Somebody in the club has to keep the books and file the 990.
Monthly books and the Form 990 for ski, camping, RV, hiking, cycling and other outdoor clubs, from an Enrolled Agent who spends as much time outdoors as possible.
I’m an Enrolled Agent in San Diego. I keep the books and prepare the annual return for small nonprofit clubs, and evening and weekend calls are easy to schedule, because volunteer treasurers have day jobs.
Who this is for
Nonprofit ski and snow clubs, camping and RV clubs, hiking, climbing and mountain clubs, cycling and running clubs, and other outdoor groups run by volunteers. Anywhere in the United States.
What usually goes wrong
- Trip deposits come in months before the trip. When they’re recorded as income too early, the books overstate what the club has earned.
- The treasurer changes, and nobody knows where the records are.
- The club’s year ends in spring, and the Form 990 comes due in the fall. A deadline that falls outside the usual tax season is easy to miss.
- 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.
- Lodge, campground and equipment costs run together with trip costs.
- 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. Twenty years in California community college administration. Evening and weekend calls are easy to schedule.
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.
- When is our Form 990 due?
- The 15th day of the fifth month after your fiscal year ends. A club with a March year-end files by August 15, and a club with a June year-end by November 15, moved to the next business day if that’s a weekend or holiday.
- Do you run payroll?
- I record payroll in your books. A payroll service runs it.
- We collect trip deposits. How should those look on the books?
- Money you hold for a trip that hasn’t happened yet is recorded as owed to the member until the trip takes place. I set that up in the first month.
- 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.