A membership report is tangential to the topics in general conference, but that was never left out of conference (at least until the church stopped growing). Y

A membership report is tangential to the topics in general conference, but that was never left out of conference (at least until the church stopped growing). You don't have to spend time talking about it in church. Publish an audited yearly financial report, and send it to members in the mail. And yes it does matter. The church operates like a business. Members literally think of tithing as a form of giving to charity. They should have some expectations and understanding of how that money is spent. Would tithing receipts be the same as they currently are if everybody knew the church had hundreds of billions of assets, 15 years of tithing on reserve, and spent less than a percent of it actually helping those that are in need of charity?