Treasurer

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What the treasurer is supposed to do

From the Ottawa Centre Bylaws: 8.12 DUTIES OF THE TREASURER

  1. The Treasurer shall

    1. prepare the annual financial statements of the Centre as specified by Article 11.02, present them to the Council for approval at a meeting prior to the next annual meeting of the Centre, and present the approved annual financial statements for adoption by the annual meeting of the Centre as prescribed in Article 10.01(3)(c),

    2. submit the financial statements referred to in clause (a) to the Treasurer of the Society by 15 January in each year,

    3. prepare and keep complete financial records of the business of the Centre, including books of receipts, disbursements, assets and liabilities,

    4. receive and supervise the deposit of receipts,

    5. supervise the disbursement of Centre funds,

    6. supervise the safekeeping of the Centre's securities and other monetary assets,

    7. invest moneys of the Centre not required for current operations in deposits in Canadian banks, or in securities authorized for insurance companies under the Canadian and British Insurance Companies Act (Canada), or with an institution insured under the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation Act (Canada),

    8. review the annual financial statements of the Centre referred to in Article 11.02 prior to their submission to the Council,

    9. in general conduct the financial business of the Centre in accordance with the direction of the Council,

    10. provide a written report to each meeting of the Council outlining the status of the Centre financial situation, and have such other duties as may be prescribed by the Council.

  1. The Treasurer shall be a member of the Executive Committee as prescribed in Article 9.06.

and 11.2 ANNUAL FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The Centre's annual financial statements shall consist of a balance sheet, a statement of revenues and expenses, and such other statements as are required in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, by the Council, by the National Council, or otherwise by law.

What the treasurer actually does

Ver 0.1 Mick Wilson 31 Oct 2020

Ongoing

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Before each council meeting

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After each council meeting

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Other

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Overview

The treasurer is normally elected at the Annual General Meeting in December. If someone wishes to become treasurer, they should contact the chair of the nominating committee (the Past President) well before the AGM (October). It would also be useful to contact the current treasurer (treasurer@ottawa.rasc.ca) There are no formal qualifications for the treasurer position except being age 18 or older. However, because of the duties of the treasurer described in the bylaws, the treasurer should have a reasonable understanding of financial accounting and reporting, the ability to use financial software (we currently use QuickBooks and spreadsheets), an ability to pay attention to detail and, most importantly, trustworthiness.

The treasurer usually spends a few hours per month keeping track of the Centre's finances, paying bills and preparing financial reports. Almost all payments are made by cheque and cheques must be signed by two Directors. The treasurer should have a secure place to keep the paper financial records, and a computer with internet access and a printer for maintaining the electronic records and for printing cheques. The treasurer has a key to access the post office box at College Square because most of the mail relates to the treasurer's duties. Normally the mail is picked up by the treasurer once per month. Each quarter there is a Council meeting for which the treasurer prepares a financial report showing actual revenue and expenditures compared to the budget. The Ottawa Centre's fiscal year is from October 1 to September 30, so there are additional reporting duties associated with the end of the fiscal year and the preparation of a budget for the next fiscal year. This takes a couple of days of work. At the end of the calendar year, the treasurer is responsible for preparing, signing and mailing charitable receipts for all donations received throughout the year.

The auditor is a separate, independent elected position. The auditor takes all the financial records and reports for a previous fiscal year and checks them for accuracy and transparency. This is the mechanism for making sure that the treasurer is doing their job properly.