2023 Audit Workbook | Audit Guidelines | Audit Committee Form | Submit Audit Results

Dear Rector/Vicar/Priest-in-Charge and Senior Warden,

It is time to turn your attention to the 2023 audit! As you know, the audit is a requirement of the canons of the Episcopal Church and a good and reasonable business practice. Every congregation is required to perform some type of audit each year.

Your requirement as clergy in charge (or senior warden) is to determine what type of audit your church will be doing, form an audit committee, and return the attached audit form to communicate this information to the diocese. The audit form is due by April 15, 2024. Audits must be completed and submitted to the diocese by September 1, 2024.

The diocesan audit guidelines are delineated below. Please note that the guidelines are minimum requirements; any church that is not required to conduct an external audit or external review may do so. All churches, regardless of audit type, are required to form an audit committee with the following stipulations: Neither the treasurer nor finance committee chair should be on the committee. Further, the committee should not include more than one member of the finance committee. It should include at least one vestry/Bishop’s committee member.

The audit instructions and workbook will be available in late March, 2024. It contains the necessary tasks to guide each kind of audit (note external audits sometimes require an additional internal controls questionnaire, see the workbook p. 8 for details).

We recognize that the congregational audit sometimes becomes a tedious and burdensome task. The audit program was designed by the Diocesan Audit Standards Planning Task Force to provide congregational audit committees with a clear step-by-step process which is intended to clarify what is required of them.

Again, please let us know who the members of your audit committee are and what type of audit you are using by April 15, 2024 on the form provided below. The final date for submission of the completed audit is September 1, 2024. If there are questions that we can help with, please contact me at jmartinhauk@edsd.org or 619-481-5457. Harry Jasper, Controller, will be coordinating the audits as last year, and he can be reached at 619-481-5947 and hjasper@edsd.org.

After you have completed the audit, we welcome your comments as to any changes in procedures that you would suggest. Your comments and suggestions will help us plan for next year.

Sincerely,
The Rev. Canon Jeff Martinhauk
Chief Financial Officer
The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego

Audit Workbook

The Audit Workbook for 2023 includes all the necessary information for you to successfully complete your church audit. This document outlines the Audit Terms, Audit Guidelines, External Audit/Audit Review, External Audit Committee Report, Audit Committee, Committee Audit Procedures, and the Audit Committee Report. 

Download the Audit Workbook Here

Audit Guidelines

Approved by Executive Council of The Episcopal Diocese of San Diego December 7, 2013

Please Note: The diocese only has funding for a limited number of audits. We have identified churches that we will be auditing. If your church is one of those, you will be notified separately.

All churches will conduct an annual audit. A committee audit is required unless a different type of audit is required by the guidelines stipulated below.

Requirements for external audits are based largely on annual revenue. Revenue includes all revenue from church, school, thrift shop or any other parochial organization.

•  Churches with revenues greater than $2 million: Every other year with external review in intervening year
• Churches with revenue between $1.5 and $2 million: Every third year with external reviews in intervening years
• Churches with revenue between $1 and $1.5 million: Every fourth year with an external review in one of the intervening years
• Churches with revenue between $500,000 and $1,000,000: External audit or external review every fourth year with diocesan audit in one of the intervening years
• Churches must have an external audit or external review combined with a diocesan audit for the year in which a rector, vicar, or priest in charge leaves

In addition, Churches with any of the following are subject to a Diocesan audit:

• Every 4th year for churches with less than $500,000 in revenue
• During administrative transition (part time clergy, treasurer, church bookkeeper/administrator unless an external audit was done within the last year.)
• Churches that did not submit any audit in the prior year

If your church has been selected for Diocesan audit, your clergy or senior warden will be notified by March 22, 2024. Otherwise, you will determine which type of audit to perform and notify the diocese by completing the form on p. 6-7.