Financial Environment A non-for-profit entity has a financial structure based on assets and liabilities solely. Such an entity does not have equity. The main source of financing for a non-profit entity is donations. A non-profit entity is, other than a few fixed assets, a flow-through entity. This means that donations come into the organization, and are then rendered out in the form of services. There is a high emphasis on expenses. Most charities will have some current assets, but usually these are things likely to be converted to cash. Otherwise, the assets tend to be equipment or buildings, likely depreciable. The balance sheet is known as the statement of financial position, outlining the assets and liabilities. These are not necessarily balanced, which is why the term balance sheet is not used (Foley, 2015). Spending in a non-profit is almost entirely discretionary in nature, technically, though there may be ongoing programs.

A for profit entity has a financial environment characterized by equity, debt and assets. Owners can invest in the firm and receive equity. The equity is the net value of the assets less whatever liabilities that the company has incurred.

A government is structured more like a not-for-profit entity. It receives income, in the form of taxes and fees, and then it spends that money on services and assets. There will be a lot more assets than would be normal for a non-profit because of the varied and substantial ongoing operations of government. Unlike with the non-profit, the outflows represent a mixture of mandatory and discretionary spending. A key difference is the use of debt. In this a government is more like a corporation in that both entities have the ability to take on debt, and this ability and cost is dictated by the market. In both cases, debt can be permanent in nature, continually rolled over upon expiry. The federal government is unique among governments is that it...

All three have entirely different sources of cash that they use for their operations. There are different types of not-for-profit entities. A charity may rely primarily on donations for its inflows. Other forms of not-for-profits, such as hospitals, universities or trade organizations, might have users fees, member dues or tuition as their means of generating revenue. Such organizations would be expected to be self-funded, which is different from a charity.
A corporation also has fees because it sells goods and services to acquire revenues. The difference between this an those not-for-profits that rely on fees for services, is that the corporation exists to take a profit on the transaction while the not-for-profit entity does not. Governments earn revenues through taxes and user fees. Governments have sole taxation rates in any society, and there are usually strict guidelines about which taxes can be levied by which government.

There are also uniquenesses with respect to how monies are dispersed by each of these entities. A not for profit entity will usually see its monies flow through in the form of services to whatever target group is has. For a charity, one of the key metrics that stakeholders use to evaluate a charity is the percentage of donations that are spent on administration -- the lower than number is the better as far as most donors are concerned (CharityWatch.org, 2015). For other types of not-for-profits, such ratios are less important but there is still a need for the organization to avoid taking on debt. For their part, corporations and governments routinely utilize debt as part of their capital structures, and it is often considered desirable that they do so.

A unique…