Knowledgebase

Why is there a difference between cTotRev and INCOME on a Business Master File (BMF)?

There are at least three reasons: 

1. A Core file will be limited to 4 fiscal years or 3 starting years (e.g., a 2009 fiscal year ending June 30 2009 fiscal year started on July 1 2008), while the BMF has no such limitation. See tabs below.
2. The BMF files are updated monthly while the Core files are produced once a year. The 2009 file, for example, includes the latest returns received up through Oct or Nov of 2010.
3. INCOME  on the BMF is actually Gross Receipts, not Total Revenue.  For most organizations, the two will be the same, but Gross Receipts includes the gross amount of special events, sales of securities, sales of goods, etc. so an organization could report, say, $10,000 in gross receipts from a fundraiser yet $0 toward Total Revenue if it spent $10,000 on food and other costs (the net = 0).

CORE 2009 FISCAL YEARS:

CORE 2009 FISCAL YEARS:

DISTRIBUTION OF FISCAL YEARS IN 11/2011 BMF (includes private foundations and public charities):

Additional technical specs:http://nccsweb.urban.org/knowledgebase/detail.php?linkID=750&category=83