Read a Form 990 in seven stops, in a director’s order, and write down questions, not fixes. Start with the Part I summary, then the program story, governance, people and pay, the numbers, the schedules and the signature. The form tells you which numbers must match. Good practice is to give every question to an owner with a date. You are not auditing the return. You are finding what to ask before it is filed.
A Form 990 runs to a dozen pages before any schedules, and the first reaction of many directors is to skim it and trust the preparer. A short, fixed reading order does better. This article gives that order, the numbers the form itself says must tie together and the signs that mean you should stop and ask. It is based on the 2025 Form 990 and its instructions. When you are ready to turn the questions into a real review, use the Form 990 board review checklist.
What should a director read first on Form 990?
Read the summary first, then the pages where a director knows more than the preparer. A preparer knows the numbers. You know the mission, the programs, the board and the people. The order below puts those parts where your knowledge helps most, and it fits in 15 minutes.
| Stop and time | Look here and check | Ask if |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Part I, the summary (2 min) | Are the name, EIN, tax year and mission right? Do revenue, expenses, assets and net assets look like the year you lived? Compare with last year’s return and your financial statements | A number moved a lot and no one can say why, or the mission reads like an old version |
| 2. Part III, the program story (2 min) | Does it describe what you really did, including programs started, changed or ended? | A program you ended is still described, or the wording is old marketing copy |
| 3. Part VI, governance (3 min) | Read the answers on independent directors and relationships, the policies, how pay is set and line 11 on board review. See Form 990 Part VI explained | A policy is answered “Yes” but was not adopted by year-end, or line 11a says “Yes” when only a committee saw the draft |
| 4. Part VII, people and pay (2 min) | Find your own name. Is your title right? Is anyone missing, including part-year and former people? Pay is reported by calendar year, so ask finance how it ties to payroll | Your name or title is wrong, a director is missing or pay does not match payroll records |
| 5. Parts VIII to XI, the numbers (3 min) | Revenue, costs split into program, management and fundraising, the balance sheet and the net asset reconciliation. Do the totals match the financial statements? | Ending net assets do not match, or the program and administrative split has no method behind it |
| 6. Part IV and Schedule O (2 min) | Does every “Yes” in Part IV have its schedule attached? Does any “No” look wrong from what you know? Does Schedule O give specifics? | A “No” cannot be right, a schedule is missing or Schedule O is wording copied from last year |
| 7. Part II, the signature (1 min) | Who signs? Are they an officer authorized to sign, and will they see the exact final version? See who signs Form 990 | No one knows who is signing, or the signer has not seen the final version |
Source: IRS Form 990 (2025) and Instructions for Form 990 (2025). The order and the times are BDI good practice, not an IRS procedure.
Which numbers on Form 990 must match?
The form states several totals that must equal each other, so you can test the return with a pencil. The check takes about three minutes at stop 5. If any pair does not match, the question goes to the preparer.
| Where you start | It must equal | If it does not |
|---|---|---|
| Part I, line 12, total revenue | Part VIII, column (A), line 12 | Ask the preparer which one is wrong |
| Part I, line 18, total expenses | Part IX, column (A), line 25 | Ask the preparer which one is wrong |
| Part XI, line 1, total revenue and line 2, total expenses | Part VIII, column (A), line 12 and Part IX, column (A), line 25 | Ask the preparer to tie Part XI to the statements |
| Part XI, line 4, net assets at the beginning of the year | Part X, line 32, column (A) | Ask whether last year’s return and this year’s opening balance agree |
| Part XI, line 10, net assets at the end of the year | Part X, line 32, column (B) | Ask the finance lead and the preparer. Do not sign until it ties |
| Part X, line 16, total assets | Part X, line 33 | Ask the preparer to correct the balance sheet |
Source: IRS Form 990 (2025), Parts I, X and XI. Line numbers are from the 2025 form. The IRS draft 2026 form adds lines, so check the numbers against the form for your tax year.
Pay can differ legitimately. The instructions say the pay shown for a person in Part VII may differ from the amount in Part IX, line 5, because of a different accounting period (calendar or fiscal year) or a different accounting method. Ask finance to explain the difference. Do not assume it is an error, and do not assume it is not.
What should you check in the program story and the schedules?
Part III is where a director adds the most. Line 1 asks for the mission. Line 2 asks whether you started any significant program services that were not on the prior return. Line 3 asks whether you ended or significantly changed any program service. Lines 4a to 4c ask you to describe the accomplishments of your three largest program services, measured by expenses. The instructions say to describe accomplishments with specific measurements, such as clients served. If the wording could have been written five years ago, ask for facts from this year.
Part IV decides which schedules apply. It is titled the checklist of required schedules, and the instructions say to complete the applicable schedule for each “Yes.” Part IV also asks every filer whether it completed Schedule O. Read the Part IV answers as a director: grants or work outside the U.S. point to Schedule F, pay questions point to Schedule J, loans and deals with insiders point to Schedule L and gifts of property point to Schedule M. If you know of one of those and the answer says “No,” ask.
When should you stop and call a specialist?
Call a specialist when the scan turns up one of these. The scan finds the question. It does not answer it:
- Pay, loans or deals involving a director, an officer, their family or their companies
- Work or grants outside the United States
- Political or lobbying activity
- A large gift or asset sale you cannot explain
- A mistake you think is already in a filed return
Ask a CPA or a nonprofit attorney who works with exempt organizations.
What does a 15-minute scan look like?
Here is a fictional example. River Arts Collaborative is the made-up calendar-year public charity from our other Form 990 articles. Its treasurer receives the CPA’s draft and scans it in seven stops. Three flags come out of 15 minutes.
| Stop | What the treasurer saw | Owner and next step |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Part I | Revenue is up 30% over last year and no one at the table can say why | The finance lead writes a one-paragraph explanation and attaches the grant that caused it, before the next meeting |
| 2. Part III | The after-school program the board ended in August is still described | The chief executive sends corrected program text to the preparer |
| 5. Part XI | Net assets at the end of the year do not equal the balance sheet by $4,000 | The preparer finds the difference and the finance lead confirms it against the year-end statements |
Fictional example for illustration. The facts and amounts are made up.
The teaching point: the treasurer did not fix anything in the scan. Each flag became a question with an owner and a date. The free download below includes the one-page scan sheet with room to write the questions, and the checklist that tracks them to the filed return.
Based on the 2025 Form 990 and its instructions, checked against the IRS pages on October 31, 2026. The IRS has posted a draft 2026 form, which keeps Part VI, lines 11a and 11b at the same numbers, but drafts can change and later line numbers may move. The 990-EZ and 990-N look different. Filing rules depend on your organization’s classification, facts, tax year and state. Use the current IRS instructions and ask a qualified exempt-organization adviser about your situation.