Financial Analysis

Our organization is based in Lake Balboa, CA and serves youth from single-parent households and under-resourced communities through mentorship, early career development, and strategic partnerships. We are a small team with limited budget and no current access to professional accounting support. Having a volunteer CPA would directly strengthen our ability to operate compliantly and build donor trust, which is critical to sustaining our mission.

We predict that this finance project will take from 36-48 hours to complete. We're hoping that our pro bono partner will share three to five hours of their time each week with our team.

Project Breaking Barriers exists to disrupt generational poverty and create pathways to prosperity for youth from single-parent households and under-resourced communities in the Los Angeles area. Every operational decision we make — including how we manage our finances — directly impacts our ability to serve more young people.
This project will support our mission in two critical ways:
1. Empowering our donor partners — Several local businesses, including a transportation company, have generously donated services to support our programming. By establishing proper in-kind donation acknowledgment processes and understanding qualified write-offs, we can offer our partners legitimate documentation of their contributions. This strengthens our relationships with existing donors and makes us a more attractive partner for future business donors — directly expanding our capacity to serve more youth.
2. Strengthening our own financial health — As a small nonprofit, our founder and team members regularly use personal vehicles, travel, and cover out-of-pocket expenses to execute events, outreach, and programming. Without proper guidance on how to document and write off these legitimate organizational expenses, we are leaving money on the table that could be reinvested into our programs and the young people we serve.

Together, these outcomes will make Project Breaking Barriers a more financially sustainable, compliant, and credible organization — allowing us to deepen our community impact, attract more partners, and ultimately transform more lives.

We are fully committed to making this pro bono partnership a success. Here is how we have set ourselves up:
1. Internal buy-in — Our executive leadership is directly involved in this project and has prioritized it. The volunteer will have direct access to our founder/leadership team with no bureaucratic delays in communication or decision-making.
2. Materials ready — We have access to our organization's financial records, 501(c)(3) determination letter, EIN documentation, and any in-kind donation correspondence needed for the volunteer to begin work immediately.
3. Clear goals — We have identified specific deliverables: proper in-kind donation acknowledgment letters and tax compliance recommendations that we will implement right away.
4. Implementation plan — All outcomes and recommendations from this project will be immediately put into practice by our team. We will use the guidance provided to create standardized processes for documenting donations going forward, ensuring long-term compliance.
5. Committed partner — As a small but growing nonprofit serving underserved youth in the Los Angeles area, we understand the value of this volunteer's time and expertise. We will come prepared to every meeting, respond promptly to requests, and follow through on all recommendations.