Internal controls

  • Last updated 9/17/2020

    Jaime Campbell, CPA, Tier One Services, LLC

    Auditing is an information service. As such, many forward-thinking auditors have already been working virtually for years, as evidenced by their vacation photos posted on Facebook while they were conducting “analytical procedures” from their laptops, which they bring with them everywhere, including the bathroom.

  • Who’s responsible for which kinds of oversight? The Board of Directors has overall legal responsibility for the financial health of your nonprofit. Board members need to understand key financial information and policies, and it’s recommended that they look at the following reports at least quarterly: Fiscal year budget (with comparisons to actual expenditures/revenue). Profit and loss statement (including programs).
  • An organizational fraud policy facilitates the development of controls to help detect and prevent fraud against your organization. It promotes consistent organizational behavior by providing guidelines and assigning responsibility for the development of controls and the conduct of investigations. Customize this sample fraud policy to adopt these practices at your organization.

  • Financial Transparency - Earning trust through financial transparency and accountability goes beyond what the law requires, but let’s start there: Nonprofits are required to disclose certain financial information to the public upon request; board members have access to financial information in order to fulfill their fiduciary duty to the nonprofit. (National Council of Nonprofits)

  • Whether your nonprofit is more like an intimate family or an enormous well-oiled machine, fraud can occur, and when it happens, it can damage your reputation, relationships with funders, and staff morale. In other words, you can't afford it. (Nonprofit Quarterly)

    Maximizing Nonprofit Internal Controls: An Essential Guide for Even the Most Pure

  • Establishing good fiscal policies and procedures is more of an investment of time and attention than money. There is no “one size fits all” template that will work for all organizations. This guide offers a recommended structure for policies and procedures as well as some questions to guide you in considering what is best for your organization. (CompassPoint, 2012) 

  • Preparing for an audit doesn't have to be a daunting task. Here are a few things you can do on an ongoing basis and throughout the year to make the process easier.  

    © North Carolina Center for Nonprofit Organizations, Inc. From Common Ground, a publication of the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits, www.ncnonprofits.org.

     

  • This signature authority policy serves as a sample of the permission to execute transactions established by relevant policies and permission to approve transactions for execution.

     

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