Higher Education

FORVIS professionals help with the operational challenges of handling budget cuts, online fraud, adapting with eco-standards, maintaining technological competitiveness, and dependence upon government budgets.

Each day you bring your commitment, innovation, and heart to drive your school’s mission. In the midst of a post-pandemic environment, aging campus infrastructure, and changing student demographics, making a college or university thrive is no easy task. FORVIS can help.

We can help your university evaluate compliance with regulatory standards and help you take advantage of opportunities, meet student needs, and prepare for what’s next. FORVIS has significant hands-on experience with colleges and universities across the United States from small, private colleges to large, public universities.

Our focus is on being your trusted business advisor, keeping you aware of emerging audit, tax, and industry issues as well as communicating effectively with key stakeholders, including your audit committees and board of trustees.

2023 Annual Higher Education Outlook

The focus of this year’s Outlook is turning the one-time gains from the pandemic into positive economic momentum. Some of this activity also carried into FY 2022, including ERC being harvested. Knowing this largesse will end shortly is a reminder that forward vision is more important than ever.

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Assurance

Financial analysis is more sophisticated than ever. FORVIS can help higher education institutions with these needs:

Financial Statement Audits, Reviews, & Compilations
Uniform Guidance Single Audits
Financial Aid Attestation Services
Employee Benefit Plan Audits
Internal Auditing & Internal Controls
New Accounting Standard Implementation
Agreed-Upon Procedures

Tax

FORVIS’ tax-exempt professionals prepare more than 3,600 Form 990s each year for organizations across the country. In addition, we proactively help identify potential tax and payroll risks, worker classification issues, and unrelated business income sources.

Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Clean Energy Tax Credits

To further promote new clean energy investments, the IRA allows direct payments from the IRS to specified entities, including nonprofit organizations, of clean energy tax credits, simplifying access to key incentives that support the environment. FORVIS professionals can work with your organization to identify tax credit opportunities under the Inflation Reduction Act, quantify the potential financial impact of these tax incentives, and help your organization stay in compliance if you claim any of these credits or deductions.

Our professionals can help you with the following services:

Form 990 & 1120 Preparation Services
Unrelated Business Income (UBI) Consulting
Executive Compensation & Excess Benefit Analysis
Tax Risk Assessments
Transfer Pricing Studies
Foreign Withholding Tax Assessment
Foreign Account Reporting
New Business & Joint Venture Consulting
State Solicitation & Filing Requirements

Advisory

FORVIS’ experienced professionals are ready to assist you with a variety of higher education needs:

Financial Sustainability Services
- Program Economic Analysis
- Financial & Scenario Modeling
- Financial Health Assessments
- IPEDS Benchmarking
Grants Management Services
Governance & Strategy Consulting
Compensation Consulting Services
Cybersecurity & IT Risk
Forensics & Valuation
Fraud & Ethics Hotline
Technology Solutions
Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) Consulting

Annual Higher Education R3 Summit: Risks. Regulations. Reputation.

We understand that navigating the challenges facing the higher education industry isn't easy. That's why we host our annual in-person Higher Education R3 Summit focused on the hot topics and issues you care about. Learn more and sign up to be notified for the 2024 events here.