Blue Swans Consulting Nonprofit finance continuity

A practical self-check for nonprofit leaders

The 5-Minute Nonprofit Finance Continuity Scorecard

See whether month-end, restricted-fund reporting, board reports, finance handover, and Form 990 support would keep moving if one finance person were unavailable. Then get your priority gap, first control, and evidence to look for.

No login, bank access, financial records, or sensitive information required.

Created by Blue Swans Consulting with nonprofit finance delivery input from Summiton Financial.

Five areas · ten points

How resilient is your finance process?

Question 1 of 5
01 Month-end close and reconciliations

Could the next monthly close be completed on time without relying on one person's memory?

Evidence to consider: the latest close checklist, reconciliations, reviewer signoff, and a recent backup test.

02 Restricted funds and grant reporting

Could someone else explain each restricted balance and prepare the next required report?

Evidence to consider: the restricted-fund schedule, grant terms, report calendar, supporting records, and review signoff.

03 Board-ready reporting

Could the next board pack be produced on schedule in the same clear format?

Evidence to consider: the latest pack, linked source reports, commentary owner, review record, and delivery calendar.

04 Access, ownership, and handover

Could a replacement treasurer or finance employee find what they need without reconstructing the system?

Evidence to consider: a dated access map, responsibility matrix, finance calendar, document map, and backup test.

05 Year-end and Form 990 support

Could the year-end package be assembled without searching across inboxes or rebuilding the year's story?

Evidence to consider: the prior-year request list, current financial and grant records, contractor forms, board minutes, and governance changes.

What the numbers mean

A score is a starting point, not a verdict

This measures continuity of the process, not whether the books are correct. It is an initial self-check, not an audit, assurance engagement, or opinion on internal controls.

0-4

Reporting Exposed

Start with the priority gap shown in your result and establish the first control before the next reporting cycle.

5-7

Some Key-Person Dependency

Name a backup and test the lowest-scoring handoff before the next reporting cycle.

8-10

Stronger Continuity

Protect the process with a quarterly handover test.

Critical-gap rule: any area scored 0 prevents a Stronger Continuity result until that person-dependent gap is addressed.

Want the implementation sequence?

Get your next three controls.

Reply with your score and lowest-scoring area. I will send the three controls I would check next, in priority order. No bank access or sensitive records are needed.

Send my score