Evaluating COVID-19 Impact: Approaches to Quantification

The ability to measure the impact of COVID-19 will be essential to managers in the nonprofit sector. In order to make the case for government funding, donor support and member retention – and as the basis for crisis management and recovery planning – managers need insight into the financial consequence of the pandemic. This tip sheet offers ideas, grounded in accounting principle, for developing financial measurements of COVID-19’s impact appropriate to your circumstances.

Need help? Contact us at info@youngassociates.ca

For those who’d rather DIY, here’s how. 

Headline

Well-managed budget-to-actuals reporting should cover you. 

We hope the additional detail and supporting arguments will be helpful for internal discussion.

What did happen, what might have happened

You will be able to report certain items with clarity because they will be recorded in your books. Your accounting records capture what happened: what dollars were received and what amounts were paid out. It’s important to ensure your books will yield helpful reports; see our companion tip sheet on Effective Bookkeeping Practices

For many organizations – notably arts and culture, where programming was effectively shut down in the second week of March – the critical impact is around what might have been. Management needs to take a fair and reasonable approach to estimating impacts that cannot be measured objectively.

“Fair” and “Reasonable”

These terms have a specific meaning in accounting. Understanding them can guide your approach to measuring the impact of COVID-19.

Your audit report probably states that the appended statements “present fairly, in all material respects…” If statements are presented fairly, they faithfully represent the organization’s financial position, are supported by sufficient evidence, and are free of bias.

An item is “reasonable” if a knowledgeable and independent observer would agree that it is rational and appropriate within the circumstances. Accountants perform “reasonability tests” where they evaluate the relationship between financial statement elements. For instance, your auditor tests the reasonability of your GST/HST returns by comparing the taxes you reported to your taxable revenues and expenses.

A funder might evaluate the reasonableness of your COVID-19 impact report by looking at your organization’s capacity. If you cancelled 10 performances in a 1200 seat venue and your average ticket price is $75, the box office impact cannot reasonably exceed $900,000.

Documenting impact

Keep your paperwork and make good notes! Confirm verbal discussions with an email, to create a written record of process and decisions. Take detailed minutes of board and committee deliberations.

Documents such as contracts, correspondence about cancellations, correspondence instructing staff to cancel spending plans, ticketing reports showing refunds, emails with sponsors and donors will help to substantiate the consequences of COVID-19. 

Documentation can demonstrate that you were following the plan for the year, and it can capture the actions you took in response to the pandemic.

Revenues and expenses arising from the pandemic

You may incur COVID-related costs (e.g. setting up staff home offices, extra travel or IT expense) and perhaps COVID-related revenues (e.g. federal wage subsidy, special donations). Code them to an account or class that will be part of your COVID impact report. (See our companion tip sheet on Effective Bookkeeping Practices.)

Budget to actuals variance

Your annual operating budget amounts to a policy document for your organization: management and board agree to execute the planned activities; to spend no more than the budgeted amount; and to target the agreed revenues. The budget can be seen as a pro forma income statement: it is your forecast of the company’s operating results at year-end.

As such, the board-approved budget may provide a reasonable yardstick for evaluating impact. 

To quantify impact, management would:

  • Update the budget for any confirmed changes that were in place before COVID-19 struck (so that you are measuring impact on the most up to date plan)

    • Your original budget may or may not be affected by COVID-19, but it may have been affected by other, unrelated planning changes.

  • Eliminate the effects of items arising specifically because of the pandemic (e.g. federal wage subsidy, special fundraising appeals, infrastructure costs for remote work, cancellation penalties). 

With these items considered, the difference between budget and actuals could serve as a reasonable measurement of impact.

Year over year variance

The going concern concept states that unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, or unless the organization itself has decided to fold, a company will continue to operate for the foreseeable future. Mandate-driven organizations tend to follow much the same pattern year over year in terms of program and service delivery, scale of organization and financial capacity.

As such, the difference between past financial results under normal circumstances and the results you achieve during the pandemic may offer a fair and reasonable perspective on COVID-19’s impact.

Direct and indirect revenues and expenses

This will be critical for project reporting, but has some bearing as well on the understanding of your overall operations.

A revenue or expense item is “direct” when it arises from a project, program, event, or activity. Other revenues and expenses may be impacted by that project, program, event or activity, but in a tangential or indirect way. 

For instance, a museum incurs costs directly related to new exhibits (e.g. exhibit design and installation, artifact loans, marketing). It may also receive direct revenues (e.g. sponsorship, ticketed admissions). But every exhibit depends on the museum’s general infrastructure. Indirect costs of exhibitions might include cleaning and maintenance, the security system, and the ticketing system. Indirect revenues might include operating grants and memberships.

The museum must consider the overall impact of being shut down because of COVID-19. But, if management also cancelled a new exhibition, and needs to communicate the impact to project funders, it would be reasonable to consider reporting collateral impact of the cancellation on, say, membership sales and individual donations.

The true impact of cancelled activities is the sum of the direct items and the reasonable share of indirect items.

Core and project

Classically, arts organizations are project-driven. It is often the case that the core infrastructure is lean, and the bulk of staffing and other resources are directly attached to artistic projects. The following analysis may work for other types of organizations with similar characteristics.

A useful measure of financial stress is to separate revenues and expenses directly associated with your organization’s core (overhead / administration) from those directly associated with its projects. There are three possibilities:

  • Core revenues cover core expenses, and project revenues cover project expenses

  • Project revenues are insufficient to cover project expenses, and the organization must generate sufficient core revenues to cover both the core and a portion of the projects.

  • Core revenues are insufficient to cover core expenses, and the organization relies on projects to cover a portion of the core

For organizations reliant on project revenues to secure core operations, project cancellations could be devastating to the organization’s ability to cope with the pandemic. 

Evaluating where your organization falls may help you understand the impact of COVID-19. Successful strategizing depends on a clear articulation of the challenge to be addressed.

How Young Associates can assist

A consultation with us may make all the difference to your comfort level and confidence that your accounting system is up to the challenge of the pandemic. 

We can help you develop processes to calculate the impact of COVID-19 on your operations, and support a thorough and effective analysis of your financial situation.

We’d also be happy to give you a quote for full-service bookkeeping

We work on the basis of fixed price agreements, so you’ll know going in how much our work will cost — and we always offer a money-back guarantee: if you’re not completely delighted with our service, we will, at your option, either refund the price, or accept a portion of said price that reflects your level of satisfaction. 

Contact us: info@youngassociates.ca


This tip sheet was created by Heather Young CPB and the Young Associates team based on the best information available as of the date of posting.

The contents of this tip sheet comprise Young Associates’ views. They do not constitute legal or other professional advice. You should consult your professional advisor for advice relevant to your situation.

Founded in 1993, Young Associates provides bookkeeping and financial management services in the charitable sector, with a focus on arts and culture. Young Associates also provides consulting services in the areas of data management, business planning and strategic planning. Heather Young published Finance for the Arts in Canada (2005, 2020), a textbook and self-study guide on accounting and financial management for not-for-profit arts organizations.

Evaluating COVID-19 Impact: Effective Bookkeeping Practices

Your accounting system is your primary tool for capturing and reporting the financial dimension of everything that happens within your organization. This tip sheet will help you consider changes to the structure of your books to enable clear and accurate reporting on the impact of COVID-19. Our view, grounded in accounting principle, is that the permanent account categories should be minimally altered, and that you can achieve your temporary reporting needs through alternatives like “classes” (explained below).

Note that we use QuickBooks as the basis for illustrations; that’s where the term “class” comes from. We endeavour to explain in a way that will work for other accounting apps too.

Need help? Contact us at info@youngassociates.ca

For those who’d rather DIY, here’s how. 

The audiences for your accounting reports

It’s useful to think of writing for an audience – or, more commonly, multiple audiences. The readers of your financial statements (staff, board, third parties) make decisions: developing internal strategy, passing a budget revision, awarding a grant, renewing a membership, etc. What information might each stakeholder require, and at what level of detail?

Review the existing account categories in your books. Are they sufficient for the array of COVID-19 related reporting you anticipate? 

It is likely you will need some additional categorization. The following tips will help you achieve your COVID-19 reporting needs efficiently.

Our recommendations

Minimize changes to your chart of accounts.

Utilize reporting by class and other bookkeeping subdivisions to produce COVID-19 impact reports.

Good housekeeping

Skilled bookkeepers think about short- and long-term reporting requirements, bearing in mind the importance of year over year comparability. They have an eye to the relevance of accounting information, and its usefulness in providing feedback (e.g. on the impact of change) and in supporting forecasts of future activity.

We know that COVID-19 reporting will be required in the short-term. No one knows yet what the long-term ramifications may be. We favour a conservative approach to adding account categories.

A good rule of thumb is to add categories that will contain at least 0.5% of your expenses. Thus, for a company with a budget of $1,000,000, the smallest expense lines would contain at least $5,000. Same applies to revenues.

Account categories and financial statements

The account is the basic unit of categorization in your books. When your bookkeeper produces a balance sheet and operating statement (also known as income statement or P&L) from your books, you’re seeing the account categories. One account = one line on the financial statements.

Suggestions for new COVID-19 related accounts

Revenues: The federal wage subsidy may merit its own account, as a unique revenue source, or you might bookkeep it to an existing “Federal – Other” account. Consider any new sources of revenue that might arise from your pandemic response.

Expenses: Same concept. A new category of spending may merit its own account.

Contra accounts:  A contra account has the opposite balance to the normal account. For instance, an organization issuing COVID-related refunds might add a contra-revenue account to capture the refunds. That way, the statements would show 100% of the initial revenue and 100% of the refund, thereby clearly demonstrating the impact of COVID-19.

Balance sheet accounts: New cash accounts, lines of credit and other loans require separate accounts. If you are creating a new fund related to COVID-19 (e.g. a relief fund) you may need a separate net assets account to segregate it properly.

Accounting by nature & by function

Accounting recognizes two broad approaches to revenue and expense information: by nature (what it is; also known as natural category) and by function (what it’s used for; for instance, events, projects, activities, programs, shows, etc.). 

Well-structured books maintain clarity on this point. Make sure that your COVID-19 additions are consistent with your organization’s established practice.

By nature – A gallery might have accounts for Artist Fees, Installation and Marketing

By function – Alternatively, the gallery might create a new expense account for each exhibition. The account would be named for the exhibition, and would capture all associated costs (artist fees, installation, marketing, etc.) in a blended account. We would never advocate for this! (Although we’ve seen it...) We would always recommend using classes - read on!

Additional categorization within accounting software

Accounting apps offer additional ways of aggregating financial detail which may track impact more effectively than new accounts.

Each software package has its own proprietary features – but conceptually many of these features are alike.  We’ll use QuickBooks as an example. 

Classes – Allow you to subdivide accounts by activity, program, event or show. A theatre company might have accounts for Actors, Sets, Advertising and Theatre Rent. These accounts would capture the total spent on each category, but wouldn’t help anyone understand what was spent on each show. By creating a class for each show, and then tagging each entry with a class, the bookkeeper can run a P&L by Class report to produce a statement for each show.

Projects (QuickBooks Online) or Jobs (QuickBooks Desktop) – Allow you to track items by funder. A project (or job) has only one revenue source. In the business world this would be a customer – and in the nonprofit world, a funder. By tagging each entry with a project, the bookkeeper can run a P&L by Customer report to produce a statement for each project.

Departments – Allow you to subdivide accounts by department. Everyone in (say) Marketing, Fundraising, Production and Admin needs office supplies, and each department incurs meeting, travel and other common expenses. By tagging each entry with a department, the bookkeeper can run a P&L by Department report so management can evaluate activity by department.

Locations – Allow you to subdivide accounts for different physical locations. An organization with two offices might run the same programs and have the same departments in both offices. By tagging each entry with a location, the bookkeeper can run a P&L by Location report to produce a statement for each location.

Before you jump in to change the structure of your books, pause for a moment and consider how these options might help you generate the COVID-19 impact reports you will need for your funders, members, donors and other parties – as well as for your own management decision-making.

Suggestions for new COVID-19 related classes

A general COVID-19 related class: Tag all pandemic-related revenues and expenses to this class. 

Sub-classes for projects: You might have a class called “New Play #1” which already contains development and pre-production costs. If New Play #1 has been cancelled, you might create a class called “COVID – New Play #1” to capture costs associated with the cancellation. QuickBooks can roll up the sub-class into the class report to give you a grand total for New Play #1.

Sub-classes for COVID: Alternately, you might attach sub-classes to your general COVID-19 class. Any impacts related to overhead would be booked to the general COVID-19 class. You would create sub-classes for each project, event or activity. QuickBooks can roll up the sub-classes into the class report to give you a grand total for COVID-19 impact.

Naming: Start each new class title with “COVID” to make it easy to identify and roll up class reports.

How Young Associates can assist

A consultation with us may make all the difference to your comfort level and confidence that your accounting system is up to the challenge of the pandemic. 

We can help you identify the stakeholders who will need reporting; prepare to meet their reporting needs; and advise on practical and appropriate changes to the structure of your books.

We’d also be happy to give you a quote for full-service bookkeeping

We work on the basis of fixed price agreements, so you’ll know upfront how much our work will cost – and we always offer a money-back guarantee: if you’re not completely delighted with our service, we will, at your option, either refund the price, or accept a portion of said price that reflects your level of satisfaction. 

Contact us: info@youngassociates.ca 


This tip sheet was created by Heather Young CPB and the Young Associates team based on the best information available as of the date of posting.

The contents of this tip sheet comprise Young Associates’ views. They do not constitute legal or other professional advice. You should consult your professional advisor for advice relevant to your situation.

Founded in 1993, Young Associates provides bookkeeping and financial management services in the charitable sector, with a focus on arts and culture. Young Associates also provides consulting services in the areas of data management, business planning and strategic planning. Heather Young published Finance for the Arts in Canada (2005, 2020), a textbook and self-study guide on accounting and financial management for not-for-profit arts organizations.

Tips for Completing Record of Employment Forms with Respect to COVID-19

The Record of Employment Form (ROE) is the tool employers use to communicate with Employment & Social Development Canada regarding employees’ eligibility for employment insurance benefits when they leave the organization.

One of the key elements of the ROE – and the one that is relevant to COVID-19 – is Block 16, Reason for Issuing this ROE. 

The government has assigned codes to the most common reasons for issuing an ROE. Here is the link to the guide, How to Complete the Record of Employment (ROE) Form, which contains an explanation of each code.

What NOT to do with respect to COVID-19 ROE filings

Code K – Other is to be used only in exceptional circumstances, and you must provide a comment.

This might seem like the obvious code for COVID-19 related issues. But, if you use Code K and provide a comment, the ROE must be reviewed by a Service Canada employee.

To be clear: ROEs with comments are pulled out of the processing stream and may cause significant delay, awaiting an individual review while the government deals with unprecedented volume.

Therefore, DO NOT USE Code K if at all possible.

What to DO with respect to COVID-19 ROE filings

To streamline a high volume of processing, Service Canada has asked employers to use existing codes as follows:


Code

Description

COVID-19 Use

A

Shortage of work

Temporary layoff due to lack of work or funds to pay employees, office closure or event cancellations

D

Illness or injury

Anyone confirmed to have COVID-19, under quarantine being tested for COVID-19 or under quarantine due to returning from international travel

N

Leave of absence

Used for anyone that is in self-isolation under an abundance of caution (including refusal to work), is off caring for children, or is taking care of a loved one confirmed to have COVID-19.


Amending a COVID-19 related ROE for new information

Please note: if someone is in self-isolation or is off on a leave for any reason and they later test positive for COVID-19 then the ROE should be amended to code D.


This tip sheet was created by Heather Young CPB and Alicia McGuire PCP of Young Associates based on the best information available to us as of the date of posting.

Although every effort has been made to provide complete and accurate information, Young Associates makes no warranties, express or implied, or representations as to the accuracy of content in this tip sheet. Young Associates assumes no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions in the information contained in the tip sheet. 

Founded in 1993, Young Associates provides bookkeeping and financial management services in the charitable sector, with a focus on arts and culture. Young Associates also provides consulting services in the areas of data management, business planning and strategic planning. Heather Young published Finance for the Arts in Canada (2005, 2020), a textbook and self-study guide on accounting and financial management for not-for-profit arts organizations.