#fundraising
Fundraising accounting and investor fund tracking
The IRS treats charity gaming as an unrelated business, so raffle and bingo profits can owe UBIT on Form 990-T even when every dollar funds programs. Two exceptions usually save the event — substantially-all-volunteer labor and traditional bingo (never pull-tabs) — while raffles paying $600-plus at 300 times the wager trigger Form W-2G, with 24 percent withholding above $5,000.
FASB's ASU 2024-04, mandatory for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2025, defines a three-part test for whether settling a sweetened convertible-note conversion counts as an induced conversion (expense only the sweetener) or a debt extinguishment (gain or loss against carrying value) — a classification that can swing reported expense by hundreds of thousands of dollars on the same transaction.
On February 27, 2026, the Delaware Supreme Court's Rutledge v. Clearway ruling upheld the 2025 SB 21 amendments to DGCL Section 144, confirming a safe harbor for related-party deals — including founder bridge loans and insider SAFE participation — approved by disinterested directors or a majority-of-the-minority vote. Here's what founders must document to qualify.
FASB's ASU 2025-12 clarifies that a net loss does not automatically make options, warrants, and convertible notes antidilutive: companies must test the combined numerator-and-denominator effect, apply the fix retrospectively to all prior periods presented, and adopt it for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2026.
Producing one service dog costs $25,000–$60,000 over an 18–24-month cycle. How assistance dog nonprofits should structure per-dog cost centers, record breeding-cooperative puppy exchanges at fair value, apply GAAP (ASC 958-605) to puppy-raiser volunteer time, and release restricted sponsorships on the same timeline as expenses.
FASB's ASU 2026-01 requires PIK dividends on equity-classified preferred stock to be measured at the stated contractual rate — not fair value — effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2026, with early adoption permitted. Here's what venture-backed startups with PIK preferred provisions should do before their next audit.
Before a Series A term sheet arrives, founders should check three specific cap table failure points — a pre-money option pool shuffle that dilutes only founders, missing or over-vested founder equity, and stacked SAFEs with unmodeled conversion terms — each of which can delay or derail a raise.
Since early 2025, roughly $425 billion in federal funding has been canceled, paused, or put under review, while 52% of nonprofits hold three months or less of operating cash. This guide covers building a 3–6 month unrestricted operating reserve, capping any single funder at 25–30% of revenue, and tracking both in books that answer concentration questions in minutes.
Nonprofits accepting cryptocurrency gifts over $5,000 cannot rely on exchange prices for tax substantiation — IRS Chief Counsel Advice 202302012 requires a qualified appraisal, and ASU 2023-08 now mandates fair-value accounting for any crypto a nonprofit holds past the point of receipt.
Treasury proposes granular Form 990 disclosure of government grants and fiscal sponsorships — with structured data and automated review. Build the grant register and project ledger now.
A SAFE usually lands in the liabilities column, not equity, because it promises a variable number of shares for a fixed dollar amount. This guide explains the classification debate, the conversion math, and the journal entries from closing to conversion.
Reg CF lets non-reporting U.S. companies sell securities to the public up to $5 million per rolling 12 months through an SEC-registered funding portal. This guide walks through the $124,000 investor limits, Form C disclosure, bad-actor checks, tombstone advertising, ongoing C-U and C-AR filings, and the bookkeeping for SAFEs, offering costs, and escrow that founders most often get wrong.
