Closer Look

Data analytics can actually save not-for-profits time and effort, because it helps prevent bad decisions that must later be revisited and revised. Most not-for-profit organizations collect vast volumes of data, but according to a study conducted by EveryAction and Nonprofit Hub, only 40% of not-for-profits regularly use that data to drive decisions.

a person working on a laptop with data bar graphs and pie charts on screen; image used for blog post about data analytics helping not-for-profit decisions

The majority of organizations that don’t analyze and apply data say they lack the time or staff to dedicate to it.

Here’s how data analytics can help with decision making:

Continue Reading How Data Analytics Helps Decision Making

As trusted business advisors, we enjoy working with you to co-create ideas and co-develop innovative solutions for your business. Even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, we still want to continue providing valuable information, including upcoming Houston events that we support, and think may be of interest to you.

  • Houston Exponential
  • Turnaround Management Association – State of the Markets
  • Greater Houston Partnership
  • University of Houston Alumni Association
  • Turnaround Management Association – NextGen Trivia Night
  • Client Exclusive: Employee Benefit Plan Webinar

If you have questions about any event details or registration information, the organization-specific contacts are below. We hope to see you at any or all of these Houston events!

Continue Reading Mark Your Calendars! Upcoming Winter 2021 Houston Events…

Attending college and pursuing higher education is one of the biggest investments that parents and students ever make. If you or your child (or grandchild) attends (or plans to attend) an institution of higher learning, you may be eligible for tax breaks to help foot the bill.

girl sitting on her bed with a laptop and textbooks; image used for blog post about revised tax breaks for higher education

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, which was enacted recently, made some changes to the tax breaks.

Here’s a rundown of what has changed.

Continue Reading Understanding Revised Tax Benefits for Higher Education

Jen: This is The PKF Texas – Entrepreneur’s Playbook®. I’m Jen Lemanski, and I’m here with Kristin Ryan, an Audit Senior Manager and one of the faces of the PKF Texas Employee Benefit Plan Team. Kristin, welcome back to The Playbook.

Kristin: Thanks. Good to be back.

Jen: So, in the past, we’ve talked about fiduciaries, risk, that kind of thing, and I’ve heard that there’s been some litigation against fiduciaries. What kind of issues are you seeing in this space right now?

Continue Reading Reducing Risk of Litigation Against Fiduciaries

cover of PKF Texas' 2021 SEC Filing Reference GuideWe have updated our website’s SEC Desk with the 2021 SEC Filing Reference Guide, which is ready to access and download. This update summarizes the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2021 calendar year filing deadlines. While there are no significant changes to the due dates for the new filing year, several of the dates fall on a weekend or federal holiday. As such, the due dates for Form 10-Q filings for non-accelerated filers, for example, have been extended to May 17, August 16 and November 15, respectively, for Q1, Q2 and Q3 filings.

For information about additional filing due dates such as those on Form 20-F, contact a member of your PKF Texas SEC Team, and to download a copy of the SEC Filing Guide, visit www.PKFTexas.com/SECDesk.

Jen: This is The PKF Texas Entrepreneur’s Playbook. I’m Jen Lemanski, and I’m back again with Carlos Gomez, an Audit Manager and one of the faces of our PKF Texas Contract Compliance Services team. Carlos, welcome back to the Playbook.

Carlos: Hi, Jen.

Jen: Can you give me a little bit of background – what is a management or an operational agreement audit?

Carlos: What these typically entail is we have a client who has a third party that manages – whether it’s residential or commercial buildings – for them and their tenants.

Jen: What types of things are involved in this audit? Are there any risks associated with doing this type of audit?

Continue Reading Navigating Management Operational Agreement Audits

Your accounting and development departments are central to the continued financial health of your not-for-profit. So what happens when communication between these two functions break down? It could result in conflict between staffers, inaccurate financial statements and, in a worst-case scenario, the forfeiture of grant funds.

a mug and laptop with a video conference call sitting on a wooden table; image used for blog post about collaboration between development and accounting in a not-for-profit

Here’s how you can encourage collaboration.

Continue Reading Collaboration Between Development and Accounting

Many not-for-profits experience a flood of last-minute donations at the end of the year. Although cash is easy to value, valuing noncash donations is trickier.

red and green cloth bags filled with canned foods; image used for blog post about valuing noncash donations for not-for-profits

If you’re struggling to assign amounts to contributions — either for a donor or your own records — review this cheat sheet.

Continue Reading Valuing Noncash Donations for Your Not-for-Profit