I am filling out the CSS profile for the first time and struggling a bit. We are part owners of a business as of early 2019 but it’s first fiscal year does not end until early 2020 so I do not have past income, expense, asset or liability info to refer to. Do only businesses owned in 2018 get reported or businesses owned as of the day the CSS is filed? If as of day of filing, how exact do those numbers need to be? I will not have actuals available as of the date the CSS profile is due to the university but could start pushing the accountants for estimates.
Without knowing your business situation and financial numbers (and I hope you know you should never share that kind of stuff with a bunch of strangers on an anonymous internet forum), it’s hard to provide anything more than basic information.
Generally, any income reporting on Profile for academic year 2020-2021 will be based on calendar year 2018. If you have nothing to report from 2018, that’s pretty easy. Profile probably asks for business income numbers from 2019 as well so that a bigger picture can be viewed; if that’s the case, make your best informed estimates for calendar year 2019. Any asset information to be reported will be based on the situation that exists as of the day that the form is completed.
As always, make sure that you read and understand the Profile instructions. I have not personally completed Profile for a number of years and unlike FAFSA, the current form is not available online without creating a College Board account, so things may have changed that I am unaware of.
Other than the boxes that appear on the right when the cursor is in an input cell, are there instructions? I was not able to locate any.
Perhaps the question relates to the value of the business. While this business generated no income in 2018, it is a business that exists now in 2020. I would think the current value of the business as of the date of filing your forms would be reported…just like any other asset. Assets are reported as of the date the financial aid forms are filed.
If this business generated no income in 2018, than that’s the amount you would add to income…$0.
But the business value, I believe, is an asset…so what is the business worth now.
Yes, the question is about the value of the business and share of assets and income. So sorry to have been unclear. The business did exist in 2018 but we were not part- owners then. Since our first year of ownership has not yet closed, exactly how income statement and balance sheet will end up is not yet determined.
I don’t believe you need to report business income from this business on the 2020-2021 financial aid forms…which use income from 2018.
But…you probably do need to report your share of the value of this business as it stands now. So…what is that? Include only the %age of the business value that is your %age of ownership. So if you are 50% owner, you would include 50% of the value.
You should be able to figure out the value of this business…as 2019 has ended. Not income…value of the asset.
Thank you for your replies. All financial statements are done on a FYE 1/31 basis. I have estimated our share of the value as best I can based upon the partnership agreement. I will speak to the university directly about any other information they require.