Financial Policies
FINANCIAL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR LWVNM
Adopted 2010, Revised and Approved November 12, 2016 Resolution (Appendix II) Added and Approved January 28, 2017
These policy and procedural guidelines are designed to establish management systems that assure that fiscal responsibility is maintained when personnel changes and that support rather than hinder the work of the League.
Authorities and Responsibilities
1. The board of directors has the authority to execute any financial policies it deems to be in the best interest of the organization, within the parameters of the organization’s articles of incorporation, bylaws, and federal, state, and local law.
2. The president together with the board of directors has the responsibility to ensure compliance with these policies and procedures.
3. The board of directors is responsible for ensuring that all financial reports present its financial condition and results of operations fairly and completely.
4. The board of directors shall arrange for a biennial review of LWVNM financial records. The biennial review shall follow the procedures described in Appendix II.B.4 of the LWVUS publication Starting Points and/or an adopted LWVNM Financial Review Procedure. See Appendix II.
5. The treasurer shall have the authority to manage LWVNM assets. The treasurer shall keep records in compliance with applicable laws and regulations and provide the documentation needed to perform biennial financial reviews.
6. A budget committee appointed following the LWVNM bylaws shall prepare budgets for the upcoming two years for the state Convention. The treasurer shall be an ex-officio member of this committee but not its chair.
7. The board shall maintain a reserve fund with sufficient money to meet 30% of the budget (excluding in-kind contributions), provided enough funds are available. Use of the funds must be approved by the board.
8. Contracts shall be reviewed and approved by the president and the treasurer. Short-term
contracts for special projects that are approved by the board can be approved by the person(s) assigned the responsibility for that project.
9. The board, or its budget committee, shall review the LWVNM Financial Policies and Procedures and consider amendments, at least once every two years.
Financial Reporting
1. The fiscal year for LWVNM is from May 1 to April 30.
2. Two-year budgets for the LWVNM General Fund and for the League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF; see Appendix I) are prepared by the budget committee during the winter preceding a state Convention (odd-numbered years), approved by the board at its March meeting, and ratified or amended by the May LWVNM Convention.
3. The treasurer shall provide a financial report to the board at each of its meetings. These shall include a balance sheet, a profit-and-loss report, and a report against budget. Significant deviations from budget should be addressed in the accompanying narrative.
4. A preliminary annual report for the first year of the two-year budget cycle shall be presented to the May Council meeting of LWVNM (even-numbered years), together with budget adjustments proposed by the board.
5. Budget adjustments approved by Council shall be documented in the biennial financial report.
6. A preliminary two-year financial report shall be presented to the Convention of LWVNM.
7. The report of the biennial review committee shall be delivered to the board not later than September following Convention. The two-year financial report will be finalized after the biennial financial review has been completed. The final report and the financial review report will be available to any League member on request.
Operating Procedures
1. The president and the treasurer shall have the authority to sign checks. Checks written by the president shall be reported to the treasurer within two days and the required hard copy documentation should follow within seven days.
2. A reimbursement of expenses form system shall be used to document expenses incurred by members. See Appendix III.
3. The president may authorize up to $250 beyond budgeted amounts without prior approval of the board. Receipts and disbursements for non-budgeted items shall be evaluated by the board and budget amendments proposed if appropriate. Expenses above $500 must be reviewed and approved by the Board prior to disbursement. Two signatures are required on checks for more than $1,000.
4. All payments shall be made by paper check. There should be no electronic transfers out of the LWVNM account.
5. Expenses exceeding amounts anticipated in the budget require authorization by the board of directors.
6. The treasurer shall maintain an accounting system that will assure consistency and availability of records over time, including regular backups of all data.
7. Acknowledgement of donations should be sent out by the treasurer within two weeks of receipt.
8. The treasurer will send out Per Member Payment (PMP) assessments to local League presidents and treasurers by mail, fax, or e-mail. These assessments will be based upon the membership data provided by the LWVUS. The assessments to local Leagues will be sent out no later than three months after the information is received from the LWVUS. Payment from the local Leagues must be received no later than December 31.
Local Leagues are not charged state PMP for national members.
Safeguards and Controls
1. Invoices from unfamiliar or unusual vendors must be reported to and confirmed by the board prior to payment.
3. No checks may be written to “cash” or “bearer.” No holder of the checkbook can write a check to her/himself. No checks shall be signed before both the recipient and the amount payable have been filled in.
APPENDIX I: THE EDUCATION FUND
1. The LWVNM Education Fund resides in the LWVEF State and Local Grants Programs that is maintained by the LWVUS. It is a 501(c)(3) organization, and donations to it are tax-deductible.
2. LWVNM may also use LWVCNM ED Fund as the fiscal agent to receive eligible donations and grant funds on behalf of LWVNM. The LWVCNM ED Fund Treasurer will disburse grant funds to LWVNM as directed by the terms of each agreement. Tax-deductible donations will be passed through to LWVNM within 30 days of their receipt.
3. The project leader of educational activities that qualify to be paid by the LWVNM
Education Fund is responsible for identifying the associated expenses. In general, such expenses will initially be paid from the LWVNM General Fund. The project leader shall assist the treasurer in completing a Request for Withdrawal to be sent to LWVEF in order to reimburse the General Fund for eligible expenses.
4. The treasurer is responsible for recording all donations to the LWVNM Education Fund and for depositing the checks with the national LWVEF, together with a completed LWVEF form. The treasurer also sends an acknowledgement of the tax deductible gift to the donor.
5. Some Members At Large (MALS) write one check to LWVNM that includes both their membership dues and a donation to the Education Fund. In this case, the entire check is deposited in the LWVNM account and the treasurer writes a check from that account in the amount they designated for the Education Fund and sends that to LWVEF for deposit in our LWVEF Account.
6. The amount reported by the treasurer as being in the LWVNM Education Fund is the balance that is in our account at the LWVEF.
APPENDIX II: FINANCIAL REVIEW PROCEDURE
1. CHECKING AND INVESTMENT ACCOUNTS
a. Obtain reconciliations at fiscal year-end for all accounts.
b. Verify that reconciliations agree with amounts on financial report.
c. Compare balance on reconciliations to the fiscal year end bank/brokerage statements.
d. Verify reconciling items (note-some of these can be verified by examining items in the following month bank/brokerage statements).
2. DUES INCOME AND PMP
a. Obtain the number of members and dues by type of member from the Director of Membership.
b. Compute dues by using amounts obtained in 2a.
c. Compare results from 2b to amount on financial report and investigate any significant difference.
d. Randomly select 5% of the members from the membership list and determine that dues have been received from them.
e. Using the information obtained in 2a, compute the amounts of PMP paid to the national and state Leagues. Compare computed amounts to amounts shown on the financial report and investigate any significant differences.
3. FUNDRAISING
a. Obtain from the treasurer the amount of revenue and expenses for each fundraising event.
b. Ask the individual in charge of each event if the amounts appear reasonable.
c. If the amount does not appear reasonable, ascertain what caused the differences.
4. INTEREST INCOME
Compare the amounts shown on the financial report to the bank/brokerage statements and ascertain reasons for any differences.
5. EXPENSES
Randomly select five disbursements from each month and determine that they have adequate supporting documentation and have been recorded in the proper expense account in the financial report.
6. BUDGET
Investigate any significant differences between actual and budgeted amounts.
7. FINDINGS
Review findings with the treasurer prior to presenting the report to the board.
(Appendix II.B.4 of the LWVUS publication Starting Point has suggested procedures for the review of
financial records. These procedures should also be considered in conjunction with the review.)
APPENDIX III: BOARD EXPENSES
Reimbursement
Board members and other League members who incur expenditures on behalf of the League must complete a Reimbursement of Expenses form and submit it to the treasurer along with supporting data (receipts, etc.) The originator of any expense is responsible for assigning it to the proper budget category on this form.
Board members are encouraged to submit reimbursement forms even if they wish to donate the expenses, in order that the League may have an accurate record of its expenses.
Delegate Expenses
Delegates to state and national conventions, councils, and workshops representing
LWVNM should be reimbursed for all registration fees, transportation, and hotel fees as
the budget allows.
Delegates are chosen by the president and approved by the board. Board members and
others whose presence is requested by the board are not charged registration fees at State
Council and State Convention.
State Board Business
In connection with all essential state board business allowable expenditures that may be
reimbursed include the following:
1. Car travel at IRS charitable rate. Members are requested to car pool when
workable.
2. Night’s lodging at a reasonable rate for double occupancy.
3. Meals at a reasonable rate.
4. Meals considered as part of a program.
5. All duplicating, postage and telephone expenses necessary to carry out board
responsibilities.
6. Child care at $2 per hour; not to exceed $10 per day.
7. Per diem of $8 for each day when the lobbyist spends at least 4 hours on
lobbying business. Lobbyists must give the treasurer a list of days for which
they qualify.
In-Kind Expenses: Donating expenses related to League work (in-kind donations) is
encouraged. Actual expenses should be reports except for car travel, which should be
shown as the actual purchase price of gas. Items 1 through 7 under the reimbursement
policy guidelines apply. The Reimbursement of Expenses form should be used and
clearly marked “In-Kind Expenses.”
APPENDIX IV: FORMS
The following forms are associated with this procedure:
A. Reimbursement of Expenses http://www.lwvnm.org/forms/reimburse.doc
B. Request for Ed Fund Withdrawal http://www.lwvnm.org/forms/edfund.doc
C. Deposit to LWVEF account