By Dave Tschantz, Vice President & General Counsel
*Editor’s note: This information was published in the March 2022 issue of Heartfelt Magazine, CHM’s monthly magazine that provides CHM membership-related tips and tricks, medical advice from doctors, testimonies from CHM members, and more. Please refer to the CHM Guidelines and applicable web pages for the most up-to-date information regarding CHM membership, sharing eligibility, and ministry news.*
Before discussing this month’s explanation of CHM board-level standards, let’s review what was presented in February.
Standard No. 13(f). The board shall establish and maintain an appropriate salary structure for the senior management of the ministry consistent with comparable not-for-profit entities and industry norms; and 13(g). The board shall prepare complete and accurate financial statements that reflect all monies that have moved through the Ministry to and from its members and shall annually engage an independent certified public accountant to audit those statements.
This article discusses standards No. 13(h) and No. 13(i).
Standard No. 13(h): The board shall maintain appropriate communication with the independent certified public accountant on an ongoing basis to ensure proper financial management.
Standard No. 13(i): The board shall require its management team to disclose to the board any material weaknesses in internal controls or other significant risks or management deficiencies.
In compliance with standard No. 13(h), and in conjunction with standard No. 13(g), the board meets with the auditors independent of ministry management to review and discuss audit findings, and the board maintains its own communications with the auditing firm regarding financial matters and controls.
In compliance with standard No. 13(i), the ministry management team is required to disclose to the board all risk, including financial risk and weaknesses. Risk to the ministry is constantly being evaluated and addressed by the CHM management team.
These practices protects the transmission of accurate financial information to the board.
Editor’s note: For your convenience, members are able to view financial reports and audit reports by requesting them from CHM using the “Contact Us” page.
