Richard A. Cole

Rick is a partner with FORVIS (which is the result of a merger between BKD and DHG) with more than 25 years of experience serving not-for-profit organizations. He is the New York Nonprofit and Education Market Industry Leader and is a member of FORVIS’ Higher Education Center of Excellence, which is an internal committee focused on addressing issues important to the higher education industry. Rick focuses on audits and advisory services for not-for-profit and higher education organizations.

Prior to this role, he worked at the FASB, where he served as a supervising project manager for almost six years. In that role, he was the project manager on Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-14, Presentation of Financial Statements of Not-for-Profit Entities; ASU 2018-08, Clarifying the Scope and Accounting Guidance for Contributions Received and Contributions Made; and ASU 2019-03, Updating the Definition of Collections. He also was coordinator for FASB’s NFP Advisory Committee and Private Company Council. Before joining the FASB, Rick was vice president and controller at a large national museum in New York for seven years and a senior manager with a large international accounting firm where he worked for 14 years and specialized in audits of higher education institutions and other not-for-profit organizations.

Rick is a member of the AICPA Not-for-Profit Expert Panel. He is a lecturer at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies in their Non-Profit Management program. He also has been a frequent speaker with NACUBO, the AICPA, and various state CPA societies. He is a CPA in New York and New Jersey and is a member of the AICPA and New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Courses:

• NOPM PS5320: Nonprofit Financial Management