That price is manifested in increased tax-preparation and auditing fees.

In simple terms, the federal government now requires nonprofit groups to provide more extensive information at tax time to make sure they are functioning correctly.

Consequently, accountants and nonprofit officials are spending more time filling out Form 990, the return that charities and tax-exempt organizations are required to file annually with the Internal Revenue Service. The more time tax preparers spend working, the higher their bill.

Barbara Hayes, executive director of the Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization, said SACTO's tax-prep bill this year jumped to around $5,000, up from $2,500 last year.

"It's nominal but it nearly doubled. This is the first year we've encountered it," she said.

The IRS issued an updated Form 990 at the close of 2007, saying it reflected "the way this growing sector operates in the 21st century."

The revised form includes more schedules, including data on nonprofit groups' executive compensation, foreign activities, non-cash contributions and tax-exempt bonds. The form seeks a clear explanation of a nonprofit group's mission and its activities.

The IRS also instituted a phase-in process. Organizations with gross receipts of more than $1 million or total assets more than $2.5 million were required to file the new Form 990 last year. Organizations with gross receipts above $500,000 or total assets more than $1.25 million are required to file the updated Form 990 for the first time this year.

The filing thresholds will be set at $200,000 gross receipts and $500,000 total assets beginning with the 2010 tax year. Smaller groups will continue to file a more basic form.

Toosje Koll, a certified public accountant and managing director of Resources Global Professionals in Sacramento, said Form 990 revisions were made in an environment that saw passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002. That legislation significantly raised reporting standards for public companies and accounting firms.

"(Form 990 changes) were not the direct result of Sarbanes-Oxley, but they were an evolution and offshoot of what was going on at the time after Enron," she said.

Koll said nonprofit groups are now held to a similar standard as publicly held companies -- giving the feds "enough information so they can do the analysis. There's much more scrutiny than in the past.

"Yes, they are looking for red flags."

A red flag could mean anything from a lavishly paid nonprofit officer to a dubious mission statement to questionable fundraising efforts. If a red flag is raised, the group can expect a call, or visit, from the IRS.

Nasi Raissian, a San Jose-based CPA who has taught classes about nonprofit groups for the California Society of CPAs' Education Foundation, said filling out the expanded Form 990 involves "probably 40 or 50 percent more effort than in the past. More schedules, more requirements. It's just longer.

"And it's not just the accountants. The effort is on both sides. The (groups) also have more work. They have to provide more documents and disclosures --"

Raissian said nonprofits have also been paying more for audit fees and risk assessments over the past three or four years, another bit of post-Enron fallout.

Ann Lucas, executive director of the Nonprofit Resource Center in Sacramento, said the added tax-prep and auditing costs are not crippling to nonprofit groups, but added: "It's like everything else -- money that we didn't have to spend before."

Lucas said that Form 990 also has its positives.

"With some of the additional information, it can also be a marketing tool for your nonprofit. There's so much more information (prospective donors) can see. And your mission was there in the back pages; now it's on the front pages."

Lucas said the expanded Form 990 enables prospective donors to do more research and determine "that you're a good steward of the funds they give you." She said that's better than simply "sending them thank-you notes."

The Nonprofit Resource Center, which primarily serves the northern Central Valley and Sierra Nevada regions, does have a pool of consultants, including accountants, to which it can refer nonprofits. It also offers workshops on various policies and procedures required of nonprofit groups. More details are available at www.nprcenter.org or (916) 285-1840.