4.07 FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT
The finance committee met several times over the past month to discuss ideas for reducing our overall budget to keep operations profitable and rebuild our savings, so the organization won't have to borrow funds just to cover operational expenses regularly. No final decisions were made.
Discussions began with a review of our four-year comparison budget to see what had changed and revisit ways to cut costs or increase revenue. Steve has proposed one possible solution: reducing his role to about half of his current workload for two reasons—one to help lower overhead costs, and two, to allow him more time in his design firm. We would all like Steve to continue providing full-time leadership for the organization, but we should also respect his decision to spend more time in his firm.
Chip Hudson and Kimberly Mockert also proposed a program to generate additional revenue by creating a partnership to offer home plan sales through AIBD. After several discussions, it appeared possible to develop a legal program to make this work, but further discussions are needed, and most likely, we will need a legal opinion on the matter. I think this is an excellent option if we can make it work.
A review of the past audit procedures within the AIBD "A" team was conducted. We need to ensure we are following the guidelines that have been used in the past as a way to provide some checks and balances on how we do business. This coming year, we should conduct an internal audit at least once per quarter using our checklist. We should also hold a finance committee meeting quarterly to review our financial reports and continue exploring ideas to strengthen our financial position.
Finally, I believe Steve has been handling the organization’s accounting and tax returns since he's been here. While I trust Steve’s ability to do so, from my perspective, Steve spends a lot of time on financial tasks. We need to remove these tasks from his plate altogether. I propose we have discussions about having another "A" team member handle and enter monthly bills and deposits, possibly with the treasurer logging into QuickBooks once a month to pay these bills. I also believe we should have a CPA prepare our tax returns to ensure we stay compliant with the tax code. Especially if Steve's time is reduced to half of what it currently is, I would prefer him to spend that time leading and advancing the organization rather than being the bookkeeper and accountant.
I look forward to discussing these ideas and thoughts further with you. Lets have a great convention and better coming year!
Discussions began with a review of our four-year comparison budget to see what had changed and revisit ways to cut costs or increase revenue. Steve has proposed one possible solution: reducing his role to about half of his current workload for two reasons—one to help lower overhead costs, and two, to allow him more time in his design firm. We would all like Steve to continue providing full-time leadership for the organization, but we should also respect his decision to spend more time in his firm.
Chip Hudson and Kimberly Mockert also proposed a program to generate additional revenue by creating a partnership to offer home plan sales through AIBD. After several discussions, it appeared possible to develop a legal program to make this work, but further discussions are needed, and most likely, we will need a legal opinion on the matter. I think this is an excellent option if we can make it work.
A review of the past audit procedures within the AIBD "A" team was conducted. We need to ensure we are following the guidelines that have been used in the past as a way to provide some checks and balances on how we do business. This coming year, we should conduct an internal audit at least once per quarter using our checklist. We should also hold a finance committee meeting quarterly to review our financial reports and continue exploring ideas to strengthen our financial position.
Finally, I believe Steve has been handling the organization’s accounting and tax returns since he's been here. While I trust Steve’s ability to do so, from my perspective, Steve spends a lot of time on financial tasks. We need to remove these tasks from his plate altogether. I propose we have discussions about having another "A" team member handle and enter monthly bills and deposits, possibly with the treasurer logging into QuickBooks once a month to pay these bills. I also believe we should have a CPA prepare our tax returns to ensure we stay compliant with the tax code. Especially if Steve's time is reduced to half of what it currently is, I would prefer him to spend that time leading and advancing the organization rather than being the bookkeeper and accountant.
I look forward to discussing these ideas and thoughts further with you. Lets have a great convention and better coming year!