2008 Independent Auditor’s Report released, posted

The independent audit of the Orthodox Church in America’s financial records for the year ending December 31, 2008 has been completed.

The report of the auditor, Lambrides, Lamos, Taylor LLP, is now available in PDF format on the OCA web site.

“The opinion issued is a ‘qualified opinion,’ as was the case for both the 2007 and 2006 audits,” said Melanie Ringa, OCA Treasurer. “There are two qualifications. The first is related to the inadequacy of accounting records for the years prior to 2006, which prevents proper classification of net assets into unrestricted, temporarily restricted, and permanently restricted categories as is required by generally accepted accounting principles. The second qualification relates to the issue of verification of ownership of the Alaska land properties.”

Both of these issues, according to Ms. Ringa, are being addressed with the auditors “in the hope that we can provide satisfactory documentation to remove the qualifications by the time the 2010 financial report is issued.”

Ms. Ringa also noted that “the financial results for 2008 show total revenues of $3,099,214.00, operating expenses of $3,076,085.00, with a net surplus from operations of $23,129.00. Depreciation and amortization totaled $59,082.00; investment losses were $474,565.00 due to the decline in the financial markets; we incurred professional fees for legal, audit, and accounting services totaling $556,260.00; and the actuarial value of our unitrusts declined by $192,937.00. The net deficit for the year after these items was $1,259,715.00.

“Our Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet) shows total assets of $2,580,669.00, with liabilities of $1,833,375.00 and net assets of $747,324.00,” she concluded.