Hi All,
I have been an accounant for 10 years, treasurer of an association (of course nowhere near as big as this) and prepared audits on a daily basis (albeit superannuation fund and general public offer fund audits).
Now for my opinion: I will qualify this with the fact that as of next week my RAAus membership will lapse and I will NOT renew it. I am moving to GA.
I was the one that asked at the AGM that the notes to the financials be presented as the financials are useless without them.
Today I received my sports pilot magazine with the financials attached. I immediately noticed (unless I missed something, I am tired) but Note 1 is missing. Note 1 contains very important information relating to accounting methods that are used and various other important tid bits. Maybe this is part of the 8 pages of "techncial information" that wasn't deemed to be important. If any note should be included, it should be Note 1.
Also if this was my business I would be concerned regarding some of the discrepancies on the financials, ie. extreme increases in staffing costs not in line with increased revenue and with the ballsups that have been made of late you would wonder if that was money well spent.
Anyway back to the OP's question of the irregularities. The Auditor's do NOT audit to find fraud etc. They audit to ensure compliance with certain regulations, in this case the incorporated association, company law etc. It is not their place to locate fraud in an organisation. THIS IS THE JOB OF THE TREASURER and PRESIDENT! There should be adequate internal controls in place to ensure this does not happen.
One last point: regarding the note on the outstanding litigation that was in the magazine proper: they say that the insurance no longer has enough benefit to cover continuing litigation or any damages that RAAus may have to pay. I actually sent the question of this, and hypothetical situation were RAAus made to pay to the plaintiff. My board member passed the email along to the president but after a number of weeks I said don't worry about an answer as I decided to leave RAAus. If I were staying I would be interested in the answer to this question as it may have an enourmous impact on the future of the association.
Anyways, just my 2c. Just to reiterate though, do not go mental at the auditors for not finding the "discrepancies" in the accounts. It is not their job unless hired to do just that seperate to the annual financial audit.
Cheers,
Shags
EDIT: BTW, I think the treasurer is completely unsuited to his position and may be of better use elsewhere in the organisation (I am being nice). A more suited person should be placed in this position.