Page 1 of 1
Financial Auditor
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2022 5:46 pm
by BrownTrout
What is the norm for who in the church has access to PowerChurch Plus? Is it appropriate for me, as a member of the church, Chairman of the Finance Committee, member of the Church Council and Financial Auditor of the church to have access to PowerChurch Plus for the sole purpose of printing out reports while doing an audit? I have asked for this access as a convenience to me while doing the annual audit, and so I don't have to inconvenience others to have them get the needed reports for me. This seems to be an issue with the network manager of the church who has authority over access to PowerChurch Plus. Right now, it's the Treasurer, Finance Secretary and Network Mgr who have access.
Re: Financial Auditor
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2022 8:15 pm
by NeilZ
BrownTrout wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 5:46 pm
What is the norm for who in the church has access to PowerChurch Plus? Is it appropriate for me, as a member of the church, Chairman of the Finance Committee, member of the Church Council and Financial Auditor of the church to have access to PowerChurch Plus for the sole purpose of printing out reports while doing an audit? I have asked for this access as a convenience to me while doing the annual audit, and so I don't have to inconvenience others to have them get the needed reports for me. This seems to be an issue with the network manager of the church who has authority over access to PowerChurch Plus. Right now, it's the Treasurer, Finance Secretary and Network Mgr who have access.
FWIW .. there is no norm. However, giving access to Funds Accounting for pulling reports only shouldn't be an issue as you can't change anything.
<Opinion>
The network manager shouldn't be the one who decides who has access to Accounting, that should be the Treasurer and yourself as Head of Finance Committee.
Same with access to Membership, that should be controlled by the Office Administrator and whoever is in charge of keeping track of membership information.
</opinion>
Re: Financial Auditor
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2022 10:37 pm
by Northside PdL
BrownTrout wrote: Is it appropriate for me, as a member of the church, Chairman of the Finance Committee, member of the Church Council and Financial Auditor of the church to have access to PowerChurch Plus for the sole purpose of printing out reports while doing an audit?
If the audit referred to is a financial audit performed by an independent CPA, I think the issue is not whether you have access to Power Church inquiry as much as whether your position as Chairman of the Finance Committee, and seat on the Church Council impairs your independence with respect to the church.
Re: Financial Auditor
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2022 11:42 pm
by NeilZ
Northside PdL wrote: ↑Fri Jan 14, 2022 10:37 pm
BrownTrout wrote: Is it appropriate for me, as a member of the church, Chairman of the Finance Committee, member of the Church Council and Financial Auditor of the church to have access to PowerChurch Plus for the sole purpose of printing out reports while doing an audit?
If the audit referred to is a financial audit performed by an independent CPA, I think the issue is not whether you have access to Power Church inquiry as much as whether your position as Chairman of the Finance Committee, and seat on the Church Council impairs your independence with respect to the church.
It doesn't sound like a CPA audit, but an in-house audit done by members of the congregation. Small churches can do these as it doesn't pay for them to use a CPA. All that matters is that the members of any audit committee do not have any say in paying bills, writing checks, or making deposits; and a reasonable knowledge of maintaining a checkbook
Re: Financial Auditor
Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2022 7:36 am
by BrownTrout
Yes, this is a small church that decided years ago that they do not wish to pay for an outside accounting firm (CPA) to do the audits. I am a degreed accountant and worked for a CPA firm for a few years right out of college. While there, I completed numerous audits of both small and large clients (e.g. Holiday Inn) during this period. This is why I was chosen to do the audits for the church. The audit of 2021 will be the 7th audit I've done for the church.
I appreciate everyone's comments and will bring this up at the Finance Committee meeting in Feb.