Reengineering Nonprofit Financial Accountability: Toward a More Reliable Foundation for Regulation

The annual Internal Revenue Service Form 990 tax filing is the principal disclosure mechanism of nonprofit organizations. Although considerable efforts have been made to improve the accuracy and accessibility of the Form 990, questions remain whether this data source is the most desirable foundation for a system of nonprofit accountability. Taking a broad perspective on the issue of financial accountability, this paper assesses not only the quality and availability of the financial data, but also the entire financial reporting model. The paper develops a framework for thinking critically about nonprofit financial accountability. After examining the current structure of nonprofit financial reporting and contrasting it with alternative systems developed for other industries, the paper concludes with recommendations for reengineering nonprofit financial accountability.