UUCB Treasurer’s Report 2013
Change in Treasurer’s role
One significant part of the governance changes taking place results in the change in the role of treasurer at UUCB. Many years ago when our budget and accounting was in upheaval, Brian Krause (specifically his accounting firm) was hired to get us back on track and organize church finances. Approximately two years ago, under the leadership of Stephanie Cole and using the guidelines of “policy based governance,” the Budget/Finance and Endowment were energized. Both of these committees report directly to the Board and in fact are extensions of the Board. I am not an accountant so I have approached my role of treasurer as “layperson representative of the congregation.”
The Budget/Finance Committee working with our UUCB Church Administrator have organized and streamlined the monthly budget tracking record which is based on our budget for the current fiscal year. From this we are able to keep a close watch on our current budgetary status and it is from this that we are able to develop our future annual budget for the next fiscal year. As Treasurer, voting member of the Committee, and representative of the Board, I attend the monthly meeting Budget/Finance Committee whereby the Committee, our Office Administrator, the Board Chair, and I review the finances of our Church and make any updates or corrections and projections as needed. The monthly tracking record is then included in our Board Packet each month for the Board of Trustees to review and Josh and/or I address any questions that the Board members may have.
I am a voting member of the Endowment Committee and my role is the same as it is with Budget/Finance. The Endowment Committee is charged by the Board not only for oversight of our investments, but for planned giving as well. The Endowment Committee also advises the Board on any and all draws on our investments.
Check Cashing Procedures
When I first came into the role as Treasurer, Josh and I reviewed how check cashing was being done and found many inconsistencies and our signature authorization list was years out of date. We set about organizing first who can sign off on checks and then set up a yearly schedule of when this to be updated with the bank. Approved recently by the Board, we now have a policy on check cashing/signing where there wasn’t one before.
Our method of endowment draw was also updated and is now on an annual review for any updates or changes.
Change from independent accounting firm to bring bookkeeping duties “in house.”
As mentioned earlier, Brian and his firm came to our rescue several years ago and were immersed in our accounting for some time. Brian was the “go to guy” for anything financial at UUCB. For the past two years with the re-organizing of our governance structure, we’ve been brought up to the 21st Century. This entailed re-energizing of the Budget Finance and Endowment Committees, establishing of roles of the Office Administrator, the Board of Trustees and the Treasurer. Time to bring bookkeeping duties back “in house” was discussed and the Board charged myself and Josh with looking into this. Josh and I reviewed our contract with Brian and his firm, what duties Josh was performing, the role and involvement of the Budget/Finance Committee, the duties and responsibilities of bookkeepers with churches of our size, and the advantages of having not only the bookkeeper in house but having a part-time office assistant. Cost was also a major factor. We determined that it was the right time to hire a part-time Bookkeeper/Office Assistant. A position proposal was put together and presented to the board that included duties and responsibilities, as well as suggested pay and benefits package, when to hire and a timeline for phasing out outside accounting and training of the new individual. The Board approved this package, Marjorie Girth, Josh and I were on the hiring team and our Bookkeeper/Office Assistant began in July.
Determination of deficit, study, development of immediate “capital” improvements, involvement of board, budget/finance, & endowment
As a result of the work of our Office Administrator, oversight of the Budget/Finance Committee and in coordination with the Board of Trustees, it was discovered there would be a budget shortfall for the fiscal 2013 year and a significant shortfall would occur in 2014 if immediate action wasn’t taken. The actual pledges and other income for 2013 would not meet the budget voted to and upon by the congregation. The treasurer’s role was integral in this process. One aspect of our church budget was that the amount set aside for building care was not sufficient to meet the reality of costs needed in caring for church. The Board charged a task force consisting of myself, the Office Administrator, Bill Gardner, Dave Quackenbush, Peter Sloan, Gregg Harris, Paul Ziebarth, and Phil Nicolai to review and develop a list of immediate capital improvement needs. The costs of our immediate employee salaries and benefits as well as the cost of our ministerial search were also determined. These concerns and a detailed report was brought to the Endowment Committee for its review, advice and approval for taking a special one-time draw on the endowment to cover these needs. The Endowment Committee approved the special draw and this was reported back to the Board of Trustees. The Board voted to take this action and a special congregational meeting was called. Several informational meetings were held and a vote was held by the congregation voted its approval of the special endowment draw in June.
Conclusion
My work as Treasurer this past year is an outcome of our governance restructuring. I do not yet have the year-end numbers of our operating and endowment funds, but I am an active participant voting member of key financial committees and a board member. Day-to-day oversight is now seen to by our, Office Administrator, assisted by the Bookkeeper. The Office Administrator reports monthly, by way of our budget tracking sheet, to the Budget/Finance Committee for review. The monthly budget status is included in the monthly “board packet” and treasurer verbally reports this to the Board of Trustees.
Submitted by, Sharon Walker, Treasurer January 17, 2013
Change in Treasurer’s role
One significant part of the governance changes taking place results in the change in the role of treasurer at UUCB. Many years ago when our budget and accounting was in upheaval, Brian Krause (specifically his accounting firm) was hired to get us back on track and organize church finances. Approximately two years ago, under the leadership of Stephanie Cole and using the guidelines of “policy based governance,” the Budget/Finance and Endowment were energized. Both of these committees report directly to the Board and in fact are extensions of the Board. I am not an accountant so I have approached my role of treasurer as “layperson representative of the congregation.”
The Budget/Finance Committee working with our UUCB Church Administrator have organized and streamlined the monthly budget tracking record which is based on our budget for the current fiscal year. From this we are able to keep a close watch on our current budgetary status and it is from this that we are able to develop our future annual budget for the next fiscal year. As Treasurer, voting member of the Committee, and representative of the Board, I attend the monthly meeting Budget/Finance Committee whereby the Committee, our Office Administrator, the Board Chair, and I review the finances of our Church and make any updates or corrections and projections as needed. The monthly tracking record is then included in our Board Packet each month for the Board of Trustees to review and Josh and/or I address any questions that the Board members may have.
I am a voting member of the Endowment Committee and my role is the same as it is with Budget/Finance. The Endowment Committee is charged by the Board not only for oversight of our investments, but for planned giving as well. The Endowment Committee also advises the Board on any and all draws on our investments.
Check Cashing Procedures
When I first came into the role as Treasurer, Josh and I reviewed how check cashing was being done and found many inconsistencies and our signature authorization list was years out of date. We set about organizing first who can sign off on checks and then set up a yearly schedule of when this to be updated with the bank. Approved recently by the Board, we now have a policy on check cashing/signing where there wasn’t one before.
Our method of endowment draw was also updated and is now on an annual review for any updates or changes.
Change from independent accounting firm to bring bookkeeping duties “in house.”
As mentioned earlier, Brian and his firm came to our rescue several years ago and were immersed in our accounting for some time. Brian was the “go to guy” for anything financial at UUCB. For the past two years with the re-organizing of our governance structure, we’ve been brought up to the 21st Century. This entailed re-energizing of the Budget Finance and Endowment Committees, establishing of roles of the Office Administrator, the Board of Trustees and the Treasurer. Time to bring bookkeeping duties back “in house” was discussed and the Board charged myself and Josh with looking into this. Josh and I reviewed our contract with Brian and his firm, what duties Josh was performing, the role and involvement of the Budget/Finance Committee, the duties and responsibilities of bookkeepers with churches of our size, and the advantages of having not only the bookkeeper in house but having a part-time office assistant. Cost was also a major factor. We determined that it was the right time to hire a part-time Bookkeeper/Office Assistant. A position proposal was put together and presented to the board that included duties and responsibilities, as well as suggested pay and benefits package, when to hire and a timeline for phasing out outside accounting and training of the new individual. The Board approved this package, Marjorie Girth, Josh and I were on the hiring team and our Bookkeeper/Office Assistant began in July.
Determination of deficit, study, development of immediate “capital” improvements, involvement of board, budget/finance, & endowment
As a result of the work of our Office Administrator, oversight of the Budget/Finance Committee and in coordination with the Board of Trustees, it was discovered there would be a budget shortfall for the fiscal 2013 year and a significant shortfall would occur in 2014 if immediate action wasn’t taken. The actual pledges and other income for 2013 would not meet the budget voted to and upon by the congregation. The treasurer’s role was integral in this process. One aspect of our church budget was that the amount set aside for building care was not sufficient to meet the reality of costs needed in caring for church. The Board charged a task force consisting of myself, the Office Administrator, Bill Gardner, Dave Quackenbush, Peter Sloan, Gregg Harris, Paul Ziebarth, and Phil Nicolai to review and develop a list of immediate capital improvement needs. The costs of our immediate employee salaries and benefits as well as the cost of our ministerial search were also determined. These concerns and a detailed report was brought to the Endowment Committee for its review, advice and approval for taking a special one-time draw on the endowment to cover these needs. The Endowment Committee approved the special draw and this was reported back to the Board of Trustees. The Board voted to take this action and a special congregational meeting was called. Several informational meetings were held and a vote was held by the congregation voted its approval of the special endowment draw in June.
Conclusion
My work as Treasurer this past year is an outcome of our governance restructuring. I do not yet have the year-end numbers of our operating and endowment funds, but I am an active participant voting member of key financial committees and a board member. Day-to-day oversight is now seen to by our, Office Administrator, assisted by the Bookkeeper. The Office Administrator reports monthly, by way of our budget tracking sheet, to the Budget/Finance Committee for review. The monthly budget status is included in the monthly “board packet” and treasurer verbally reports this to the Board of Trustees.
Submitted by, Sharon Walker, Treasurer January 17, 2013