Understanding the Form 990 and Its Preparation Prerequisites
2.0 CPE credits see
HERE
Understanding the 3 “Most Common” Form 990 Schedules: A, B & O
2.5 CPE credits, see
HERE
Created in 2020 and provided in full via pre-recorded tapings broadcast monthly by CPACrossings.com through 2024, this 10-session series trains on Form 990 preparation following the sequencing called for in the Form 990 instructions (eight of the sessions are 2.5 CPE, and the remaining two are 2.0 and 1.5 CPE). CPACrossings.com did not pull enough registrants to continue the series' broadcast into 2025.
Several of the sessions (the series now updated for the 2024 Form) will be offered virtually (with 'live' instruction by Eve) through various CPA societies in 2025. Some of these have made "tweaks" to a session's prior iteration to meet demands for 'most frequently requested' topics. You will see that to be the case in the "Most Common Schedules: A, B & O" session that is included in above. For further information on accessing the series' sessions (or its accompanying "Master Classes"), including session descriptions, please contact Eve!
The TEGE Exempt Organizations Council (the “EO Council”) promotes open and ongoing lines of communications between the practitioner community AND the IRSʼ TEGE Exempt Organizations Division leadership as well as with the IRS's Associate Chief Counsel (EEE) officials. Membership is open to attorneys, CPAs, paralegals, and others advising the nonprofit sector and is free! Information is exchanged at CLE/CPE presentations at the EO Councilʼs thrice/year meetings. A key panel occurring each year is the “Exempt Organizations Update” session at which IRS Officials respond to queries submitted by the Council's members. Had IRS representatives been available to attend the February 2025 Annual Meeting, a "Special Report" from EO Division Director Robert Malone on the the Division's plans re its information technology challenges and information on already undertaken improvements would have been delivered.
In addition to meetings, the EO Council has multiple platforms by which members share information and tips as to current challenges they are experiencing when intersection with the IRS:
Please visit the EO Council's website: https://www.eocouncil.org and JOIN!
This document has been updated by Eve with the help of the TEGE EO Council's TIC TAQ Committee. It details WHAT WERE current contact means as of November 2024 to reach the IRS on a wide array of exempt organizations' IRS issues. (November 2024 was the Council's last EO Update Panel with Exempt Organization Division Director Rob Malone.) Unfortunately, IRS Officials were not able to attend the Council's Annual Meeting in February 2025 and have not otherwise shared, as of the late-March 2025 date of this posting, any information that alters the Chart's last iteration.
Clark Nuber PS* and Eve Borenstein have created a Reasonable Efforts Questionnaire for interested persons (managers and others) to help you meet the criteria the IRS has provided in the “reasonable efforts” examples in the Form 990 instructions.
The Form 990 seeks specific disclosures from tax-exempt organizations. A large number of these, related to multiple areas of the Form, require information on trustees/directors, officers and key employees (a group commonly referred to as “interested persons”). Further information is also necessary pertaining to those individuals’ family members and business holdings. The Form 990 instructions specify that an annual questionnaire utilized with all interested persons may be used as evidence of an organization’s “reasonable effort” to collect this information.
The cloud-based Reasonable Efforts Questionnaire product helps you meet all the criteria used in the IRS’ “reasonable efforts” examples in the Form 990 instructions. It is an interactive tool that first helps the organization determine who should receive the questionnaire, and then creates individualized questionnaires for each recipient based on their position with the organization related to the tax year at issue. The resulting “Questionnaires” can be printed or distributed electronically. If the interested person uses the cloud technology for completion (rather than paper), there is a summary report at the end of the process that provides the list of findings for you and your Form 990 preparer.
If you would like additional information on the Reasonable Efforts Questionnaire product, click here.
efile.form990.org is the website home for the National Center for Charitable Statistics’ exemplary project that allows exempts to both “e-file” and prepare Form 990 (and the -EZ) (their website also accomplishes Form 990/990-EZ extension requests). The very competent Desktop Form 990 preparation software does yeoman’s lifting with the Redesigned 990s. The Form 990 application includes comprehensive error checking, provides very helpful online instructions and tips, and electronically files the return with the IRS. Access to the software/system is FREE for organizations with less than $100,000, thereafter is sliding scale of $41 - $205 (eff. March 2021; that last price applies when gross receipts are >$50m!– this is a truly valuable and affordable resource!)