An audit of your financial records should be done at least once a year. Regardless if the same person is going to be still handling the books. The purpose for an audit is to 1) ascertain the accuracy of the books and financial records; 2) detect errors and recommend how to correct them; and 3) MOST IMPORTANTLY, it protects the financial officer. It is the only means of assuring that the accounts are accurate and it relieves the financial officer of responsibility except in case of fraud.
As we know in our own personal lifes, if you leave your checkbook and do not balance your statements etc... a small problem can easily mushroom. That is why it is so very important to do this at least once a year so that everyone in the organization can be assured that the financial records/accounts are in order. Our auditing committee consists of three members of our organization and the Treasuer. The Treasurer is not technically on the committee she just stands by to answer any questions they may have. The audit report is then read to the entire membership at our next general meeting. I am on the board so I know the who, what, why and how but I feel the membership have every right to know everything I do.
Sorry for being so long winded I just wanted to stress how important it is to have an audit done. I urge you please do not take over the financial books until an audit has been done. This not only protects you it also protects the woman who has been handling the financial matters for so long.
Lisa: We need a receipt for everything. We have a request for funds form and you need to list what you want money for and the amount. Then, that request form needs two Board signatures to authorize the disbursements, then the check gets two signatures. Our auditor checks for receipts and all signatures for every check written. If a receipt is missing and can't be found, a note is made telling that.
We have an Auditor who sits on the PTO Board and does an audit twice a year. She happens to be a lady who works with numbers anyway. She reports back after the audit and rectifies anything that maybe missing a receipt or signature.
Doesn't really sound like you have an organization at all. An organization has rules and policies that help them do work. Even though sometimes people say that the rules and stuff aren't necessary they actually help you to keep people involved because things like you describe don't happen. A couple of people can't control everything and shut others out if the rules are good and followed.
We were just talking about that at our last PTO meeting. We plan to have an audit done every two years (when the new treasurer takes over.) We talked about paying a CPA to do the audit as well as the taxes. This way one person has working knowledge of the books and can be more effective.
