Hiring an audit firm is not easy but not hard either. The most important thing is to rely on references. Here are questions to ask a reference:
- How well was the audit done?
- How fast did they get out to do any field work?
- How fast after the field work did they get the final report?
- How many questions did they ask of staff and which staff?
- What was their price?
- Would you use them again?
- Did they meet with management (with no staff present) after it was all done?
- Did they ask staff if there are things staff wants included in the report?
- Did they listen to staff’s answers about the way the staff does accounting versus the “perfect” method?
- How much have they increased their price each year?
Here’s the process I use when searching for an auditor:
- Gather a bunch of names
- Get them to submit RFPs (you’ll have to give them your financials)
- Call references
- Invite 2-3 in for face-to-face interviews
- Select one
- Change auditors after 3-5 years
Lead On!
Steve
www.churchbestpractices.org – all kinds of FREE church manuals and sample documents
www.financeforchurches.org – 400 plus blogs on every church administration topic you can think of