Accounting Errors by Nonprofits Occur Relatively Frequently, New Study Reveals

Nonprofit organizations often cite the high percentage of their incoming donations that go directly to the cause they support, not to administrative costs.

However, a new study by Jeffrey Burks, associate professor of accountancy at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, found that nonprofits make accounting errors at a relatively high rate, most likely because they don’t devote many resources to administrative costs. Burks noted that the rate is almost twice that of similar-sized for-profit corporations.