TreasurerReview treasurerreview.com

A monthly independent review of bank reconciliations for small nonprofits that can't fully segregate duties.

And the year-end evidence pack that shows the auditor how the compensating control was operated — including the month it wasn't.

The problem

In a nonprofit with a $1–20M budget and one bookkeeper, the same person records transactions, initiates payments and prepares the bank reconciliation. The auditor writes it up every year as a segregation-of-duties deficiency. Hiring three more accountants isn't an option, so the standard advice is a compensating control: a board member independent of cash handling reviews the statements and reconciliations every month and signs off.

Most organizations do some version of this. Almost none can show the record of it at audit time. The review lives in email, in a treasurer's memory, or on a sheet that the bookkeeper could have filled in. So the comment repeats.

What TreasurerReview is

A monthly workflow and a year-end pack, built around the finding rather than around the accounting system. The board records who holds which role on each account and confirms the reviewer is independent of all of them. Each month the treasurer receives the statement directly from the bank, runs the board-approved review program, logs anything unexplained as an exception with an owner and a due date, and signs off. Sign-offs can't be edited afterwards; corrections are new entries. Missed months stay missed.

At year-end, one pack: the finding, the control the board adopted, the roles and access matrix, every review by account and month, the exception log with written closures, and the board minutes. It documents that the compensating control was operated. It does not claim the structural deficiency has been removed; whether the comment changes is the auditor's judgment.

Downloads

Free, no signup. Use them as they are, or tell us what's wrong with them.

• Sample annual evidence pack (PDF, 3 pages)Fictional organization, FY2025. Roles matrix, twelve months, six exceptions, change history, board oversight. Two-page excerpt: monthly review table and exception log only.
• Compensating controls policy and roles-and-access matrix (Word)Two-page policy, per-account roles matrix, completeness schedule, board-approved review program. PDF preview.
• Monthly independent review checklist (Word)Independence confirmation, ten procedures, exceptions, sign-off. PDF preview.

What it doesn't do

• It doesn't replace your accounting system, your close, or your outsourced accountant. It sits on top of them.
• It doesn't verify bank accounts, detect fraud, or block payments.
• It doesn't decide whether a reviewer is independent. The board decides; the auditor evaluates. The register flags conflicts.
• It doesn't promise that the management letter comment goes away.