My last two months as Treasurer of the American Friends Service Committee were spent putting together a plain-English guide for reading the AFSC audit. I was joined in the project by AFSC’s Chief Financial Officer, Joe Njoroge, and the incoming Treasurer, David Singleton. It’s not easy to compare the numbers in the audit to the budget reports the Board was used to getting. The Guide was intended to bridge between the two.
For example, the number that appears to be the operating deficit in the audit, includes two items that AFSC never budgets for immediate spending (contributions to the planned giving portfolio and to the endowment) but does not include one that is always spent as current income (matured planned gifts). The actual operating deficit or surplus is therefore not the same as the audit’s “changes in net assets from operations.”
AFSC posts its recent audits publicly here. The 2019 Guide to the AFSC Audit is available to you here. I hope it will be useful to anyone hoping to understand the finances of the organization.
Finding My Place 