Update For Finance – Dec 2023
Financial Review and Report for Year 2023
OIAA Form # 7
Submission date: 1 March 2024
Dear OIAA membership,
First we want to say thank you for allowing us to be of service in conducting this financial review. This was a
valuable and rewarding experience for all of us. Please be aware that none of us are professional forensic
accountants. The review we conducted followed Renosi’s Guide to Conducting an Internal Financial Review.
Following this note you will find our 9 page report with details on the actions we took to look into OIAA’s
business practices.
Findings: During the review we found no irregularities. OIAA’s financial reporting system is transparent and well
kept. The financial documents lodged on the website are open to view by the entire membership at any time.
OIAA’s policies are in step with commonly accepted recommendations for nonprofits. Financial control policies
and practices are as recommended by Reynosi. In short, we are pleased that the accounts, policies, and
processes are in good order.
Finally, we invite you to attend OIAA finance committee meetings and consider volunteering for the financial
review team.
In Service,
Connie S.
Erica K.
Karen Mc.
Lesliee A.
Stephanie M.
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Financial Review and Report for Year 2023
OIAA Form # 7
This report closely follows the Renosi Guide to Conducting an Internal Financial Review
recommendations.
**Please note there are two updates detailed in appendices at the end of this report:
Suggested documents to review: The items in green were reviewed by Lesliee & Erica in
December 2023 during the creation of this template. A selection of the items in pink were chosen
to review for the financial portion of the review (See Appendix II)
● The most recent OIAA financial policies and any changes during the year
● OIAA finance committee treasurer’s reports, i.e. meeting minutes, for the previous year.
These are located on the OIAA finance committee webpage.
● OIAA finance committee financial reports for the previous year.
These are located on the OIAA finance committee webpage.
● Bank and other financial statements for the previous year.
● Bank and other account reconciliations
● Invoices, receipts and other documents
● IRS letter documents including most recent Form 990, IRS letter recognizing tax-exempt
status
Review financial documents and processes.
● Check names of persons authorized to (a) approve transactions and (b) sign checks, against:
persons authorized to conduct these activities in the organization’s minutes; and,bank records
indicating who is authorized as a signatory. ✅ Erica & Lesliee
● Check all bank reconciliations to determine that the beginning balance of one month is the same
as the ending balance of the previous month. Also note whether the balance listed on financial
statements is the same as the balance listed on the treasurer’s reports presented to the
organization.✅ As there were only 5 review team members, Stephanie and Karen chose
a total of 4 bank statements to inspect. (See Appendix II)
● Pick one month and perform a bank reconciliation using the original records. If you find a
discrepancy between your reconciliation and the reconciliation provided by the person who
performed the original reconciliation, research the discrepancy to find the error or explanation
for the discrepancy. ✅Stephanie (Details inAppendix II)
● Check to see that the organization’s insurance policies are up to date. ✅Karen
Review a random selection of 5 income items and receipts.
● Determine if the deposits listed on the financial reports provided to the organization match
deposits listed on bank statements. ✅ Karen
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Financial Review and Report for Year 2023
OIAA Form # 7
Review a random selection of 5 disbursements.
● Test to be sure that payments made were properly authorized – by a line item in the approved
budget, an approved amendment to the budget, or an appropriate vote authorizing the expenditure.
Test purchase orders to be sure that they were properly approved and match the actual
disbursement or invoice. Review records to ensure that there is an invoice, receipt or other
appropriate written documentation for each disbursement, and that the amounts match. ✅ Lesliee
Review Tax/information returns.
● Review financial records to ensure that appropriate federal (IRS Form 990) and state income
tax/information returns have been timely filed. ✅ Connie
Review financial control systems. ✅ Erica & Lesliee (details Appendix I)
● Check to evaluate whether financial duties have been appropriately separated. Although it can
be difficult for small organizations to separate financial duties, certain separations are essential
for appropriate financial controls. These separations protect both the organization, and the
individuals handling the finances. Specifically:
NOTE: Individuals with signature authority should NEVER approve the
transactions/disbursements for which they sign. All expenditures should be approved in
an annual budget, as originally approved or amended, or by a vote of the board or
membership as appropriate. All disbursements should be documented by an invoice,
receipt or other appropriate written documentation.
NOTE: The individual(s) with signature authority may reconcile bank statements.
However, at least one additional officer or director should review monthly bank
statements, or bank statements may be included with the treasurer’s report to the
board/membership.
NOTE: Finances should be reviewed annually by a review committee that consists of two
or more individuals who do not routinely handle the organization’s finances, such as by
being a signatory on the accounts.
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Financial Review and Report for Year 2023
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Review reporting systems to ensure adequate information is provided for the
organization and its officers/directors to make reasonable decisions.
● Are reports from the treasurer timely and complete?✅ Erica
● Are financial policies, including separation of financial controls, being followed? ✅ Erica & Lesliee
● Are all records being gathered (invoices, receipts, cash records, checks and disbursement records, bank
records, treasurer’s reports) so that they can be reviewed as needed, and only discarded in accordance with
the organization’s record retention guidelines? ✅ Erica & Lesliee
Final report Structure
● Steps taken in the financial review ✅ (As listed appendix II)
● Current fund(s) balance and balance sheet ✅
● Comments, if any, on any concerns or discrepancies found and the audit committee’s
recommendations to correct these concerns or discrepancies. ✅The review team
found no irregularities, discrepancies, or concerns within OIAA’s accounting
systems. The process generated the question as to why the bank statements are
no longer downloaded and kept within the OIAA finance Google drive folder.
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Financial Review and Report for Year 2023
OIAA Form # 7
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Financial Review and Report for Year 2023
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Appendix I: Update to the finance committee Dec 28, 2023
Finance Committee audit/review team report on work thus far.
Eldin was unable to continue working on this project.
Neither of us (Lesliee and Erica) felt comfortable with an accounting audit process because we are not forensic
accountants. Instead we have chosen the Renosi’s Guide to Conducting an Internal Financial Review to use
as a guide. From that we have developed a financial review template for OIAA.
Lesliee transferred the Renosi document to an OIAA google doc for us to work with. Because we did not know
the details of OIAA finances, Erica went through the Renosi guide and created a list of questions for the
treasurer. Jennifer provided a thorough explanation of the current OIAA finance workflow, processes, cash flow
management, and other items. Her answers are italicized below each question on the sections below.
—-
Questions and Answers:
1. Reporting system:
Is there a written workflow for the financial reporting system being used?
Yes. The workflow documents are in the finance committee google drive folder.
2. Policies:
Are there any OIAA written financial policies other than the unapproved charter?
Charter has been approved by the board, just needs to go to the assembly.
Which of the following documents are stored in the OIAA google drive and who has access to them?
● Treasurer’s reports, in the form of meeting minutes.
They are available on the website for all of OIAA
● Bank statements
Treasurer, Alt Treasurer, Chair, and Secretary via Mercury, banking Program and Xero, accounting program.
● Financial statements
They are available on the website for all of OIAA
● Investment accounts (if any)
N/A
● PayPal statements
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Financial Review and Report for Year 2023
OIAA Form # 7
The Board
● Reconciliations of accounts
Alt Treasurer reconciles, Treasurer reviews
● Invoices
Person who requested service forwards to the Treasurer. Treasurer attaches invoice for disbursement
approval from Chair or Secretary
● Receipts
PayPal has an automatic feed to Xero, accounting system. Hard checks are received and scanned at
Traveling Mail. Alt Treasurer electronically deposits, and Treasurer monitors to ensure all checks are
deposited. It is a no touch system.
● Restrictions such as donor advised funds
N/A
● 990s
IRS website, Finance drive, and current is on OIAA website
● IRS exempt letter
IRS website and Finance drive
● EIN form
OIAA does not have
3. Disbursements:
Is there a separate disbursements document?
OIAA Vendor Process document is on the Finance drive
4. Financial control:
Do Individuals with signature authority ever approve the transactions/disbursements?
No. Treasurer inputs the disbursement and the Chair or Secretary approves it.
Have all expenditures been approved in the annual budget?
Yes.
Does an additional officer or other OIAA committee chair currently review monthly bank statements?
Alt Treasurer reconciles, Treasurer reviews.
5. Other financial documents and processes:
Do we have a petty cash account?
No
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Financial Review and Report for Year 2023
OIAA Form # 7
Does OIAA carry insurance of any kind?
Yes, director and officer insurance
Which persons are authorized to
(a) approve transactions and
Secretary and Chair
(b) sign checks
All payments are done electronically. Treasurer initiates payment.
——-
We recommend an annual review to be submitted before March 15 of each year.
Report respectfully submitted on Dec 28, 2023
In service, Lesliee & Erica
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Financial Review and Report for Year 2023
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Appendix II: Update to the finance committee Feb 10, 2024
During the early process design meetings the team decided that annual review should be completed and
reported two weeks before each year’s March OIAA governing board meeting.
A.Session organizers
1. Recruited and notified volunteers, managed access to Xero and Mercury. – Lesliee
2. Screen and link shared documents with task volunteers during the review session. Compiles report
afterwards. – Erica
Below is a listing of volunteer tasks and comments from individual team members
B. Locate and review documents (Connie)
1. Most recent financial policies
Finance Committee Charter
Finance Committee Financial Review Template
2. Financial documents located on the website
3. Most recent IRS 990
4. IRS letter recognizing tax exempt status
5. State nonprofit letter of good standing
Notes from Connie L: Reviewed Docs for #1, 2, 4, 5, and then they look good. Located financial statements on
website for viewing. #3 IRS 990 2023 not reviewed because not completed as yet.
C. Individual review tasks
Team members will review randomly chosen documents to review as follow:
1. Review one random monthly cash flow (income) statement
Task completed by Erica K
2. Choose one month and perform a bank reconciliation using the original records.
Task completed by Stephanie M. (immediately below)
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Financial Review and Report for Year 2023
OIAA Form # 7
2023 OIAA Bank
Statement Audit
Bank Budget Variance Balance Sheet
Beginning Balance 35807.42 39164.81 39164.81
Deposits 7671.50 1091.42
Expense -3129.16 -4529.26
Checks not cleared -93.53 4529.26
Savings 60000.44 60000.44 60000.44
PayPal 1091.42
100256.67 100256.67 100256.67
3. Compare 1 paypal statement with pertinent inflows/outflows
Task completed by Lesliee in re Dec 3023 PayPal statement
4. Review 3 random invoices and associated payments.
Task completed by Lesliee in re Q4 of 2023
5. Purchase orders: Topic deleted because OIAA does not receive purchase orders.
6. Investigate 5 randomly chosen deposits listed on the financial reports provided to the organization
match deposits listed on bank statements. (Karen)
7. Test 5 randomly chosen payments to be sure that payments made were properly authorized – by a line
item in the 2023 approved budget, an approved amendment to the budget, or an appropriate vote
authorizing the expenditure. (Karen)
Note from Erica: We had trouble with downloading the approved budget with view only access. We requested a
PDF copy for Karen to work with. The final report including these items ( C6 & C7 ) will be ready in time for the
March board 2024 meeting.
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Financial Review and Report for Year 2023
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Notes from Karen added Feb 12, 2024:
For tasks 6 and 7, three bank statements were randomly pulled (April, August, November) and reviewed
against the monthly reports for Group Contributions, Budget Variance, Balance Sheet, and if needed – Finance
Meeting Notes. Deposits and Payments for review were randomly selected.
Task 6 – November Group Cont and Budget Variance Reports show $8,476.07 total/revenue. Additionally,
under “other income” an additional .05 (savings account) shows. Bank Statement indicates total deposits were
$7,671.50. Unable to verify why deposit is less than contributions reported.
Also, tried to track contribution of William P for $10.00 (listed on Group Cont Report) but it’s not listed on bank
statement. AA Love and Tolerance contribution of $142.92 validated between the Group Cont Report and the
Bank Statement.
Perhaps checking paypal reports will inform the discrepancy issue?
Three other deposits were validated in Aug (1) and April (2 ). Details available if needed.
For tasks 6 and 7, three bank statements were randomly pulled (April, August, November) and reviewed
against the monthly reports for Group Contributions, Budget Variance, Balance Sheet, and if needed – Finance
Meeting Notes. Deposits and Payments for review were randomly selected.
Task 7 – April bank statement – two payments selected: first to AA International Literature Fund (not in
approved 2023 budget) validated by May meeting notes (there were no notes taken at April meeting) indicating
it was authorized at previous Assembly for payment in the amount of $4700. Actual payment was $4713 on
4/10/23.
Second payment to Jeff Bernknopf in the amount of $549 on 4/3/23. This amount was close to the $550 listed
in the 2023 budget for monthly D&O Insurance Premium. Talked to Lesliee about whether Jeff B connected
with insurance, she said yes. Leaving validation up to Finance Committee Officers.
August bank statement – two payments selected: first to Sandra Lascarro on 8/3/23 for $130. Per Lesliee,
Sandra is a Spanish interpreter. Translation Services authorized by 2023 Budget.
Second payment to La Rosa Translation on 8/22. Translation Services authorized by 2023.
November bank statement – payment to Melinda Fries on 11/14/23 for $1140. Per Lesliee, Melinda was
providing website hosting services at that time. Website/Hosting Management authorized in 2023 Budget.
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Financial Review and Report for Year 2023
OIAA Form # 7
D. Review OIAA financial processes as a team:
1. This task was completed by Lesliee and Erica in December of 2023 in the process of creating a
Financial Review template. The update noting these actions is here in this report. Next year this will
need to be accomplished by the 2024 OIAA financial review team in 2025.
Note from Erica: Board should consider renaming the audit folder to financial review, to delete or archive the
existing documents, and to upload each year’s financial review report.
2023 OIAA Financial Review report submitted in service,
Erica K
Feb 10, 2024
