financial managementAs a treasurer do you have a set of functions and procedures that relate to the financial management of the organisation?  The reason this is important is to ensure key functions relating to the financial management are being properly administered in a timely and accurate manner.  There are a number of key points that they should include and some of these have been listed below.

  • who can approve cheques, credit card payments or transfers up to certain amounts
  • who may approve contracts up to certain amounts
  • who can approve petty cash transactions
  • who prepares the finance reports such as the bank reconciliation, profit and loss statement, balance sheet, cash flow and performance against budget
  • who prepares the written finance report that provides an explanation, analysis and interpretation of the finance reports
  • if you receive grants or government funding who will prepare the acquittal to show how the funds have been utilised and ensure there has been compliance with the funding agreements
  • ensure there is a clear process to review exception issues.  For example, if there is an item of expenditure that is above a certain threshold or higher than usual then it is imperative it is reviewed by the treasurer or finance sub committee to confirm it was an appropriate transaction
  • if your organisation has equipment then who will manage and monitor that the equipment is kept in safe working order and that regular maintenance occurs as needed
  • if there are employees then it is critical that staff records, payroll and employment details are kept in a safe and secure location and that payroll is reviewed and reconciled on a regular basis 

These are intended to highlight some important elements but there may be others depending on your organisation that the board should review and monitor on a regular basis.  It is also vital that for each of these issues it is clear who is responsible for them.  In conjunction with this, there should be a review of relevant policies to ensure there is compliance but also identify the need to modify and update.  This is not only good governance but also vital for the board and management that the information they are using to make decisions on is reliable, accurate and up to date.