Finance Committee Minutes
Regular Meeting and Contact
First Sunday of every other month at 1200 ET via Zoom
Contact email address: treasurer@greysheet.org
Purpose
The Finance Committee’s role is one of assistance and oversight. We assist the GSAWS Board by helping prepare budgets, by reviewing financial statements, by assuring adherence to policies and procedures, and by insuring the performance of an annual audit or review .
The Finance Committee aids the fellowship, at large, by sharing experiences and best practices with groups and intergroups regarding questions about group finances, for instance bank accounts, seventh tradition donations, tax I.D. numbers and IRS deductions, and the needs of various entities in the GSA fellowship.
The Finance Committee meets regularly to:
- Review the monthly GreySheeters Anonymous World Services (GSAWS) income and expenses and make recommendations to the Board of Trustees. The Finance Committee receives a copy of the regular monthly financial reports that show budgeted and actual expenditures, as well as budgeted and actual revenues. By examining financial statements regularly and comparing actual figures to the projected ones, the Finance Committee oversees that the budget is on track, questions any major variances, looks for unusual and unexpected expenditures, trends in revenue streams, and alerts the Board that adjustments may need to be discussed or made in spending to accommodate changes in revenue. The Finance Committee acts as a source of accountability by ensuring that the financial statements are
- Discusses the monthly and year-to-date budget for GSAWS. The Finance Committee plays a role in collecting projected budget needs of each World Service Conference committee. The Finance Committee reviews the BOT part of future World Service Conference budgets. The Finance Committee identifies potentially competing needs for GSAWS’s assets among the various projects and committees and makes recommendations to the Board for their consideration.
- Recommends to the board the retention and termination of an independent accountant, or if an independent accountant is cost-prohibited, a committee from the fellowship that can perform an internal financial review. Reviews the independent accountant’s or internal committee’s report with the author(s) and presents the report to the full board. Recommends any changes in GSAWS’s practices because of the financial review.
- Assists the Treasurer in reviewing, revising, and maintaining internal accounting controls and
- Provides input for any financial questions that may arise from Board of Trustees, groups, intergroups, or individuals in the fellowship, i.e. researching various online payment platforms and fees associated with the payment
- Submits any motions related to finances for the next World Service Conference. We are financially accountable to all members of GreySheeters Anonymous.
Report
Update
Since our last report, submitted in March 2019, the Finance Committee met monthly/every other month to discuss the monthly financial reports including the Balance Sheet (Statement of Financial Position), Income and Expense Report (Statement of Activity), especially budget vs. actual amounts.
We facilitated the preparation of the annual budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
We prepared a draft of accounting policies and procedures that describes all accounting policies and procedures currently in use at GreySheeters Anonymous World Services, Inc.). Written accounting policies ensure that the financial statements conform to generally accepted accounting principles; assets are safeguarded, and finances are managed with accuracy, efficiency, and transparency.
In addition, we prepared a draft of internal control policies and procedures to safeguard the assets of GSAWS, to aid in the creation of reliable financial reports, and to achieve effective and efficient operations. The development of proper internal controls ensures GSAWS accountability.
We also prepared written policies and procedures for a budget process.
We facilitated an external review of GSAWS’s financial records by an outside independent CPA, (for the fiscal period September 2016 through August 2019), followed by an internal review for the fiscal period September 2019 through June 2020. Not only does GSAWS’s bylaws require an external annual review by a CPA, or other independent accountant (see Article III, Sec. 1(b)(i)), the bylaws require that the financial reports presented at the annual meeting be for a twelve- month fiscal period terminating not more than six months prior to the annual meeting (Article IV, Section 11). Because of the expense of hiring an independent CPA or accountant, the Board of Trustees voted to conduct an external review every three years or whenever a Treasurer rotates out of service and to appoint an internal review committee in the interim. At our annual meeting (this year the World Service Video Conference), the Treasurer will present certified and reviewed financial reports for the fiscal period June 2019 through June 2020.
We wrote two documents as an aid for individuals and groups in managing finances and donations. These documents are entitled GreySheeters Anonymous World Services, Inc. Guidelines for Finance and Best Practices for Seventh Tradition Donations at Virtual Meetings. We hope that these documents, along with the updated GSA Group Treasurer pamphlet, already published and distributed to every group via their intergroup and directed towards the group treasurer, will be utilized as guidelines and suggestions.
Plans
During 2020-2021, we plan to
- Continue providing financial oversight by reviewing monthly and yearly financial statements, including budget variances,
- Gather information and help prepare a budget for fiscal year 2021
- Continue developing a three-year budget for 2022-2024
- Facilitate a review of our financial reports for a twelve-month fiscal period terminating not more than six months prior to the next World Service Conference, as written in our by-laws