We’re All Family - Why Waste Time and Money on Unessential Internal Controls

The church finance team co-chair was asked by the head pastor to spearhead a review of a job description for an office administrator. Imbedded in the job description were internal control concerns that previously had been raised but ignored by church leadership. When asked why these concerns had not been addressed, the pastor responded that the church’s close family like environment mitigated the finance team’s perceived internal control problems. However, the cochair did not want the church, its leadership, or the volunteer finance team to be at risk. He felt that endorsing fiscal policies that he thought were wrong put all of them at avoidable risk. Were these perceived internal control concerns illusory or real? And, if they were real, what should be done?