Jack Parsons, Treasurer
The report is in. The news is very good for the third year in a row. Charles Russell, senior partner in the accounting firm of Painter, Russell and Associates met with the Finance Committee and then the Vestry at meetings in early April. He and his team were reporting on the just-concluded audit of the accounting records of the church for the year just ended (January 1 – December 31, 2010).
This year continues the change in the format of the financial statements begun last year. It moved from traditional GAAP to a Modified Cash basis alternative that better captures the nature of our operations. This removes what had been a yearly exception note on fixed assets and depreciation (our ‘fixed assets’ are held in trust by the diocese and are not ours—something the accounting world has trouble categorizing in an audit) and allows the auditors to issue a “clean” opinion on our records and the financial statements being published. This means that in their opinion, the statements “present fairly, in all material respects, the assets, liabilities, and net assets of The Cathedral of All Souls as of December 31, 2010, and its revenues, expenses, and other changes in net assets for the year then ended on the basis of accounting described in Note 1.” This note describes the modified cash basis of accounting. There is also a special note to acknowledge that the buildings and equipment are held in trust for the Diocese and the wider Episcopal Church.
Mr. Russell noted continued improvements in internal control, general documentation and segregation of duties. There were only two reclassification entries made by them and they were finished with the audit in record time. Nonetheless, there were still suggestions that they offered in their management letter.
1. Segregation of Duties. Because of the limited number of people working in the office, they noted that it is important to continue to involve members of the Vestry in the daily operations. They commended our practice of having one of the Wardens be the primary check signer for all disbursements. There was a further recommendation on strengthening the review of bank reconciliations by having a quarterly sign-off by another member of the Finance Committee.
2. Review of the use of our credit card. They noted that use of the credit card could have some additional controls. There has been no misuse of the cards; the issue being the overall spending limit on the card could be available to anyone using the church card. The Finance Committee agreed and has recommended lowering the limits on monthly spending.
Each of these is being addressed by the Finance Committee and Vestry. Both the Finance Committee and Vestry were appreciative of the timeliness of the report and the encouraging words. There was also recognition of the careful attention to detail that Sue Gervais has brought to the role of Financial Assistant / Bookkeeper. There was a grateful acknowledgment of the role of an active Finance Committee. Many thanks to John Johnson, Matt Brookshire, Malcolm Douglas, Bob Knapp, DeeDee Daws, and Ken Dotson for their faithful service.
A copy of the report is available in the church office for any member of the parish who would like to see or read it. We’re proud of it and hope you will be, too!