Jay Taparia, our executive director, was approached by an NYU colleague to serve as CFO for a new climate nonprofit that he was creating. Jay agreed to work part-time on an as-needed basis to maintain bookkeeping and ensure compliance with New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) requirements for a grant the organization received, including insurance and financial statements.

The organization was also chosen by a law firm to work with their pro bono department for its 501(c)(3) filing to achieve nonprofit status, but we soon found that law firms lack the bandwidth to help with with this. Jay took the initiative to prepare the Form 1023 application over the following month, compiling all necessary documents for the IRS. In May 2018, he created a well-organized and user-friendly appendix, leading to the application's approval within six months with no issues and no questions asked.  

Our Services

Accounting and Payroll

With revenue below $250,000, Jay prepared annual Form 990 tax filings from 2018 to 2021 and managed payroll for the executive director and program manager using efficient payroll software that eliminated the need for manual data input. In 2022, the organization received a $2.5 million grant, $1.5 million of which was designated for climate programs in NYC, Detroit, and Los Angeles. This added a level of complexity for the CFO’s workflow, which involved adding new staff to payroll and setting up a new bank account for grant funds.

Jay has started putting together an invoicing system for both vendors and customers, which incorporates an internal approval system for funds to be sent and received. Bookkeeping continues to be done on a weekly basis.

Audit Assistance
The $2.5 million grant also necessitated the need for audited financial statements. After exploring multiple audit options, Jay reached out to a nonprofit for which he used to be on the board and was referred to an auditor who had relationships with over 100 nonprofits. The organization worked with this auditor for considerably less money than a typical audit firm and completed its first successful audit for 2022 by November 2023. Now, it is currently preparing for the 2023 audit due in November 2024. It has fulfilled its commitment to distribute $1.5 million in climate funding and is on track to generate just over $1 million in revenue for 2024.

Smart Cloud File Management
Documents are meticulously organized in a filing system, with each file named by year and date, as well as straightforward file names for easy reference and access.

Climate Change Database
Since 2018, Jay has developed a climate policy forecast and solution database that supports program design for various New York organizations.

Most of our services at Climate CFOs were inspired by this first climate nonprofit customer of ours, where we feel an integral part of the organization since 2018!