Form 990
The annual return, with the figures placed from the ledger and the disclosures assembled.
Form 990 is a public document. Donors, funders and journalists read it, which makes it both a compliance obligation and a communication.
The financial schedules come from the books. The governance and disclosure sections come from records held through the year rather than assembled in a panic.
Where everything sits
How to work this page
990, 990-EZ or 990-N depending on gross receipts and assets. Filing the wrong one is a rejected return.
Where you have an audit, the return has to agree with it. Differences are explained rather than left.
Board composition, conflict of interest policy, compensation review. These are records kept through the year, not answers invented in month ten.
It is the most read page. Make sure the allocation behind it is one you can explain.
On a phone
Every figure from the desktop appears here, stacked rather than reduced. Tables scroll inside themselves so the page never moves sideways, and figures keep their separators and their alignment at every width.
Questions people actually ask
The fifteenth day of the fifth month after year end, with extensions available. A missed filing for three consecutive years revokes exempt status automatically.
No. It prepares the return completely with every figure sourced. Filing goes through an authorised provider or your accountant.