Reporting Organization’s Program Service Accomplishments


Part III of IRS Form 990 and 990-EZ requires you to report your exempt organization’s program service accomplishments. A program service is typically the major ongoing objective or mission of your nonprofit or charity. The IRS lists many examples of exempt services including

  • A hospital’s provision of charity care under its charity care policy
  • A college’s provision of higher education to students in a degree program
  • And much more

Here are a few instructions directly from the IRS about reporting program services on your 990 tax return:

Organization’s Mission
You begin Part III by describing your organization’s mission as articulated in your mission statement or as adopted by your organization’s governing body. With ExpressTaxExempt.com, you also have the option of indicating if your group hasn’t established a mission.

Service Changes from Prior Year
You need to answer whether your tax-exempt group offered any new, significant program services not listed on your prior Form 990/990-EZ, or ceased conducting, or made major changes in how it performs, any program services. You can describe any new services or changes on a Schedule O.

Description of Program Services
You are responsible for describing program service accomplishments for three of your organization’s largest program services – if you have less than three, then describe for the number of services you do have.

The services you list are typically measured by the total expenses incurred, but you should include the following with your descriptions:

  • Accurate measurements such as clients served, days of care provided, number of sessions or events held, or publications issued
  • The service’s objective for both the current period and a long-term goal
  • Reasonable estimates for any statistical information if exact figures are not readily available

You need to be clear, concise, and complete with your descriptions. The IRS doesn’t recommend attaching any brochures, newsletters, or articles about your organization. If you need more space for explanations, you can use Schedule O.

Other Information
For each program service you list, you must also provide total expenses included on Part IX, and total grants and allocations, if applicable, included with your total costs. You’re also responsible for reporting any revenue derived directly from the service.

With ExpressTaxExempt.com, you can quickly and easily enter this information in minutes. Our application automatically generates your additional descriptions onto Schedule O and also calculates revenue, expenses, and grant values with the entries provided in the respective section.

Call our U.S. – based support team for any questions or assistance with entering program service accomplishments on your 990 form. We’re available at 704.839.2321, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST – email us at any time with [email protected].


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