What to Heck is an Audit By Leah Rogers, Corporate Treasurer, of Vesta You’ve probably heard the ‘A’ word come up at a house meeting recently. That’s right co-opers, we’re headed into audit season! If you’re new here, you’re probably wondering what it means to be audited and how it will affect you and your house; and even if this ain’t your first rodeo, you might still have some questions! I hope this article can shed some light on the house audit process and what the heck your house treasurer has been up to all these months. Without further ado, let’s get into it! What is an audit? An audit is a third-party examination of an organizations financial statements. We at the SHC audit our houses every four months as a way of ensuring accountability in the way that house funds are being used, as well as to assess any surplus or deficit for the quadrimester. The audit appointment occurs about one month after the end of the audit period, meaning that the audits taking place this October will assess financial statements for the period of May 1st 2021-August 31st 2021. Audits are performed individually by house and attended by your house’s treasurer, myself, and holly jo, the SHC’s Executive Director. How does my house prepare for the audit? Each month, your house treasurer will complete a budget reconciliation that details all of the expenses and transactions that your house made during that month. Completing the reconciliation is the same idea as balancing your checkbook. When your house makes a purchase, it falls into one of your budgeted categories for the quadrimester, be that electricity, food & supplies, etc. At the audit, we can see if your house overspent or underspent in a category for the quadrimester and make recommendations for how to adjust your house’s budget moving forward. You can help your house treasurer prepare for the audit by submitting receipts and reimbursement requests to them on-time so that they can be accounted for on your budget reconciliation sheet. Your house treasurer should also prepare your house for the audit by reporting on house expenditures at house meetings and notifying you when you are not on track to stay within your budget for the quadrimester. What happens at the audit appointment? The audit appointment is a time for myself and holly jo to walk through your houses expenses and income with your house treasurer. Expenses and income are visualized using your house’s audit sheet. Here is an example of what that looks like:
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