If you’re a client, friend or regular reader of this blog (or all three), you’ll know that I am passionate about education, especially when it comes to accounting for cooperatives. I believe that the cooperative structure is the most viable entity when it comes to achieving balance between social and economic goals. It is conducive to conducting both small- and large-scale businesses while not ignoring the needs of the community, its members, and our broader culture and society.

As such, I’ve encouraged my clients to consider adopting co-op structures and policies, and have encouraged my accounting colleagues to consider broadening the scope of their offerings to include co-op accounting and taxation. In my work with the National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives (NSAC), the National Cooperative Business Association‘s Co-op Professionals Conference (NCBA CPC), and the Cooperative Economy Summit, I’ve tried to build bridges and help mentor and develop the next generation of co-op accountants.

This upcoming course offered by NSAC is a three-hour introduction to accounting for cooperatives (plus a one-hour break for lunch). It covers the basics of what a co-op is, co-op taxation, and co-op GAAP.

Basic A&A Session 1
Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Time: 11:00 AM ET / 10:00 AM CT / 09:00 AM MT / 08:00 AM PT
Approximate Duration: 240 minutes
Presenter(s): Phil Miller, Asst. NSAC Education Director & Meegan Moriary, USDA
Objective: This will be a 3 part CLN covering, What is a Cooperative, Basic Co-op Tax and Basic Co-op Accounting. There will be a 1 hour lunch break from 1-2 PM ET.
Field of Study: .5 tax .5 accounting
Program Level: Basic
CPE Credit: 3 Credit Hours
Delivery Method: Group-Live
No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.

Course Description
Introduction to Co-ops
This 50-minute course is one of the modules contained in the NSAC Basic Accounting Course, taught at a basic level. The course discussion includes:
What is a Cooperative?
Cooperative History
Cooperatives in the Community
Benefits of Cooperatives

Basic Co-op Taxation I
This 50-minute course is one of the modules contained in the NSAC Basic Accounting Course, taught at a basic level. The course discussion includes:
Tenets of Co-op Taxation
Co-op Taxation History
Applicable Internal Revenue Codes
Patronage Refunds
Section 521
Examples

Co-op GAAP
This 50-minute course is one of the modules contained in the NSAC Basic Accounting Course, taught a basic level. The course discussion includes:
GAAP Applicability
AICPA AcSEC SOP 85-3
AICPA Audit & Accounting Guide
FAS 71 Accounting for Regulation
Co-op GAAP Within FASB Codification

Source: NSAC Cooperative Learning Network – Basic A&A Session 1