Tips for a smooth P&C Audit – Part 2

The type of information the auditor will require is set out in the P&C Accounting Manual.

Things to include are:

•     Minutes of meetings
•     Records of income
•     Records of payments
•     Cashbooks
•     Records of assets and liabilities
•     Signed certificate of President, Secretary and Treasurer
•     A copy of the P&C Accounting Manual
•     Bank statements for all accounts
•     All payment vouchers
•     All receipt books
•     Cheque and deposit books
•     Stocktake count records
•     Any other records the auditor considers necessary

During the audit it will be common for the auditor to confirm certain balances of assets such as the bank accounts. You may find that a bank audit certificate will be required to get direct confirmation of account details from your bank. They may also wish to physically sight other capital items.

Open lines of communication between the treasurer and auditor will help these and other audit procedures to occur efficiently.

At the end of the audit the auditor is required to give an opinion on a number of things such as:

1. Do the prepared financial accounts present a true and fair view of the P&C’s transactions for the year?
2. Are the financial statements in a form as required by the accounting manual?
3. Have other requirements as set out in the accounting manual been complied with?

The opinion is generally either unqualified, which means no material problems are reportable, or qualified, meaning there are matters the auditor has found during the audit and is required to report it.

Whatever opinion is ultimately given at the end of the audit, we would encourage the treasurer and executive to have the auditor to give feedback on any issue in the audit process and, if a qualified opinion is given, steps that might be taken to remedy it in the subsequent year.

Most auditors would see this as adding value to the audit but also adding value to the P&C Association’s operations.