Lu Ann Trapp

CPA

Tax Manager

A former director of finance for Easter Seals, Lu Ann currently applies her considerable not-for-profit expertise to trade and professional associations, arts and cultural organizations, social service agencies, and educational institutions. 

As Tax Manager in Blackman Kallick’s Not-for-Profit Practice, her responsibilities include:

• Supervising the preparation of Form 990 and 990-T
• Ensuring compliance with Form 990 reporting requirements, including reporting unrelated business income (UBIT) and excess benefits and documenting appropriate policies and procedures
• Presenting Form 990 to boards of directors or finance committees

Not-for-profit organizations must balance a keen focus on fulfilling the mission with maximizing their often-limited resources. Having served as director of finance for two not-for-profit organizations, Lu Ann is aware of these hurdles and works with her clients to assist them with tax compliance issues in the most cost-effective manner.

Lu Ann collaborates with the not-for-profit audit team to uncover potential tax issues that might need to be addressed throughout the year. For example, she looks for new agreements or activities that might generate unrelated business income or threaten the organization’s tax-exempt status.

She presents training sessions on unrelated business income tax, executive compensation, and preparation of Form 990 and 990-T. During these sessions, Lu Ann solicits input from all participants to help them see different approaches to address the challenges they all face.

Credentials and Professional Involvement

Since earning a BA in Accounting from the University of Northern Iowa, Lu Ann has accumulated more than 15 years of accounting and tax experience in not-for-profit management and public accounting.

Lu Ann is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Illinois CPA Society.