Statement of activities definition
/What is the Statement of Activities?
A statement of activities quantifies the revenues and expenses of a nonprofit entity for a reporting period. This is the nonprofit version of the income statement that is used to report the financial results of a for-profit business.
The revenues and expenses in this report are broken down by unrestricted funds and funds with restrictions placed on them by donors, using separate columns across the statement. The rows in the statement reveal revenues and expenses. Though it is possible to compress these rows down to just a few line items, it is customary to be more expansive in detailing revenues and expenses.
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Statement of Activities Line Items
Line items that may be separately presented for nonprofit revenues can include the following:
Contributions
Fundraising events
Gain on sale of investments
Grants
Investment income
Member dues
Program fees
Line items for expenses may also be separately presented, and in considerable detail. At a minimum, the statement of activities usually includes the following line items:
Program expenses. Those expenses incurred in order to deliver specific programs in accordance with the mission of the nonprofit. The presentation may include additional line items to break out the expenses associated with each individual program.
Support services expenses. Those expenses used to manage the organization and raise funds.
The net effect of all revenues and expenses is a change in net assets, rather than the profit or loss figure found in the income statement of a for-profit entity.
A sample statement of activities appears below.
