Political organizations are very different than for-profit businesses. As such, campaign finance accounting is very different than traditional CPA-style accounting. Red Curve Solutions ® employs the best practices from the private sector to comport with the unique accounting requirements of the Federal Election Commission and its state regulatory equivalent.
CPAs will evaluate your committee like a business, using business principles, with an eye towards minimizing taxes and treating the committee like it files with the IRS. Unfortunately, the business world is very different then the federal and state campaign finance regimes. Businesses often employ accrual based accounting and concern themselves with inventory, retained earnings, common stock, and depreciation. All of these terms have no place in the campaign finance lexicon. In stark contrast, political committees employ purely cash based accounting. Income does not represent profits (except for possibly rent or list rental income) but represents the willing contributions of political donors.
There is no need for depreciation or minimizing taxes. Most of the income from political committees is considered non-taxable. What matters in the campaign finance world is transparency and accuracy. In other words 1) that the committee's bank statements match what is being reported on the disclosure reports and 2) that activity is being reported on the proper schedules of the disclosure reports. A CPA can certainly reconcile the bank statements, but he will not understand the minutiae of disclosure reports unless he also has a background in this area. Red Curve Solutions ® does understand this and can service your campaign finance accounting needs.
Ensure compliance with the proper regulatory body (FEC, state campaign finance board)
Reconcile bank statements to disclosure reports
Ensure that activity is reported on the correct line of the disclosure report
Provide your organization with the most recent disclosure reports along with an updated cash report
Empower decision makers with the information that they need
Budgeting
Conduct audits of activity and present findings to decision-makers
Amend previous reports to correct shortcomings
Provide continuity for record-keeping and reporting to minimize effects of staff turnover
Leverage proprietary technology with experience