I doubt if you will find anything wrong with the Society's filing.
First of all, if the Society lends money to a congregation to build a hall, the interest charged will show up in line 114 (Interest income). There is no rental income. The building asset will show up in line 055 (Fixed assets). As the principle is paid down, the funds come out of 053 (A/R), and move over to Cash.
Secondly, the methods of fundraising likely have specific definitions spelled out somewhere in the filing guidelines. I am certain that they are filing in scrupulous accuracy on this one. Why wouldn't they? There is no significant difference to them if they fill in those lines or not.
The main things that I find interesting are the transfer of funds to Brooklyn, and the changes from year to year.
Numbers that decreased between 1996 and 2000: Cash on hand, assets, receipts Numbers that increased between 1996 and 2000: expenditures
This is an unhealthly trend for an organization.
Yet, they still managed to send $28 Million to Brooklyn. (That's more than their total expenditures in 1996). Normally, an organization would not transfer a huge amount to its parent, when their receipts are low. It's like a business paying a dividend that is greater than its income - drawing down their retained earnings to do so. It smells of pressure from above. Is Brooklyn hurting and pressuring the subsidiaries to cough up?
Here's what I don't understand: How can an organization spend $14 million more than it receives, yet not be depleting its cash? There must be more to this organization, that is not being reported.
One way for an organization to spend more than it receives without depleting cash is simply to increase it's liabilities. The financial statements are prepared on the accrual basis, rather than the cash basis, therefore income and expenses are recorded when incurred, not when received or paid.
However, in this case I think that they have depleted cash. We don't know the 1999 cash balance, just 1996, so cash may well have been higher in 1999.
Just another quick note: if the society lends money to a congregation to purchase a Hall, the society will show interest income, but the asset will be reported in the congregation's financials, as will the loan liability. This of course brings us into the very interesting area of who owns the kingdom halls.
