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Report of the Treasurer for the Year Ended December 31, 2020 (2021)

Chapter: Independent Auditor's Report

« Previous: Report of the Audit Committee of the National Academy of Sciences
Suggested Citation:"Independent Auditor's Report." National Academy of Sciences. 2021. Report of the Treasurer for the Year Ended December 31, 2020. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26227.
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Page 45
Suggested Citation:"Independent Auditor's Report." National Academy of Sciences. 2021. Report of the Treasurer for the Year Ended December 31, 2020. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26227.
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Page 46

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GRANT THORNTON LLP REPORT OF INDEPENDENT CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS 445 Broadhollow Road, Suite 300 Melville, NY 11747 D +1 631 249 6001 F +1 631 249 6144 To the Audit Committee of the National Academy of Sciences: We have audited the accompanying financial statements of the National Academy of Sciences (“NAS”) which comprise the statements of financial position as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the related statements of activities and cash flows for the years then ended, and the related notes to the financial statements. Management’s responsibility for the financial statements Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America; this includes the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. Auditor’s responsibility Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement. An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgment, including the assessment of the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal control relevant to NAS’ preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of NAS’ internal control. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of significant accounting estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our audit opinion. GT.COM Grant Thornton LLP is the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd (GTIL). GTIL and each of its member firms are separate legal entities and are not a worldwide partnership. 45

Opinion In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the National Academy of Sciences as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the changes in its net assets and its cash flows for the years then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Melville, New York June 9, 2021 46

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The income that supports the activities of the National Academy of Sciences(NAS) comes from two major sources: program revenue received from government and other sponsors to pay for the large number of studies and other activities undertaken each year by the National Research Council (NRC), and a much smaller sum that we withdraw from our own endowment under the endowment spending policies adopted by the Council.

This last year presented many challenges for the institution, as the COVID-19 pandemic began to effect operations in March 2020. At that time, the NAS/NRC decided to move to remote work for all staff and virtual meetings for committee and other convening activities. The move to virtual activity has been more successful than envisioned, with each part of the institution being able to operate surprisingly efficiently and effectively in such an environment. During the period from March through December 2020, the institution held hundreds of virtual webinars, workshops, lectures, and symposia, some with attendance into the thousands. The NRC released approximately 200 consensus studies, proceedings, and other publications during this period.

This Report of the Treasurer of the National Academy of Sciences presents the financial position and results of operations as well as a review of the endowment and other long-term investments portfolio activities of our Academy for the year ended December 31, 2020.

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