Once these forms are completed, they are to be shared with charge conference members.

To officially submit these forms, you will access the Church Dashboard through your People Portal. If you have questions about accessing the People Portal or your Church Dashboard, contact the Conference Office for help.

General Instructions for Churches and Reviewers

A successful annual review of church finances entails:

  1. Church selection/recruitment of a reviewer from either inside or outside the local congregation.  This should happen no later than January.
  2. Church bookkeeper and financial secretary access the list of needed items per the review program.  The financial review program should be available on the conference website at all times.  It is subject to edit – be sure to get the most current version each January in Word format each year.
  3. January and February time frame – bookkeeper and financial secretary close the books for the year and organize the list of needed items.  Recommend that digital folder of labeled PDFs is used to organize as much as possible.
  4. February – conference statistical report is due.  Put copy of completed statistical report and supporting documentation in the folder for the reviewer.
  5. February/March – bookkeeper downloads the current version of the Fund Balance Report from the Conference website and completes it.  This report is in fillable PDF format. Put copy and supporting documentation in the folder for the reviewer. Note- this form CAN be submitted via the People Portal upon completion but the second page that asks for review findings, etc. would need to note that the review has not yet been completed.  It is probably better to wait until the review is completed and the review report can be submitted, then finalize the Fund Balance report and submit it via the Portal.
  6. March – reviewer performs and documents review procedures and findings.  This includes providing the responses to the inquiries on the second page of the Fund Balance Report.
  7. Reviewer compiles into one PDF the following documents and sends to Finance/Leadership team for review and discussion. Reviewer should have this completed in time for approval by April and be available to answer questions from local church leadership.
    1. Fund Balance Report, Completed Financial Review Program
    , Final Comparative Financial Statements – Balance Sheet and Budget to Actual Report
  8. Local church submits package to Conference office by end of April via People Portal.  Local church finalizes the Fund Balance Report and submits via People Portal.
  9. Reviewer provides the completed financial review program in WORD format to the local church so that future year reviewers have a starting point.

A Note for the Reviewer: There are a lot of questions in this questionnaire.  The first time the review is performed there are a number of responses designed to document processes and procedures. It will serve the church well if you write thorough responses and simultaneously document concerns and gaps that you identify.  In general, if the response to a question is no, there is probably a concern or gap that should be explored for corrective action to improve controls.  Saving this document in Word format and providing it to the next reviewer will bring efficiencies to the process.

Local Church Financial Review

  • Complete for 2026 with your team (the team can be made up of anyone). Alaska churches should plan to submit their yearly review by April 30. This is separate from the Fund Balance Report. | download PDF

Fund Balance Report for 2026