How often should a Church conduct an internal audit?
Assuming the Church Audit Committee is not “on-going” the entire year, the audit should be conducted annually. It should be conducted every year until such time that the committee’s audit procedures, the treasurer’s accounting procedures, and church policies have been so clearly documented so that congregational members or a board memeber can walk in and supervise the audit without assistance. Yes, this is a tall order. Further, most evangelical churches do not have a comprehensive audit program that verifies contibutions or payroll records. So if a church believes that it has a well-documented audit program, I would propose that it focus on an audit by a professional accounting firm, the ECFA, or a peer group. In short, there are always ways to improve standards or efficiencies, therefore an audit is always needed. God says his ways are above our ways. Therefore we are imperfect. Error and fraud are always possible. History proves this.
