Accounting Aid Society

“Each voting member of the Agencys governing body was emailed a questionnaire to assist the agency in gathering information necessary to complete questions on Form 990. Board member responses were incorporated into Form 990 and a draft of Form 990 and applicable schedules were reviewed by the director of finance, board treasurer, president, and finance & audit committee. After reviewing Form 990 and applicable schedules were posted to the Accounting Aid Societys board portal website for review and comment by the entire Board of Directors prior to filing.”

“The Agencys bylaws prohibit board members and officers from direct or indirect contracts with the agency without full disclosure to and authorization by the agencys governing body. The contract must be authorized by a majority of the Board of Directors at a meeting at which the presence of such a member of the Board of Directors is not necessary for such authorization. The facts or nature of such interest must be fully disclosed and known to the members of the Board of Directors present at the meeting at which such contract is so authorized. The agency annually reviews this policy with board members and officers.”

“The governing body of the agency reviewed individual performance measures, agency performance measures, compensation history, the employment contract, and comparable compensation data to determine compensation for the agencys President. The Presidents compensation is approved by the board and the deliberations are documented in writing. There are no other officers or key employees for the agency.”

“The Agencys governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are made available to the public upon request. Additionally, these documents and others are provided to grant makers upon request.”

“In the 2023 tax season, Accounting Aid Society, with the help of over 300 highly trained volunteers and staff, filed 19,125 returns for our primary focus area (low-income) and 1,224 returns for our secondary focus area (Limited English Proficiency). Altogether, the agency filed 20,350 returns for low- and moderate-income households, which adds up to $28.4 million in refunds, credits, and savings for clients. The average refund a client received was $1,400, plus $300 savings in commercial tax preparation fees per household. Clients have a 99% probability of referring friends or family members to Accounting Aid. During the official tax season, we operated over 43 tax sites between the traditional in-person (20 sites), drop-and-go (3 sites), pop-up (19), and completely virtual (1 site) in four counties.We complete tax returns year-round and also help our clients obtain the HomeHeating Credit and complete applications to help Detroit homeowners obtain the Homeowners Property Tax Exemption (HOPE). Our Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) program continues to help low- and moderate-income individuals resolve disputes with the IRS, and our Accounting Aid Academy helped hundreds of micro and small businesses increase their financial acumen, expand their physical footprint, and become more creditworthy through the one-on-oneconsultation with our bookkeeper and financial analysts. Our numbers continue to rise as we have expanded our services in the city of Detroit and Macomb and Washtenaw Counties. We meet clients where they are through our collaboration with community partners in providing our mobile unit staff to provide services at senior centers and local libraries. We continue to make available remote tax prep and filing services via VITA ACE, which stands for Accessible, Convenient, and Electronic. It was among one of the first totally virtual volunteer income tax assistance programs approved nationally by the IRS, in addition to drop and go for non-in-person services. We extend services to those with limited English proficiency, all Accounting Aid marketing materials were made available in Spanish, Bengali, and Arabic, and bilingual tax preparation services were available at select tax sites. Efforts to ensure our projected numbers for the number of returns for ESL residents included: continued marketing and outreach, bilingual tax preparation services,Accounting Aid Society continues to build on unique ways to meet the organizations mission. The agency has demonstrated its unwavering commitment to our community. Please visit our website and review the 2023 Annual Report to learn more about our mission and impact.”