Church Finance Committee Report
To the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Dear Brethren:
We have reviewed the annual financial report of the Church for the fiscal year ending August 31, 1974, which includes operations involving the general funds of the Church and funds of other organizations controlled by the Church whose accounts are maintained by the Financial Department of the Church. We have also examined the budgeting, accounting, and auditing procedures employed and the manner in which funds are received and expenditures are controlled. We have determined that expenditures of general Church funds were authorized by the First Presidency and by budgetary procedures and that the budget is authorized by the Council on Disposition of the Tithes comprised of the First Presidency, the Council of the Twelve, and the Presiding Bishopric. The Committee of Expenditures, in weekly meetings, administers the expenditure of funds under the budget.
Modern accounting technology and equipment are employed by the Financial Department in keeping abreast of rapid Church expansion and changing methods of electronic data processing. Continuous attention is being given to the position of the Church under federal and various state statutes which subject churches to taxation on certain types of income. Accounting for the Church’s welfare production units in the United States, numbering over 500, has now been brought under centralized accounting control at Church headquarters.
The Auditing Department, which is independent of all other departments, conducts a regular program of auditing the organizations referred to above, including the missions, on a worldwide basis. The extent and scope of its operations in safeguarding the resources of the Church are increasing commensurate with the growth and widening activities of the Church. The audit of local funds of wards and stakes is assigned to stake-appointed auditors. Incorporated businesses owned or controlled by the Church, for which accounts are not maintained in the Financial Department, are audited by professional auditing firms or by governmental regulatory agencies.
Based on our review of the annual financial report of the Church and our study of the accounting and auditing methods by which financial operations are controlled, together with continuing discussions with personnel of the Financial and Auditing Departments, we are of the opinion that the general funds of the Church have been properly accounted for and expenditures of funds during the fiscal year ending August 31, 1974, were made in accordance with established procedures outlined herein.
Respectfully submitted,
CHURCH FINANCE COMMITTEE
Wilford G. Edling
Harold H. Bennett
Weston E. Hamilton
David M. Kennedy
Warren E. Pugh