Treasurer

The Treasurer is elected by the general membership and is installed in the Spring for the next fiscal year. Once installed, the term begins effective October 1st.

The Treasurer maintains oversight of the following:  receipt of funds for the Guild, deposits into Guild bank accounts designated by the Museum Director of Finance, disbursements approved by the responsible Guild member, the Guild accounting records, and generates or oversees the generation of the Guild’s financial reports.  Monthly reports are posted in the Guild Room and on the Guild website and become part of the combined Museum financials (the Guild is under the 501(c)3 number of the Museum).

The Treasurer chairs the Guild Finance Committee, which includes all members of the Guild Executive Committee and additional members as the Guild President deems advisable.  The Chair of the Indian Fair & Market will be invited to participate at the annual budget meeting.  The primary job of the Finance Committee is to submit a budget to the Board, the Museum Director of Finance and to the general membership in September.

The Treasurer is

  • Knowledgeable and experienced in reading/analyzing business financial statements.
  • knowledgeable of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) OR of basic accounting and financial report processes and analysis.
  • Able to attend meetings of the Guild Board, general Guild, and other such meetings as required by the President. Other meetings include Board of Trustee Finance Committee meetings, Fair Steering Committee meetings, and general Fair meetings.

Tasks

  • Trains under the outgoing Treasurer before the beginning of the Oct 1st fiscal year
  • Requests and obtains a budget from each committee by the end of May-June.
  • Consolidates each program budget into consolidated annual Guild budget
  • Sets and chairs meeting with the Guild Finance Committee in late August to early September to review and pre approve the next year’s proposed budget prior to going for full board approval in September
  • Prepare and present the monthly financial reports at the Board and Guild general meetings. Copy of balance sheet and budget vs actual to be posted in the Guild Room and on the Guild website by sending to webmaster@heardguild.org.
  • Quarterly sends program reports to the various Guild Coordinators requesting they forward the reports to their Chairs. For Fair, reports are sent monthly beginning November through May.
  • Instructs Chairs and Coordinators on money handling procedures: Forward all collected monies to the Treasurer (through the Museum Accounting Office) at least twice a month for deposit; submit any expenses or contracted costs to the Treasurer (through the Museum Accounting Office) via a finance voucher for payment as soon as convenient after the purchase of goods or the receipt of services with proper documented approval.
  • Oversee the financial function for the collection of Guild monies and set up of the money room for the Guild Indian Fair & Market. Set up training for cashiering teams put together by various program chairs such as Student Art and Note Cards.
  • Monitor cash flow and determine the earliest possible dates to make partial gift payments to the Museum for the approved fiscal year budget.
  • After the Museum audit, receive annual status reports of the Endowment Fund from the Museum Director of Finance.

Time Line

May – August (prior to taking on duties October 1st)

  • Receive training from outgoing Treasurer (or give training to incoming Treasurer)
  • Prepare and send out budget templates, current year reports, and budgeting instruction for the upcoming fiscal year. This is traditionally completed by the incoming treasurer under the direction of the outgoing treasurer.
  • Receive and process into one document the budget requests from each Coordinator
  • Prepare a report of these requests and email to the Finance Committee to review prior to the August/Sept meeting
  • Hold Finance Committee meeting in late August/early September to finalize the budget

September

  • Present the budget approved by the Finance Committee to the Guild Board
  • Present the Board approved budget to the Guild at the September general meeting for ratification
  • Consult with Museum Accounting Office and prepare reports and test documents needed for the annual audit at the end of the Museum’s fiscal year, September 30th.
  • Transfer funds from Note Card bank account to Scholarship fund per amount recommendation of Note Card Committee.

October

  • Officially assume role of Treasurer overseeing and producing financial reporting on the various programs and events that will occur throughout the year, the largest of which is the Indian Fair & Market.

November – early March

  • Along with overseeing the finance function of other Guild programs, heavy focus on preparation and recording of pre sales for the Indian Fair & Market the first weekend of March

March

  • First weekend – Friday, Saturday and Sunday – oversee the money room for Indian Fair and Market in coordination with the Museum Accounting Office.
  • Student Art Show and Sale – Date TBD each year for the next year (Friday night opening, all day Saturday, Sunday and Monday). The Student Art Chair secures cashiering team for each day.  Treasurer should be available to help cashiers get set up and prepared for silent auction and sales throughout the weekend following Museum policy for retrieval and safe storage of cash and supplies until treasurer or designated person is able to pick up for deposit.

March – May

  • Fair projections should be presented at the March Guild meeting as very preliminary estimating the unknowns based upon the prior year and input from the various Fair Chairs.
  • End of year cash projections and financial standing should be presented at April Board meeting. Email year to date detail reports to Coordinators and Chairs for review and use in their end of year reports.  Report on scholarship fund status and cash projections for the next year.
  • Focus on finalization of fair expenses.  With the year’s activity coming to a close, encourage all chair people to submit vouchers for out of pocket expenses as well as ascertain outstanding vendor invoices related to Fair (particularly marketing and any paid by the Museum to be passed through to the Guild).
  • Membership – Dues for membership renewal begin to flow in via checks, Shop Cart, and Guild Meeting payments. Renewals tend to be heavy March-May, lighter in summer months ending in September.

Throughout the year:

  • Record and track various memorial fund donations (usually recorded to the scholarship fund).  Maintain tracking spreadsheet and copies of checks/envelopes/notes emailing to Museum development for writing of tax acknowledgement letter and applicable Guild program chair or Guild Secretary (for general donations) to write thank you note.  Periodically check with Museum to see if any Guild intended donations have been received through Museum online donation
  • Scholarship Fund tracking
  • Track cash balances to ensure correct balances are maintained in various restricted funds and ongoing knowledge of balances in general operating account and note card account.
  • Review individual entries in the general ledger each month making corrections as needed through journal entries.

Rev. 7/15/2016 – Mary Bonsall