Internal financial controls are crucial not just to comply with laws and regulations, but to protect your land trust from fraud and embezzlement, which has become shockingly common at nonprofits. That’s why, when you send in your payment to Terrafirma, it takes a while for the payment to post to your account. The finance gurus at Terrafirma are taking a number of precautionary steps when processing Terrafirma payments each year, including:

1. Keeping a log of all checks that come in
2. Having a second person sign the log to confirm that she saw all the checks
3. Stamping all checks with “For deposit only” before they leave the office
4. Writing up a deposit slip to prove the total before taking the checks to the bank
5. Keeping a scanned copy of the deposit slip and all checks being deposited
6. Segregating check handling duties among 4 different people with substantial oversight
7. Crediting your payment only after all internal controls have been satisfied

Does your land trust have sufficient controls in place? Find an internal control evaluation checklist here to help you evaluate your system and protect your land trust.

Hannah Flake

Conservation Defense Coordinator

ALLIANCE RISK MANAGEMENT SERVICES LLC

(202) 800-2248  |