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John Mahoney met with Treasurer Alex Bell on Sunday, October 12, 2008.
The Treasurer’s records and files are well organized. Her
procedures for promptly paying bills and processing and acknowledging
donations are clear. There is also a procedure for processing gifts of
stock, and such gifts were received in the past year and handled
appropriately.
The procedure for recording and transmit-ting
“box” contributions by the Head of Meeting to the Treasurer
continues to be satisfactory considering the current level of
contributions. It provides adequate documentation and does not impose
an undue burden on either the Head of Meeting or the Treasurer.
The Treasurer’s book balances match those
appearing on the statements of OBA Federal S&L and Smith Barney,
the two accounts maintained for operational and investment purposes.
The 21 large (over $1000) transactions were reviewed in detail.
The original invoice, the recording of the check, compliance with the
budget for the item, and the proper filing of the invoice were all
verified. These checks constituted 71% of the Meeting’s total
annual expenses. A random selection of other transactions was also
examined in detail. The Treasurer has continued the practice of getting
a second signature on checks over $1000.
Income for the fiscal year July 2007 through June
2008 was 110% of budgeted income. Expenses amounted to 102.4% of
budgeted expenses, resulting in a surplus of $6,963. This compares with
the surplus of $12,939 in the previous fiscal year. This year’s
situation was similar to that of last year and of 7/03 – 6/04.
The total income for each of the last six years has been in the
($88,000, $99,700) range which is remarkably consistent. The total
expenses for each of the six years has been in the ($83,400, $92,700)
range, which is even more consistent.
The software program QuickBooks continues to be
used. In addition to the electronic records maintained, the Treasurer
also maintains paper records of bank balances and transactions
including copies of checks written. The Treasurer continually backs up
transactions on CD-ROMs. The Treasurer keeps a copy of the
back-up CD-ROM at Bethesda Meeting in addition to one at her home. The
process established for reimbursement of member expenses provides
expeditious payment with proper charges to the appropriate committees.
Quick Book automatically generates the data used for providing
acknowledgments for member or other contributions. In addition to
acknowledging the contributions, these acknowledgments provide the
donors with documentation for income tax purposes.
As of June 30, 2008 the Meeting had $124,000 in
assets which were invested as follows: 40% in a Smith Barney Money
Market Fund, 8% in Smith Barney Certificates of Deposits, 22% in an OBA
Federal checking account, and 30% in the Friends Fiduciary
Corporation’s Consolidated Fund. The amounts listed on the
Treasurer’s balance sheet match the amounts on the statements for
these organizations.
The Meeting has a blanket Fire (for personal
property) and Liability insurance obtained under the auspices of the
Baltimore Yearly Meeting which appears quite adequate, with replacement
value coverage and a cap of $3 million. The liability
insurance covers various categories with different amounts, e.g.,
counseling coverage is one of the categories. The BYM arranges
favorable terms for insurance by member meetings. The annual premium of
$737 has been paid.
The record of the inventory of Meeting property is
maintained by the Treasurer as an attendant document to the insurance
policy. An inventory of the books displayed on the book table is being
maintained, too. Forms1096 and 1099 were appropriately filed. No
evidence of any outstanding or potential liabilities was found.
The paperwork supporting the handling of cash at Spring Fling was examined.
The auditors recommend that the Stewardship &
Finance committee update the inventory of the Meeting’s property
as it was last updated in 2005. We also recommend that the committee
formulate and implement a policy dealing with storage of the
Meeting’s older financial records. The policy should address the
issues of what should be kept, how long should it be kept, who should
keep it, and where.
The auditors express their thanks to Alex Bell for
her four years of service as Treasurer of Bethesda Friends
Meeting. She is exceptionally well organized. The Treasurer
performs an extremely important, time-consuming service to the Meeting
and the Meeting should acknowledge the service with much appreciation.
The auditors express their willingness to assist in
the transition to the new Treasurer and to be a resource to the
Treasurer during the year if needed.
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