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Governance
| Audit
Committee Meeting 6/17/2002 |
| Chair: |
Allen
L. Fetterman |
| Members
Present: |
Ronald
Benjamin, John Heveron (via teleconference), Michael McNee,
Raymond Nowicki (via teleconference) |
| External
Auditors: |
Julie
L. Floch and Edward D. Martin of Eisner, LLC |
| Staff
Present: |
Lynn Chambers, Louis
Grumet, and David Haar |
| Location: |
NYSSCPA, 530 Fifth Avenue, 5th floor, New York, NY |
| Time:
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11:05 a. m. |
Minutes
The
meeting
was called to order at 11:05 A.M.
Opening
and Introduction
Mr.
Allen Fetterman opened the meeting, and reviewed the agenda.
Discussion
of prior year’s Management Letter
Ms.
Lynn Chambers reviewed the Management Letter, and discussed
the status of the points raised in the letter.
Points
1 & 3 on Fixed Assets have been addressed by using
the fixed asset module in Great Plains. The computer assets
have also been split apart into hardware and software components.
Point 2 concerning Service Agreements was noted as
an error, and will not occur again.
Point 4 regarding Accounts Receivables has resulted
in a meeting that is held each month to review the current
receivables. Immediate action is taken on any account over
90 days old. The first step is a phone call from staff,
the second step is a letter from in-house legal counsel,
and the final step is turning over the account to Vengroff
Williams for collection. Due to lack of staff, the suggested
credit reports suggested by Eisner for new customers have
not been obtained.
Point 5 on recording revenue and deferred revenue
on the Foundation has been addressed as of July 1, 2001,
by importing data from the AM4 membership system each month
to the Great Plains ledger system.
New
issues for forthcoming audit
Ms.
Chambers noted the following items that had taken place
during the current year that might have an impact on the
audit:
1.
Payroll - as of January 1, 2002, the organization had moved
from ADP to Paychex for payroll processing. There was only
one minor problem during the changeover.
2. Donated Services – volunteers staffed a desk for
at the World Trade Center site for several months to assist
those who needed help with paperwork and tax advice after
9/11. Discussion ensued regarding the two requirements for
recording donated services. The advice was professional,
but the Society would not have paid for those services if
it could not have used volunteers. It was decided that the
donation should not be recorded in the financial statements.
Mr. Fetterman noted that the auditors could include this
information as a possible note to the financial statements
without quantifying the number. Mr. Nowicki noted that we
might not be including other volunteer services performed
by others, especially our chapter units.
3. AM4 membership system - as of July 1, 2001, all financial
information is integrated into the Great Plains ledger system
each month.
4. Foundation for Accounting Education - Ms. Chambers noted
that FAE will have an operating loss of $1.5 million for
the current year. Mr. Louis Grumet detailed some of the
reasons for this loss, as well as steps that have been taken
for the future.
Other
Audit Issues
Mr.
Nowicki asked Eisner if they would review travel expenses,
as he was interested in making sure that policies were being
followed and that there was no abuse of this item. Mr. Ed
Martin agreed they would look into this.
The
Audit will start on July 8. Mr. Fetterman asked for a target
completion date. Ms. Chambers remarked that because the
meetings calendar has not been set, she could not establish
a target date at this time. Other matters regarding the
audit were discussed including the elimination of the Controller
position and how it might affect the audit, the makeup of
the audit team, and the length of the audit engagement.
Other
Issues
Mr.
Michael McNee remarked that the Audit Committee received
a completed audit of the 2001 pension plan, with no prior
review by the committee. He requested that the committee
be engaged with a phone conference to review the preliminary
pension audit for the current year when it is available.
Ms. Chambers agreed to arrange that meeting.
There
being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at
11:45 AM.
Respectfully
submitted,
David Haar, NYSSCPA staff
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