Question

Assume that you are a loan officer of a bank. A local church is seeking a $4 million, 20-year loan to construct a new classroom building. Church officers submit a comprehensive financial report that was audited by a reputable CPA firm. In summary form (the actual statement showed details), the church’s statement of revenues and expenditures indicated the following (in millions):
Revenues from dues and contributions .... $1.8
Revenues from other sources ....... 0.2
Total revenues ............. $2.0
Less: total expenditures .......... 2.0
Excess of revenues over expenditures .... $0.0

The church's balance sheet reported assets, mainly cash and investments (at market value), of $0.2 million. In addition, a note to the financial statements indicated that equipment is approximately $3 million. The church has no outstanding debt.

a. Is there any information in the financial statements that would make you reluctant to approve the loan? If so, indicate and explain.
b. Is there any other financial information of the type likely to be reported in a conventional annual report that you would like to review prior to making a loan decision? If so, indicate and explain.
c. Is there any other information, of any type, that you would like to review prior to making a loan decision? If so, indicate and explain.
d. Comment on the inherent limitations of the financial statements of this church, or any comparable not-for-profit organization, as a basis for making loan decisions.

Answer 1

Answer:

Explanation:

a.

There is little information on how funds are used or how much money is spent to manage the church. The financial statements have been prepared incorrectly.

Interpretation:

While drafting the financial accounts, the church committed many errors. The church's revenue is equivalent to its daily operations operating expenditures. They have approximately $3 million in funding assets that they do not owe any money on.  

It may be deduced that the church is attempting to preserve asymmetric information, and therefore it will be better to justify its sources of income and use of money in order to determine whether they can or they cannot pay the debt.

b.

The revenue from various channels must be detailed in the yearly report so that the loan officer may make an informed judgment.

Interpretation:

Since payments and contributions account for 90% of revenue and revenue from other sources accounts for 10%, it's surprising how the church earns money in other ways as stated on the income statement. As a result, it's important to understand what other potential revenue streams the church has before approving the loan.

c.

The officer in charge of the loan should check the church's book records to make sure and guarantee that there are no outstanding loans. This situation necessitates a thorough examination and assessment.

Interpretation:

The church has $3 million worth of equipment. The church's expenses, on the other hand, are equivalent to the church's income. As a result, it's unclear how the church acquired the equipment without taking out a loan. As a result, the church must be urged to produce a full breakdown of its expenses, which may be thoroughly and fully studied to see whether there are any financing charges that the church is attempting to hide in its yearly reports.

d.

There is no direct or primary source of income for the church. It solely makes money from charity donations.

Interpretation:

The church's only sources of income are fundraisers and charitable donations. It also doesn't possess any significant revenue streams. Because the church is attempting to conceal numerous possible pieces of information, this may be a case of micro-management by the proprietors, and so these issues should be considered by the officer in charge of the loan before accepting the loan.