After determining that most books about nonprofit financial management were written for controllers, CFOs, and treasurers, certified public accountants Murray Dropkin and James Halpin decided to write a practical, introductory guide for nonprofit bookkeepers.

 And who better to do it: Dropkin and Halpin are co-editors of Nonprofit Report, a monthly newsletter on nonprofit accounting, taxation, and management issues, and each can boast more than thirty years' experience as accounting, auditing, taxation, and management consultants for all types and sizes of commercial, government, and nonprofit organizations. Just to be safe, however, they asked eighteen colleagues —— most of them controllers, CPAs, finance directors, or treasurers —— to review the book's contents.

The result is a handbook that's suitable for both neophytes who have never heard of double-entry accounting (breaking down a financial transaction into debits and credits that, when added together, equal zero) and more sophisticated readers who may be familiar with the concepts but a little rusty when it comes to the nuts and bolts of accounting theory.

The book opens with an overview of basic accounting terminology and a plea for the importance of good bookkeeping (a recurring theme throughout the book), and closes with a look at financial statements, operating budgets, and cash flow reporting and forecasting (including references to Dropkin's other two books on the topic). Along the way, the authors show how to properly record different types of income, cash receipts, payroll expenses, purchases, cash disbursements, and more —— all of it amply illustrated with forms and descriptions from The Unified Chart of Accounts, which was created to facilitate the annual filing of IRS Form 990. They also include tips on setting up files properly —— an excellent start for the harried novice who needs to set up an accounting system now. Throughout, detailed tables of contents and exhibits allow more advanced readers to quickly zero on sections of interest, and the authors include fifteen questions to consider when choosing the purchase of accounting software.

Small nonprofits may not need to avail themselves of every technique explained in the book, but the authors argue, convincingly, that they should be kept in mind as small and/or startup nonprofits design their accounting procedures —— not least so that the systems they create are able to grow along with the organization. Those systems will also be more capable of meeting the expectations and demands of public- and private-sector funders, who, increasingly, are insisting on more accountability from their nonprofit grantees.

At 236 pages, the book has little room for theory, and it could benefit from a glossary and an index. Readers wanting more depth and theory might want to consider Malvern J. Gross, Jr., et al.'s 770-page Financial and Accounting Guide for Not-for-Profit Organizations, 7th ed. (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2005). Still, Dropkin and Halpin have written a very good guide to an often confusing but important subject, and nonprofit executives who are burning the midnight oil trying to keep their organization's books straight would be especially well advised to add it to their shelf of nonprofit management titles.