An independent audit of OA, Inc.’s 2024 finances was recently completed, and the auditor found OA to be in a strong financial position with good controls on accounting practices that conform with US generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS). The 2024 audit report can be found in the Document Library and on the World Service Business Conference web page.
Every year, OA, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation registered in New Mexico USA, undergoes a required financial audit conducted by an independent auditor. It is the OA Board’s responsibility to provide the auditor with OA’s financials, and the board oversees World Service Office (WSO) staff in carrying out that responsibility. For OA’s 2024 fiscal year, auditor Porch and Associates, LLC, issued an unqualified and unmodified opinion, which is the best audit evaluation an organization can receive.
In a recent presentation to the board’s Executive Committee, the auditor noted that OA’s prudent reserve (referenced in the report as “Net assets without donor restrictions, end of year” ) is about US$2.79 million. Since OA’s annual budget is about $1.85 million, the prudent reserve covers about 1.5 years of expenses. The auditor stated that “in good economic times,” he generally recommends nonprofits build 1–1.5 years’ worth of reserves to cover operations expenses. He further noted that in our climate of general economic uncertainty, it should be more. (During last year’s presentation, the same auditor recommended a two-year reserve.) The auditor also noted OA’s increase in its prudent reserve in 2024 came from investment gains and not surpluses from contributions or literature purchases made by OA members.
The auditor noted that OA had budgeted $1.88 million in 2024 but only spent $1.792 million. While income from contributions and literature sales was below what was budgeted, the auditor characterized OA’s 2024 income as “healthy” and noted that the budget benefitted from WSO staff finding ways to trim a total of $70,000 in expenses.
OA contracts with auditors in three-year cycles and issues a request for proposals to multiple accounting firms at the conclusion of each cycle. As a matter of policy, OA may use the same auditing firm for up to two consecutive cycles and then must choose a different auditing firm.
The 2024 audit results demonstrate once again that our Board of Trustees are serving effectively in stewarding of the Fellowship’s contributions. Thank you, trustees!