|  | | 2004 News and Press Releases | | |
HEADLINE NEWS:
Nonprofit Organizations Join Rush To Conform With New Financial Controls
Staff Writer
High Point Enterprise. December 28, 2004
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EXCERPT: A set of reforms passed after the Enron Corp. scandal to regulate the behavior of corporations has had a ripple effect on the workings of nonprofit organizations. More leaders of nonprofit groups are paying attention to guidelines set forth in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was passed by Congress two years ago to place stricter controls on internal financial and accounting standards. While Sarbanes-Oxley doesn't apply to nonprofit groups, many are implementing some of the measures anyway, reports the accounting, tax and business advisory firm Grant Thornton. In a survey earlier this year of more than 700 not-for-profit groups, nearly half of the respondents indicated that they have established policies similar to ones called for in Sarbanes-Oxley, Grant Thornton said. "More than 80 percent of survey participants reported familiarity with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, compared to 56 percent in 2003," according to the survey. A leader of a local nonprofit said the awareness of the need to analyze internal financial and accounting controls represents a good trend in the field. "The bottom line is that, with any work that goes on with nonprofits, transparency and accountability are crucial," said Paul Lessard, executive director of the High Point Community Foundation. "Anything we can do to move more in that direction is a good thing." Many of the steps outlined in Sarbanes-Oxley already are in place at the United Way, said Betsy Lowder, chief financial officer for the United Way of Greater High Point. Lowder said that nonprofit organizations probably are more aware of addressing their internal controls because of Sarbanes-Oxley. |
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