| |
|
Governance
| Finance
Committee Minutes 3/12/04 |
| Members
Present: |
Frank
Aquilino, Henry Krostich (by teleconference), Maryann Winters
(by teleconference), and Patricia Wright |
| Chair: |
Arthur
Bloom |
| Members
Excused: |
Susan
Barossi, Alan Kahn, and Sherwood Levitan |
| Others: |
Allan
Blum, Gary Kameth, and Mel Zachter of Loeb & Troper |
| Staff: |
Louis
Grumet, Lynn Chambers, and David Haar |
| Location: |
NYSSCPA
Office 530 Fifth Avenue, 5th floor
New York, NY 10036
|
The
meeting was called to order at 9:08 A.M by Art Bloom, Chair.
This was a joint meeting with the Foundation of Accounting
Education’s Finance Committee, represented by Ilene
Persoff.
Approval
of Minutes
The
minutes of the October 29, 2003 Finance Committee and
the December 10, 2003 Investment Committee meetings were
unanimously approved.
Review
of Budget for Fiscal Year ending May 31, 2005
Mr.
Bloom asked Lynn Chambers to go through the budget items:
A.
Graphs- Ms. Chambers took the committee through a series
of graphs that illustrated the proposed budget revenue,
expense, and net contribution per department.
B.
Budget initiatives - Ms. Chambers spoke on the initiatives
that were included in this budget: the addition of four
new staff positions, the expansion of The Trusted
Professional to a twice-monthly publication for
six months of the coming year, expansion of the COAP
program with an additional two universities, growth
in the advertising budget for further member recruitment
and reach-out to college students, the creation of a
member Resource Center, and the formation of a President’s
Fund.
C.
Projected May 2004 outcome - Ms. Chambers explained
that the total effect of the office move could not be
calculated for the current year due to timing uncertainties.
When the primary lease has been signed, the ledger will
reflect a credit of $131,808 per month until the move
is complete.
D. Budget Revenue Components- Ms. Chambers discussed
some specific areas within revenue, such as advertising
revenue which will increase due to an improvement in
the advertising climate, meetings revenue which is more
than the current year because the line comes from the
chapters’ budget, and investment income which
is budgeted to exceed the current projection due to
unrealized gains.
E.
Strategic Plan Goals Budgets- the three goal expense
budgets were discussed.
1.
Advocacy - meeting expense is budgeted to increase again
reflecting the chapters’ budgets, printing and
postage will decrease because the actual current year
expense included the bylaws amendment mailing to all
members, a new line for recruitment advertising has
been created, and a President’s Fund has been
created for the coming year. Allan Fetterman asked how
much of the allocated expenses were administrative and
how much were directly program-related, discussing the
fact that he considered this breakdown important in
evaluating the actual direct cost of each goal. He also
questioned whether rent should be allocated using only
timesheet data
2. Professional Competency- a new line item titled conference
space has been created to reflect the direct FAE portion
of the new lease that relates to seminars and conferences,
meals and facilities has decreased from the current
year projection because the new lease will allow FAE
to hold more conferences in-house, meeting expenses
has decreased because the annual golf tournament has
been moved from the committees department to the Manhattan/Bronx
chapter, printing and postage has increased due to anticipated
raises on the CPA Journal for both printing and paper,
professional fees is higher because an outside firm
is selling the CPA Journal advertising, a new resource
center has been created, and the travel-committee line
has increased due to heavy use of the teleconferencing
offered to members.
3. Recognition and Visibility - advertising has increased
over the May 2004 projection due to the Communications
department increasing it’s media outreach, and
printing and postage is higher due to The Trusted
Professional expansion noted earlier.
F.
Organization Budgets- the last review consisted of a brief
discussion of the total budget page for each of the organizations
- NYSSCPA, FAE Unrestricted, and FAE Temporarily Restricted.
It was noted that the FAE budget had been approved by
the FAE Trustees. There were a few questions on this budget
that could not be answered due to the absence of Mr. Alan
Schmelkin. This issue was tabled until the next Finance
Committee Meeting on January 28, 2004.
There were no further questions regarding the budget,
and there were no changes or revisions made.
Internal
Control Review
Ms.
Chambers reported 28 firm requests for the proposal, and
six firm responses received. The committee discussed each
of the submissions, and was concerned about a conflict
of interest concerning one of the firms and a committee
member. Jim Woehlke, Legal Counsel of NYSSCPA, was asked
to join the group for a discussion of the issue. Ms. Chambers
was asked to arrange interviews with three firms chosen
by the committee.
Future
Finance Committee Meetings
The
next meeting will be held on January 28, 2004 starting
at 9 AM. Beginning at 11 AM, each of the three invited
firms will be interviewed, after which the committee will
choose a firm for recommendation to the Executive Committee.
There
being no further business, a motion was passed to adjourn
the meeting at 11:55 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
David Haar, NYSSCPA staff
Approved 1/28/04
| NYSSCPA
Investment Committee Minutes 12/10/03 |
| Members
Present: |
Frank
Aquilino, Susan Barossi, and Pat Wright |
| Chair: |
Arthur
Bloom |
| Staff: |
Lynn
Chambers, David Haar |
| Location: |
Marks
Paneth & Shron LLP
622 Third Avenue, 7th Floor New York, NY 10017 |
The
meeting was called to order at 9:05 A.M. This
was a joint meeting with the Foundation of Accounting
Education’s Finance Committee, represented
by Ilene Persoff (by teleconference).
Internal
Control Review
Allan
Blum of Loeb & Troper gave an overview of
the internal control review process, and discussed
the work that was done in the different departments.
Mr. Blum then discussed the report, which began
with an overview of the organization. Mr. Blum
noted that while the Finance Department had
written policies and procedures, an overall
operational manual didn’t exist. It was
recommended that this manual be prepared. Loeb
& Troper noted that there were no major
deficiencies in the internal control within
the organization, but there were recommendations
for certain conditions:
A.
Finance Department issues:
1.
In addition to stamping a check stub paid,
the invoices should be stamped paid as well.
2. Not all check requests contain two signatures,
and it’s recommended that Finance reject
any paperwork that doesn’t have two
signers.
3. Signed checks are returned to the accounts
payable clerk for mailing. Due to a necessary
segregation of duties, this responsibility
should be given to someone else. In addition,
the Director of Finance should review paid
checks for alterations before distribution
to Accounting Department staff.
4. While a purchasing policy exists, it’s
seldom adhered to. It is recommended that
a purchase order system be fully implemented.
5. Returned checks from vendors should not
be left with an accounts payable clerk, but
should be held by an Accounting Manager for
investigation of the problem.
6. Currently both bookkeepers have the authority
to create vendors in the system. This function
should be moved to a higher level.
7. It was noted that lockbox checks not deposited
by the bank were being given to the affected
department for research. It is recommended
that all checks be immediately deposited,
and a copy given to other departments for
posting resolution.
8. It was noted that Accounting Department
personnel can enter new employees and change
pay rates in the payroll system. It was recommended
that this function be limited to Human Resources.
9. The same Accounting Department employee
both reviews payroll and prepares the payroll
bank reconciliation. These duties should be
separated.
10. It was observed that staff members receive
transit checks. It was recommended that instead
of distributing a physical check, the net
amount of staff members’ pay be increased
by the amount of the transportation allowance.
B.
Other Departments’ Issues:
1.
Membership Department – First, all membership
representatives issue credit to a credit card
account, but only one individual should be
responsible for this function. Second, personal
member information, such as credit card information,
social security numbers, birthdates, etc.
is stored in unlocked cabinets. This data
should be stored in a secure manner. Third,
credit card machines used by the Accounting
Department are left on a desk, and it was
recommended that they be held in a locked
cabinet.
2. Chapter Department - The invoice copies
mailed as support of chapter payments are
not reviewed by the Accounting Department,
and they should be.
3. Other Recommendations - Fiscal reports
should be expanded to increase their usefulness
to the Board.
4. Peer Review Function – First, old
files are in the Society’s office, but
peer review documents should be held only
for the recommended retention period. Second,
the Society has previously fallen behind in
the peer review process, and should be careful
to adequately staff this function. Third,
the recommendation was made to strike names
and firms reviewed before report submission
to the Board.
5. Legal Department - It was recommended that
the process of reviewing, filing and data
basing all contracts be sped up.
6. Foundation for Accounting Education - First,
all contracts currently held by FAE are not
reviewed by the Legal Department, and it’s
recommended that this be done. Second, it
was recommended that the Foundation take advantage
of multiple year discounts at seminar locations.
Third, all conditions listed for the Membership
Department also exist for the Foundation.
Mr.
Blum concluded by stating that internal controls
were in place, and that management sets a good
tone for the operations of the organization.
Review
of Budget for Fiscal Year ending May 31, 2005
The
second part of the agenda concerned a discussion
of changes to the FY 2005 budget. Ms. Chambers
noted that due to a revision of the original
draft budget, two new positions as well as the
plan to expand the number of Trusted Professional
issues would be eliminated to offset the projected
deficit. Mr. Grumet was told that these initiatives
could be presented to the Board during its October
meeting. The draft budget was then unanimously
approved for presentation to the Board of Directors
in April.
Approval
of Minutes
The
minutes of the January 29, 2004 Finance Committee
meeting were unanimously approved.
There
being no further business, a motion was made
to adjourn the meeting at 11:10 AM.
Respectfully
submitted,
David Haar, NYSSCPA staff
Approved by Chair 4/1/04
|
|
|
|
