It used to be we had justify and explain over and over again why certain practices are required. (Yes, you do need to turn in receipts; No, we cannot reimburse for things that were never approved; Yes, we really do need to track the revenue/expenses for each event...") It seems like even the most common sense best practices were debated by some.
Now it's easy. Of course we can explain why it's a good idea, that these are accepted accounting methods, etc. etc. But the MAGIC words are: "The auditor requires it." or "It's required so we can pass our audit this year."
It's amazing how easily people comply when the rules are set by someone "important".
This topic has been discussed a lot on the Forum. You may want to go into SEARCH and look at the older postings. (Keyword "audit" would probably find them.)
I think most of us agree the ideal situation is an annual audit by an independent party.
Who performs the audit varies. For us, the school district auditor audits our books free of charge each June. Others may have an audit committee. Still others use the services of a CPA, either donated or paid.
An audit verifies the accounts and minimizes future risk. It not only checks to make sure the money is where it should be, it also checks to be sure that procedures were followed. (Two signatures on checks, proper approval of expenditure, good record-keeping.) Making sure these best practices are followed helps safeguard the funds for the future.
I guys... I am the president of a Parent Club we run pretty much like a PTA, our group is non profit , was established 13 years ago & has good by-laws. The problem is the bylaws say nothing about audits, I feel it is really important to audit the books yearly especially because of the large amount that we bring in/spend each year and the turnover of officers. I want to make a motion to add to the bylaws yearly (or at least every 2 years) an audit by an independent person or group. Who audits your groups books & how often are they audited.
This year at the beginning of the school year the new treasurer & I did a small audit mainly to get the books organized & because we were in trouble with the IRS (we had lost our non profit we since got it back) And we found tons of petty cash withdraws from the checking account but no receipt & reasons why... also there were checks written to officers with no receipts for the product they were getting refunded for. We also found checks with only 1 signiture (the old presidents) our bylaws require 2.. And we found forged signitures on checks.
I really think audits are important & would love advice on who audits the books & how often... Thanks [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img] [img]smile.gif[/img]
