Somebody on the board has to file the 990.
Monthly books and the Form 990 for yacht, boating and sailing clubs, from an Enrolled Agent who belongs to a yacht club.
I’m an Enrolled Agent in San Diego, and I belong to a yacht club here. I know that a club with docks, moorings, guests and events has more moving parts than most volunteer boards expect.
Who this is for
Nonprofit yacht clubs, boating clubs, sailing associations, and rowing and paddling clubs run by volunteer officers. Anywhere in the United States.
What usually goes wrong
- The treasurer or an officer changes, and nobody knows where the records are.
- Income from non-members, including guests who pay their own way, and from investments can be taxable for a social club. When the books don’t show where each dollar came from, nobody can tell.
- The club files the wrong return, or files late. Whether it’s the 990-N, the 990-EZ or the full 990 depends on size, and an extension moves the filing date, not the payment of any tax due.
- Docks, moorings, haul-out and equipment costs run together with day-to-day spending, with no clear record of reserves.
- The board gets no report it can read.
What you get
- Books kept in QuickBooks Online or Xero, closed by the 10th of the following month once statements are in
- A one-page report for the board each quarter
- The annual federal return: Form 990-N, 990-EZ or 990
- The annual filing for your home state
- Notice review: I read it, explain it, and tell you what to do
- A handoff file for the next treasurer
What it costs
From $395 a month, with the annual return included. One fee, billed monthly, so the board can put it in the budget.
That’s the starting point. Your club’s exact monthly fee comes in writing after one 30-minute call, and it stays put unless what the club needs changes.
What moves it: transactions a month, the number of bank and card accounts, whether the club owns aircraft, boats or property, events and nonmember income, and which return the club files.
Quoted separately: Form 990-T, prior years and catch-up, reinstatement after missed returns, audit support, filings in additional states, and representation beyond a single notice.
Why me
Enrolled Agent, admitted to practice before the IRS in all fifty states. Yacht club member. Instrument-rated pilot. Twenty years in California community college administration. Evening and weekend calls are easy to schedule, because volunteer officers have day jobs.
Questions people ask
- Do you replace our treasurer?
- No. Your treasurer stays the officer. I keep the books and filings so the job is easy to hand on.
- Our club has a bar or a restaurant with staff. Can you help?
- Call me before you assume either way. Payroll and food and beverage operations may fall outside what I take on, and I’ll tell you plainly.
- Do you run payroll?
- I record payroll in your books. A payroll service runs it.
- Do we need an audit?
- Most small clubs don’t. If a lender, a grantor or your state requires one, I can get the files ready for the auditor. That’s quoted separately from the monthly plan.
- We aren’t in California. Can you help?
- Yes. The federal return is the same everywhere, and the annual filing for your home state is part of the plan. If your state asks for anything unusual, I’ll tell you before you sign up.
- What is the free 990 check?
- I look up your club’s record with the IRS: which return it files, whether the last few went in on time, and whether its exempt status is current. If the club files a 990-EZ or a full 990, I read the most recent one too. You get a one-page note with anything worth a second look. No obligation.