Nonprofit CPA in Boston, MA
Audits, grant and restricted-fund accounting, Form 990 preparation and fractional CFO support for Boston-area nonprofits whose funding comes with conditions and reporting deadlines.
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A nonprofit CPA for Boston's grant-funded organizations
A year-end financial statement is the sum of decisions made all year. Which costs belonged to which award. When a conditional grant became revenue. Which gifts were still restricted at year end, and what supports each reimbursement request. If nobody recorded those answers at the time, they are hard to rebuild the week the auditor arrives.
That is the work a nonprofit CPA does for a Boston organization before anyone says the word audit. RTN CPA is a certified public accounting firm that serves nonprofit organizations, government agencies and districts, and small businesses. Our work covers financial statement audits, Single and compliance audits, nonprofit accounting, Form 990 preparation and fractional CFO services, and it starts with how money reaches your organization.
Audit work is led by Roman Richardson, CPA, who has more than 20 years of experience focused on nonprofit organizations and governmental districts in California and Washington. Tax work is led by Paul J. Stroub, CPA. We work with Boston-area organizations remotely from our California offices.
Audits, reviews & Single Audits
Massachusetts sets its own requirement. Under M.G.L. c. 12, s. 8F, a public charity filing its annual Form PC with the Attorney General's Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division must include audited financial statements if its gross support and revenue for the fiscal year covered by the filing is more than $1,000,000. If it is more than $500,000 but not more than $1,000,000, a CPA review report may be filed instead. The Division does not accept compilations.
Those thresholds took effect November 20, 2024, when Chapter 238 of the Acts of 2024 raised them from $500,000 (audit) and $200,000 (review). If a Form PC for an earlier fiscal year is still outstanding, confirm with the Division which thresholds it will apply. Grant agreements, federal awards, lenders and boards can still require an audit at lower revenue levels.
- financial statement audits for Form PC, funders and boards
- Single Audits under the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200, Subpart F)
- compliance audits tied to specific grant and contract terms
- review engagements where a review is accepted
- internal control findings reported to management and the board
Fieldwork goes faster when the close is actually closed: grant receivables reconciled to drawdowns, pledge schedules finished, restricted net assets rolled forward and the expense allocation written down. We send the request list early so gaps surface before testing starts.
Audit and review work stays separate from everything else we do. If RTN CPA keeps your books, prepares your statements or serves as your fractional CFO, we look at the AICPA independence rules before accepting an audit or review, and sometimes the right answer is that another firm performs it.
Research grants & federal awards
Research, education and health care shape much of Boston's nonprofit sector, and its grant money too. An independent research institute, a program run alongside a hospital or university partner, or an education nonprofit carrying a subaward can hold federal funds that passed through other organizations first.
That money still counts toward a Single Audit, which is required once federal award expenditures reach $1,000,000 in a fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 2024 ($750,000 for earlier fiscal years). Research awards also bring their own accounting. Salaries charged to an award must rest on records that accurately reflect the work performed (2 CFR 200.430(g)). Indirect costs follow a negotiated rate or, for an organization without one, a de minimis rate of up to 15 percent of modified total direct costs under the revised Uniform Guidance effective October 1, 2024 (2 CFR 200.414(f)).
- documentation for salaries and time charged to awards
- indirect cost and de minimis rate application
- cost-sharing and match tracking
- subaward and pass-through funding review
- preparing the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA)
Form 990 & the Massachusetts Form PC
In Massachusetts, Form 990 does not stop at the IRS. A public charity with gross support and revenue over $25,000 generally attaches its federal Form 990, 990-EZ or 990-PF to its annual Form PC filing with the Attorney General, and the Division does not accept the 990-N e-Postcard. Form PC is due four and one-half months after fiscal year end, with an automatic six-month extension for charities that are registered and in compliance, and it is filed through the Attorney General's online Charity Portal.
The return, the financial statements and Form PC all become public, so they need to agree. We prepare Form 990 and its schedules to match your books and your audited or reviewed statements.
- Form 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF
- Schedule A public support calculations
- Form 990-T and unrelated business income review
- functional expense reporting and Schedule O narratives
- consistency between Form 990 and Form PC attachments
Restricted contributions & fund accounting
Not every dollar is available for any purpose. A gift for a named program, a multi-year pledge and a grant that depends on reaching a milestone are each recorded differently, and the difference shows up in net assets. Donor restrictions have to be tracked until the spending that satisfies them happens, and a conditional grant generally is not revenue until the condition is met.
Expenses are reported by function as well as by type, so shared costs such as rent, technology and a director's time need an allocation method that is reasonable, documented and used the same way every year. We keep the accounting behind all of this, with a monthly close that produces reports leadership can use.
- monthly close and account reconciliations
- net assets with and without donor restrictions
- conditional grant and pledge tracking
- functional expense allocation methods
- budget-to-actual reports by program and award
- year-end audit schedules
Fractional CFO & controller support
Solid bookkeeping is not the same as financial leadership. A fractional CFO or controller turns monthly numbers into decisions: whether a program can carry a slow reimbursement, what a grant really costs once indirect costs are counted, and what the board should see each quarter.
Internal controls are part of that job. In a small finance office the same person often approves invoices, pays them and reconciles the bank account. We help design controls that fit the staff you have, and our consulting services can review policies and close procedures before the next audit.
- fractional CFO and controller services
- annual and multi-year budgeting
- cash flow forecasting around reimbursement grants
- board and finance committee reporting packages
- internal controls review and segregation of duties
Where grant-funded nonprofits fall behind
These problems surface at year end, but they start months earlier.
- Salaries charged to grants by budget percentage instead of documented time
- Conditional grants recorded as revenue before the condition was met
- Restricted gifts released with no record of the spending that satisfied them
- Subawards and pass-through funding missing from the federal awards schedule
- Form PC audit and review thresholds checked after the year closed
- One person approving, paying and reconciling
Each one can be fixed. Corrected during the year, it is routine bookkeeping. Corrected during the audit, it is rework across twelve months of records.
How an engagement gets started
We begin with your awards and contracts, the gifts that carry conditions or restrictions, the reports due and to whom, and the condition of your records.
Scope is set out in a written engagement letter before work starts, so it is clear whether we are performing an audit, a review, ongoing accounting or advisory work. Across the firm, RTN CPA has more than 25 years of experience and more than 100 audits completed.
- a first call about your funding, deadlines and Form PC requirements
- a written engagement letter that defines the scope
- a document request list before work begins
- findings explained in plain language, with next steps
No audit firm can promise a clean opinion. What we can do is tell you early what an auditor is likely to ask for.
Find the right service
If you already know what you need:
Working with nonprofits in Greater Boston
Our services are available to nonprofits in Boston, Cambridge and the rest of Greater Boston, out to the Route 128 corridor. RTN CPA has no Massachusetts office; engagements are handled remotely from California. RTN CPA also serves nonprofits in these markets:
Plan the year before the audit begins
If audit season keeps raising questions that should have been answered in the spring, the fix is usually in the monthly process.
Tell us your gross support and revenue, the grants and contracts you hold, and what your funders and Form PC require. We will tell you which engagement fits (an audit, a review, accounting support or fractional CFO work) and what it involves.
Common questions from Boston-area nonprofits
Does RTN CPA have an office in Boston?
No. RTN CPA is a California firm with addresses in Los Angeles and Roseville, and it has no office in Massachusetts. Boston-area organizations work with us through our secure file upload and scheduled phone or video meetings. If any part of an engagement needs to happen in person, we discuss it when we set the scope. Massachusetts has its own rules for out-of-state CPA firms that perform audits and reviews, and we confirm an engagement meets them before accepting it.
When does a Massachusetts charity need audited financial statements?
For the Attorney General's annual Form PC, it depends on gross support and revenue for the fiscal year covered. Since November 20, 2024, audited statements are required above $1,000,000 and a CPA review report is acceptable above $500,000 up to $1,000,000. At $500,000 or less, Form PC requires neither. Funders, federal awards and boards can require an audit at lower levels.
Is a review enough for our Form PC?
It can be, if gross support and revenue is more than $500,000 but not more than $1,000,000. A review gives limited assurance and relies mainly on inquiry and analytical procedures; an audit gives reasonable assurance and includes testing of the underlying records. Some funders require an audit even when Form PC does not.
Does research funding automatically mean we need a Single Audit?
No. It depends on how much federal award money you spend in a fiscal year, not on the kind of work it pays for. The threshold is $1,000,000 in federal award expenditures for fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 2024 ($750,000 for earlier years), including federal money received through a university, hospital or other pass-through entity. Research paid for only by foundations or donors does not count.
How should we track restricted grant funds?
Keep the award or gift terms (purpose, period, allowable costs, conditions) with the accounting record. Code expenses to the award, record the release from restriction when the qualifying spending happens, and reconcile each grant report to the ledger before it goes out.
Can RTN CPA improve the financial reports our board receives?
Often, yes, through our accounting and fractional CFO or controller services: a regular package with the statement of financial position, budget-to-actual results by program and award, a cash projection and a short note on what changed. Scope depends on what your board needs and on whether we are also your auditor.
Call (888) 616-8070 or schedule a consultation to get started.
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