Audits and AGMs

By now, many churches have wrapped up their 2020 financials and have held, or will soon hold, their Annual General Meetings. I would expect the church boards to provide financial statements and auditor reports to their membership in advance of the AGM. As you know, registered charities’ financial statements are available on the CRA website, e.g., Schedule 6 of their T3010 Annual Information Return. Therefore, the state of their financials are public and not restricted just to their members.

Check out this document from Philanthropic Foundations Canada re: analyzing financials of not-for-profit organizations, and CPA Canada’s guide to understanding financial statements. In the PFC document, there are tips and red flags to note; e.g., the auditor’s letter about a qualified opinion (p4). Alas, in reading financial statements, I had observed anomalies (e.g., the balance sheet doesn’t balance) … even after an audit. Check out this webinar re: red flags, sponsored by PFC last October. It also provides a good basic introduction to registered charities within Canada’s Not-for-Profit sector which also includes Non-Profit Organizations. Click here for the chart deck.

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