• Allocating Severance Pay/ Retirement Insurance – Functional Allocations

    Posted by tony on November 20, 2023 at 9:50 am

    I am working with a nonprofit that is covering medical insurance for an executive director that left the organization in a past fiscal year as part of a retirement/separation agreement.

    How would you advise coding that from a functional allocation perspective given the employee did not work this fiscal year, and therefore we cannot observe how she spent her time for the organization. Would it all be management & general as part of an HR/risk management expense, or can the organization code based on the breakdown the ED had before they departed (E.g., 60% program, 10% management, 30% fundraising)?

    This organization is small, so coding it all to M&G could have a significant impact on their program expense ration.

    mary-ellen replied 11 months ago 4 Members · 3 Replies
  • 3 Replies
  • Wade_Rogers_Forum_Moderator

    Member
    November 21, 2023 at 9:38 am

    Hi Tony, and thanks for coming to the Forum! My inclination would be to allocate based on how the individual worked when they were employed by the organization whether or not they were actually on the payroll that year. I look forward to hearing other opinions as well!

  • michele

    Member
    November 30, 2023 at 8:26 pm

    This is a retirement benefit expense. Expensed currently. I don’t see how you can use previous or historical percentages. These retirement benefits do not futher current programs. Allocating to historical work does not assist in compliance and doesn’t make transparent. Nor does it assist in budgeting, performance evaluation or strategic planning. I would leave in admin as retirement benefit. Or am I missing something?

  • mary-ellen

    Member
    December 21, 2023 at 12:37 pm

    I agree with Wade. The retirement severance is a cost of doing business, just like the salary and other benefits were while she was still employed there; I would allocate it based on the history.

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