Audit results and final membership numbers
Money Matters by Keith Sessions, Chief Financial Officer
After several months of waiting, I am pleased to announce the results from the IRS audit of the 2013 Form 990 and 990-T. We passed the audit with only minor notes. The returns were accepted and do not need to be restated.
The auditor did have a few things that he would like to see on future returns. We have consulted with our annual auditor. Although there is a basis for continuing to report the way we have been, we will change to the suggested way of reporting.
The most significant change will be on Line 24a of the 990 form. In the past, we have always reported the total cost of Model Aviation magazine as one number. This has been consistent with our financial statement reporting. The auditor suggests that we report these costs throughout the expense schedule—in other words report wages, occupancy, supplies, etc. on individual lines.
This format does not readily allow a reader of the 990 form to see the picture of the cost of the magazine. We can change the reporting for the 990 and retain the previous style for the 990-T, which has different reporting requirements. This will meet the IRS recommendation and still allow our members to easily see the cost of the magazine.
I want to thank Vicki Barkdull, Dave Mathewson, Brady Ware & Company, and the staff at AMA Headquarters for these wonderful results. The last audit anyone could remember was when AMA was still in Virginia. I am sure our 2016 returns will be checked to ensure that the suggestions were implemented. Hopefully, after that, we can have another couple of decades without an audit.
In other news, the 2016 final membership numbers are in. The AMA finished with 195,080 members, up from 187,666 in 2015. Youth memberships, which are free, were 56,856, up from 50,073. This is the largest gain of any category. Youth members are the future of the AMA and it is nice to see this segment growing.
Only two segments decreased from 2015. The first was Extra Family Member and the second was the Senior category. The decrease in Seniors was 1.5%. There was an increase in dues in 2016 and a major concern was the impact on our older members.
The AMA allowed everyone to lock in the old rates for up to two years if they renewed by September 2015 in order to reduce the financial impact on those who were on tight budgets. There was a significant increase in Park Pilot memberships, so maybe some of the seniors converted to that category as well.
This article is going out in the November issue of Model Aviation. Many clubs have elections at this time of year. As I have stated in the past, after your elections, please check the club bank accounts and other documents to make sure the correct people are allowed to sign on behalf of your club.
