Does E-filing improve nonprofit reporting timeliness? evidence from IRS Form 990 data

Financial reporting is central to accountability in public service organizations. Each year, more than 200,000 U.S. nonprofits file IRS Form 990, making financial and operational information public. Yet filings are often delayed: nonprofits file, on average, about eight months after fiscal year-end, while many for-profit firms report in under two months. Over the past two decades the IRS has promoted electronic filing (e-filing) and, since 2019, has mandated it, arguing that it streamlines the process. Concerns remain that e-filing could burden smaller nonprofits that lack technical capacity. This paper examines whether e-filing is associated with differences in reporting delays. Using a hand-collected, nationally representative dataset, we find that e-filing is associated with shorter delays. The association varies by organizational size, with the largest reductions among smaller nonprofits.