THE FIREHOUSE THEATRE

"These guys definitely knew what they were doing..."

The Firehouse Theatre is an award-winning theatre in Farmers Branch, Texas, in the suburbs of Dallas-Fort Worth. Providing live theatre to the entire region, the Firehouse Theatre has grown from a community theatre and now presents imaginative Broadway productions, regional debuts, children’s productions through Firehouse JR, special engagement presentations, summer camps, and more. In 2011 the community theatre entered into a multi-year agreement with the city to manage and use the historic Fire Station #1 which had been built in 1958 but had to relocate to a larger facility that could now accommodate ambulances and much larger fire trucks. Today, the Firehouse Theatre is in the heart of the Mustang Station Arts and Culture District in Farmers Branch. It is an artistic community that is a catalyst for growth, education and training where generations are inspired, spirits are nourished, and thoughts are challenged.

“Like all relatively small nonprofits, we struggle with the whole accounting thing,” explains David Moore, who was a donor and a Board member but “raised my hand one too many times” and was named Executive Director. “At that time our treasurer was an engineer with no accounting background,” he recalls. “He set up our QuickBooks account and it wasn’t a bad job – for an engineer – but we needed more.”

After going through several audits, a new treasurer who had some accounting background, and an unfortunate experience with a local company that offered services for small businesses, serendipity stepped in. A neighbor who had worked for YPTC dropped by the theatre while a local cookie company’s truck was making a delivery and handed a business card to a Board member.

“I could tell from my first phone call with the YPTC interviewer in New Jersey that these guys definitely knew what they were doing and would make a big difference for us,” Moore recalls. “I came from the corporate world and was accustomed to a large accounting department with lots of support and that’s what YPTC has brought to us, with additional resources. If we need an auditor or a consultant, they work with enough other nonprofits that they have a network of folks they can refer us to for other services we might need.”

YPTC started a clean-up process of consolidating accounts and adding best practices. “They got our P&L statements and balance sheets down to easy-to-digest one-pagers,” he adds. “For a Board that’s generally not too financially savvy it’s really helped them understand how the financials work. And they do a fantastic job writing an executive summary and a forward-looking forecast so we’re not as much in the dark about the future.”

30-YEAR CONGRATULATIONS: “I’m just so impressed ….”

“I’m just so impressed with the idea of an accounting firm that’s specialized for nonprofits. It seems like a great niche idea. I wish YPTC at least 30 more years of great success!”

— David Moore, Executive Director

The Firehouse Theatre

Farmers Branch, Texas