What is a Treasurer?
A treasurer is an officer who is in charge of receiving and dispersing funds. He or she manages and reports on the organization’s finances.
Responsibilities of a Treasurer
Although duties can vary slightly depending on the size of a particular board the following duties are fairly consistent:
- Carries out the responsibilities of a member of the Board of Directors
- Assists in the preparation of the budget
- Monitors the budget
- Ensures the Board’s financial policies are being followed
- Reports to the Board of Directors and general membership on finances
- Prepares any required financial reporting forms.
- Maintains all bank accounts
- Oversees all financial transactions
- His or her signature should appear on all cheques of the organization with the second signature from any of the board’s other directors or staff with signing authority
- Chairs the finance committee if one exists
Preparing a budget
- A budget is a plan that identifies how much money an organization requires to operate during the upcoming year
- A budget includes sources of revenue and anticipated expenses
- A budget is submitted to the Board for approval at the beginning of the fiscal year by the treasurer
- Throughout the year the treasurer tracks year-to-date income and revenues, reports variances and alerts the Board of potential problems
Completing Necessary Paperwork
- The treasurer ensures the bank has the names and signatures of members who are authorized to deposit and withdraw funds from an organization’s bank account
- The treasurer must file financial statements for legal and security purposes (i.e. tax authorities, funding bodies etc…)