Heritage Treasures And Gifts: Improving Controls And Systems In A Not For Profit Environment

Abstract

Not-for-profit organizations often rely heavily on volunteers to help them achieve their goals on very limited budgets. Often, these organizations are especially in need of volunteers with specific skills not possessed by the average volunteer. Such is the case with the County Historical Society (The Society), which is in need of help with certain aspects of its museum gift shop operations. Most of the volunteers and staff of the organization are avid history buffs, but know little about running a business and even less about accounting and systems related processes. Therefore, the organization has approached your professor to ask for your assistance. The Society would like to seek the benefit of your knowledge of accounting systems and internal controls to help it improve operations and financial reporting for the gift shop. A previous group of students has documented the operations in narrative form as part of a class project. The Society would now like specific recommendations for ways to improve internal controls. It would also like to begin to upgrade its systems for inventory tracking, starting with its records for consignment inventory.