What are some obvious things church auditors should look for when conducting an audit?
First and foremost, the auditor must conduct him or herself in a Christian manner, independent yet conciliatory toward the records they are examining and the persons who created them. Always giving the Treasurer, staff, or board members the opportunity to succeed but holding to the standard/procedures set by the board for the benefit of the congregation. Secondly, find out two things. 1) Find out if any audit procedures have been approved in writing by the church board for the Audit committee follow. And failing this, 2) find out what standards the Treasurer is supposed to follow. My experience has been 90% of non-profit organizations do not keep or maintain written procedures for their internal audit committees or treasurers. Then find out if these written procedures are up-to-date. If the board does not understand or document the basic principles of recordkeeping the treasurer is to follow, it is a perfect opportunity to have the board participate on the audit committee as a student
