ETHICAL REPORTING ON FINANCIAL POSITION

ETHICAL REPORTING ON FINANCIAL POSITION

Last week you were introduced to a non-profit organization in Walden Heights—the Support Alliance for Depression, Anxiety & Bipolar of Walden Heights—known as SADAB. For this Discussion, you will continue your engagement with them by helping them grapple with some of the challenges in ethical allocation and reporting of their use of resources. You will listen in on their board meeting, where they weigh various ethical and transparency issues in their discussion about producing their Annual Report.

The discussion will involve how to allocate costs in their Annual Financial Report, and then how to transform the material from that report in order to communicate with a broader, more popular audience. They will again turn to you, as a fellow public administrator, for advice.

As you methodically engage with the various finance and budgeting terms, concepts, and reports, you will gain more experience and skills and establish a stronger foundation for your understanding of these sometimes complicated, but very important, topics.

RESOURCES

Document: SADAB Board Meeting Briefing: Financial Activity Report (PowerPoint presentation)Download SADAB Board Meeting Briefing: Financial Activity Report (PowerPoint presentation)

Note: Be sure to also read both Appendices.

(Previously read in Week 2)

Note: Read only pp. 351–365

Document:Support Alliance for Depression, Anxiety & Bipolar (SADAB) of Walden Heights Board Meeting Scenario (PDF)Download

Support Alliance for Depression, Anxiety & Bipolar (SADAB) of Walden Heights Board Meeting Scenario (PDF)

Document:

SADAB 202W Activity Statement Financial Report (Excel spreadsheet)

Download SADAB 202W Activity Statement Financial Report (Excel spreadsheet)

Document:

SADAB of Walden Heights 202X Annual Report (PDF)

Download SADAB of Walden Heights 202X Annual Report (PDF)

Note: Be sure to view the PowerPoint in Slideshow mode in order to view the animations.

Financial Reports and Allocation Resources

• Park, Y. J., & Matkin, D. S. T. (2021). The demise of the overhead myth: Administrative capacity and financial sustainability in nonprofit nursing homesLinks to an external site.. Public Administration Review, 81(3), 543–557. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13269
• Government Finance Officers Association. (2020, September 25). Popular reporting of financial informationLinks to an external site.. https://www.gfoa.org/materials/popular-reporting-o…
• Auvin, J. (2019, June 6). The power of the nonprofit annual reportLinks to an external site.. Mission Box. https://www.missionbox.com/article/167/the-power-o…
• Kavanagh, S., & Gibson, S. (2019). GFOA reinvents our profession’s approach to ethics. Government Finance ReviewLinks to an external site., 35(2), 16–22.

Ethics and Accountability Resources

• Mikesell, J. L. (2018). Fiscal administration (10th ed.). Cengage Learning.Chapter 3, “The Logic of the Budget Process”Managing Budget ExecutionInternal ControlsAn Intra-Year Cash BudgetAudit and EvaluationWhat Audits Need to Prevent: Some Methods of Stealing from Government
• Finkler, S. A., Smith, D. L., & Calabrese, T. D. (2020). Financial management for public, health, and not-for-profit organizations Download Financial management for public, health, and not-for-profit organizations (6th ed.).CQ Press. Chapter 8, “Accountability and Control”

Credit Line: Financial Management for Public, Health, and Not-for-Profit Organizations, 6th Edition by Finkler, S.; Smith, D.; Calabrese, T. Copyright 2020 by CQ Press. Reprinted by permission of CQ Press via the Copyright Clearance Center. Licensed in 2021.

Note: Read only the following sections:

Note: Read only pp. 268–278 and 294–305.

Required Media

• Walden University, LLC. (2022). Non-profit financial reportsLinks to an external site. [Interactive media]. Walden University Blackboard. https://waldenu.instructure.com
• Document: Non-profit Financial Reports (PDF)Download Non-profit Financial Reports (PDF)

Note: Types of financial reports and the concepts of accountability, ethics, and transparency are included in this interactive.

Also note:Included in this week’s Learning Resources is a PDF document containing the content found in this interactive media and is made available for students who might prefer a PDF format.

Note: This PDF contains the content found in the interactive media in this week’s Learning Resources and is made available for students who might prefer a PDF format.

Walden Heights Resources

• Walden University, LLC. (2022). Walden HeightsLinks to an external site. [Multimedia]. Walden University Blackboard. https://waldenu.instructure.com

Go to the Walden Heights interactive city and click on the location marker of the Support Alliance for Depression, Anxiety & Bipolar (SADAB) of Walden Heights nonprofit organization. From the drop-down, access and review the “Support Alliance for Depression, Anxiety & Bipolar (SADAB) of Walden Heights Board Meeting Scenario” video, “SADAB 202W Activity Statement Financial Report,” “SADAB of Walden Heights 202X Annual Report,” and “SADAB Board Meeting Briefing: Financial Activity Report.”

Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity. Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.

TO PREPARE

• Review this week’s Learning Resources, including the “Support Alliance for Depression, Anxiety & Bipolar (SADAB) of Walden Heights Board Meeting Scenario,” “SADAB 202W Activity Statement Financial Report,” draft of the “Support Alliance for Depression, Anxiety & Bipolar (SADAB) of Walden Heights Annual Report,” and “SADAB Board Meeting Briefing: Financial Activity Report.”
• Analyze the Support Alliance for Depression, Anxiety & Bipolar (SADAB) of Walden Heights Financial Report and draft of their Annual Report.

BY DAY 3

Post your response to the following:

• What do the line items in their disbursements indicate about their organization’s priorities?
• Would you recommend a different formula for allocating their costs? Why or why not?
• Does the data in the Financial Report support the assertions they make in their Annual Report? To what do you attribute any disparities?
• Are they reporting ethically and transparently in both documents? What changes would you recommend?