The Auditors' Convention
By H. E. Rogers
In order to give more careful consideration to methods of work in the various union conferences, and if possible to recommend a uniform method of accounting and reporting for all our conferences and institutions, the General Conference arranged for holding a convention of the union conference auditors in the United States and Canada. This convention was held in Takoma Park, May 21-26, and was attended by thirty auditors, treasurers, and representatives of institutions. All the auditors of union conferences in North America were present, with one exception. Elder W. T. Knox acted as chairman of the meetings. This was the first meeting of this nature ever called by the General Conference. The necessity of calling it, as well as the advantage to be realized in the future, will be understood when it is stated that the auditors who attended this meeting are now auditing annually between twelve and fifteen million dollars. Prior to the convention, persons were assigned various topics upon which they were requested to prepare papers, covering such questions as: "Sane Business Principles for Operating Institutions;" "Advantage to Be Gained by Uniform System;" "The Most Important Features to Be Introduced in Planning a System for Denominational Accounting Covering All Lines of Work;" "Banking;" "Duties of an Auditor;" "Methods in Auditing;" "Duties of a Conference Treasurer Outside of His Office;" "How Our Educational Institutions May Cooperate in Improving the Accounting of the Denomination;" "Forms of Financial Statements." Opportunity was given for a full discussion of each paper, which afforded an exchange of thought regarding the best methods in the subjects considered. This phase of the meeting was very helpful, and enabled the convention to arrive at decisions with reference to systematic methods in dealing with such questions as the following:— Inventory of land, of buildings, and of improvements; depreciation of various classes of personal property and of buildings; methods in auditing; cooperation between conference officials and educational institutions in endeavoring to secure practical work for students of our commercial schools; the necessity of raising the standard of training for the education of business men; the preparation of a new form of record book for use by church treasurers, which shall be kept in duplicate, which duplicate may be readily transmitted with remittance to the conference treasurer, thus greatly lessening the work on the part of both officials; keeping separate sets of books for each of the following departments: the legal corporation, the conference department or the evangelical work, the missionary department or the tract society, the educational institution, the publishing house, and the sanitarium; that church property (in which the conference association has made no investment) should not be listed on the books of the association among its assets, but its value and other information recorded in a real-estate register, which register is to be prepared by a committee named, with power to act. The convention disapproved the use of the voucher check system for general use in this denomination; and recommend that "a duplicate deposit slip of every bank deposit should be retained on file, and that deposit slips be explanatory for all checks deposited, unless another record is kept." In order that comparisons may be made in the reports of various institutions, it is necessary that our auditors agree upon a uniform method of doing their work, especially in the matter of depreciation, and whether or not interest shall be considered an operating loss. If some institutions, in making up their annual statements, regard interest as an operating loss, and others do not, great differences obtain, and comparative results can not thus be secured. The convention therefore voted that interest should be figured as an operating loss. In considering the work necessary in tract society journals, it was voted to recommend two columns, one for merchandise and one for periodicals. It was voted that all church, local, and union treasurers conform as closely as possible to the plan of making monthly remittances, as recommended by the General Conference. It was also voted to recommend that the union conference auditor be recognized as the official auditor of local conferences, and to ask that the General Conference Committee recommend to the various local conferences the advisability of having the conference treasurer act as the auditor of the local church accounts, or if he can not do the work, that he be held responsible for the performance of this work. After a thorough consideration of the forms for accounting to be recommended for general use, and an exhibit and careful study of the various forms in use at the present, it was voted to refer this question to the General Conference Committee for further consideration, in the effort to unite upon a systematic form. It was voted that H. H. Hamilton, C. L. Kilgore, B. B. Smith, E. C. Taylor, and C. C. Pulver be a committee to prepare bookkeeping sets for use in educational institutions, which shall embody the systems used in our institutions and conferences. This was a very profitable meeting. Many questions of a technical nature were carefully considered, and concert of action agreed upon; but since these are not of general interest, only this brief outline is presented. The action of the convention on all the questions discussed was unanimous, and it is confidently believed that the results of the work done at this meeting will be plainly seen in the future of this cause. A comprehensive report is now in preparation, and will soon appear in pamphlet form, announcement regarding the price of which will be made in due time.