Washington Research Council

“The 990 was prepared by an independent cpa who regularly completes form 990's for clients. The cpa reviewed the draft 990 with the council's president prior to filing. After filing, the council's president notified the governing body that the 990 was completed and filed. As part of that communication, board members were reminded that the as-filed copy of form 990 is available to review. The council's form 990 is publicly available on guidestar.org and upon request.”

“The research council has a "no conflict of interest" policy which provides: "in the course of meetings or activities, board and staff members will disclose any interest in a transaction or decision where they (including their businesses or other nonprofit affiliation), their family and/or significant other, employer, or close associates will receive a benefit or gain. After disclosure, the individual may be asked to leave the room for the discussion and will not be permitted to vote on the question."”

“The officers of the organization set the compensation for the executive director as part of the annual performance evaluation and budget preparation process. The compensation falls within a range that is roughly comparable to the compensation of executives of similar organizations. Within that range, compensation is adjusted based on performance in meeting the organization's objectives as set forth in the strategic plan.”

“Governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements are not available to the public.”

“Modified cash basis of accounting - the council's modified cash basis of accounting consists of the following conventions: -dues represent contributions to the council's overall mission. Dues are recorded as income in the period received. -contributions to support research fund the council's mission-related research activities. The council records this support as revenue in the period received except when the contributions are donor-directed to specific types of research. The council records donor-directed contributions as a refundable advance (a liability) and recognizes contribution revenue as the related research costs are paid. -sep-ira payments are expensed in the period incurred. All other vendor and supplier payments are expensed or recorded as fixed assets in the period paid. -payments recorded as fixed assets represent items that have an expected useful life of more than one year and a cost of more than $1,000. The council depreciates fixed assets using the straight-line method over useful lives ranging form three to ten years.”

“Financial statement review process: the independent cpa discussed a draft of the reviewed financial statements with the council's president. After approval, the council's president notified the governing body that the reviewed financial statements were completed.”