The Audit Committee

by Cynthia M. Adams, CEO, GrantStation.com

According to the National Council of Nonprofit Organizations, the audit committee has several significant responsibilities, including:

• overseeing the integrity of the organization's financial accounting process and systems of internal controls regarding finance, accounting and use of assets;
   
• overseeing the independence and performance of the independent auditors and staff with finance responsibilities;
   
• overseeing the operation of the policies on conflicts of interest and the organization’s board-staff communications; and,
   
• providing an avenue of communication among the organization's independent auditors, management, staff, and the board of directors.

Also, according to the National Council of Nonprofit Organizations, the “audit committee has the authority to conduct any investigation appropriate to fulfilling its responsibilities, and it has direct access to the independent auditors as well as to anyone in the organization. The audit committee has the authority to retain, at the corporation's expense,...