Nonprofit Accountability and Federal Law: Sources of Information

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Its Web site has a summary of the federal Sarbanes-Oxley law, which passed in 2002 and requires publicly traded companies to adopt new financial controls. Go to: http://www.aicpa.org/info/sarbanes_oxley_summary.htm.

American Management Association. This trade group in Washington has surveyed corporations and nonprofit organizations on how they have reacted to the Sarbanes-Oxley law. For a summary of the survey, go to: http://www2.amanet.org/press/amanews/SOX2003survey.htm.

BoardSource and Independent Sector. These organizations have written a report on the Sarbanes-Oxley law and how organizations can voluntarily comply with its provisions. Go to: http://www.independentsector.org/PDFs/sarbanesoxley.pdf.

Christian Management Association. The association’s magazine, Christian Managment Report, published “The Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Potential Implications for Nonprofits,” by Mark Howard, general counsel at World Vision, in its October 2003 edition. Go to: http://www.christianity.com/cma.

Council on Foundations. The council announced a new program in April that offers guidelines to foundations on how best to run their financial operations. For a copy of an outline of the program, go to: http://www.cof.org/index.cfm?containerID=101&menuContainerID=104&crumb=2&.

FindLaw. Provides an online version of the full text of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act at: http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/gwbush/sarbanesoxley072302.pdf.

Grant Thornton. This consulting firm in Chicago offers advice on how nonprofit organizations can comply with key aspects of the Sarbanes-Oxley law in its article at http://www.grantthornton.com/content/87324.asp. To order a free copy of Grant Thornton’s 2003 survey of how nonprofit groups have responded to Sarbanes-Oxley, go to: http://www.grantthornton.com/content/94835.asp.

National Council of Nonprofit Associations. This advocacy group in Washington has compiled a list of state legislative activity across the country on this issue and offers a checklist for audit committees and advice on the roles of audit committees. Go to: http://www.ncna.org.

New York Office of the Attorney General. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has issued a publication, “Internal Controls and Financial Accountability for Not-for-Profit Boards,” that can be viewed at http://www.oag.state.ny.us/charities/charities.html.