North Carolina § 55A-16-20 - Financial statements for members.

§ 55A-16-20. Financial statements for members.

Except as provided in the articles of incorporation or bylaws of a charitable or religious corporation, a corporation upon written demand from a member shall furnish that member its latest annual financial statements, if any, which may be consolidated or combined statements of the corporation and one or more of its subsidiaries or affiliates, as appropriate, that include a balance sheet as of the end of the fiscal year and statement of operations for that year. If financial statements are prepared for the corporation on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles, the annual financial statements shall also be prepared on that basis. If annual financial statements are reported upon by a public accountant, the accountant's report shall accompany them. If not, the statements must be accompanied by the statement of the president or the person responsible for the corporation's financial accounting records: Stating the president's or other person's reasonable belief as to whether the statements were prepared on the basis of generally accepted accounting principles and, if not, describing the basis of preparation; and Describing any respects in which the statements were not prepared on a basis of accounting consistent with the statements prepared for the preceding year. History (1993, c. 398, s. 1.) NORTH CAROLINA COMMENTARY A nonprofit corporation is not required to have financial statements but, if it elects to have them, subsection [subdivision] (e)(5) generally requires them to be kept at the principal office and G.S. 55A-16-02(a) makes them available for inspection by members. However, in addition to its general right not to have any financial statements at all, a charitable or religious corporation may provide in its articles of incorporation or bylaws that it will not furnish financial statements to its members. In that case, members will not have inspection rights with respect to the financial statements. See G.S. 55A-16-01(e)(5) and G.S. 55A-16-02(a).