Introduction to Not-for-Profit Entities 1.5 CPE

Unlike for-profit businesses that exist to generate profits for their owners, nonprofit organizations exist to pursue missions that address the needs of society. Nonprofit organizations serve in a variety of sectors such as religious, education, health, social services, commerce, amateur sports clubs, and the arts. Nonprofits do not have commercial owners and must rely on funds from contributions, membership dues, program revenues, fundraising events, public and private grants, and investment income.

Nonprofits (also referred to as Not-for-profits) have unique needs.  Concepts such as accounting for public funding, donations and other sources of revenue and expenditures can present different challenges than in for profit organizations.

This course introduces basic concepts unique to nonprofit entities. We discuss the types of nonprofit businesses and some of their related compliance requirements as well as their organization structure and staffing.  We delve into the financial statements used by nonprofits, the concept of fund accounting and set the stage for another segment focused on accounting for nonprofits.

Prerequisites

No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.

Learning Objective

• Recognize the difference between for-profit and nonprofit organizations. 
• Explore important concepts for setting up a nonprofit.
• Explore the types of nonprofit designations as identified by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code.
• Explore the requirements of fund accounting.
• Identify other important Accounting Concepts for nonprofit organizations.
• Identify the various accounting cycles in a nonprofit.

Last updated/reviewed: July 23, 2025