We are working on our guidelines for members that coordinate our events. Could you please recommend the best way for us to handle the finances for these events?
For example, someone plans a Craft Day, purchases items for the event and collects a supply fee of $5 to cover the expenses. In the past, members have purchased items out of their personal accounts and deposited the supply fee collected into their personal account. Now that we are a 501c3, what do you recommend?
Another example would be graduation. This is a larger event as you can imagine involving more expenses.
Thank you so very much for your assistance!
Blessings,
Mary
Mary,
As much as possible I recommend:
1. Not dealing in cash. That means I don’t like the way Craft Day has been operating. It’s best if the payments are given to your Treasurer. Then the volunteer submits a reimbursement request along with her receipts to the treasurer and gets paid back for the supplies she purchased. The treasurer then knows both how much was collected and how much was spent on Craft Day.
2. Accountability: meaning the events sponsored by your homeschool group are run through your group’s checking account not personal accounts.
A big event like graduation needs to have a budget of expected income and expenses. Then each volunteer knows what she can spend in her area of responsibility (rent, food, decorations, speaker, etc.). The volunteers turn in reimbursement requests along with their receipts to the treasurer. The treasurer keeps a close eye on expenses to make sure they don’t get out of line.
I wrote a book on Money Management in a Homeschool Organization. It has good advice on financial practices for homeschool groups. It also has sample reimbursement forms.
Carol Topp, CPA
HomeschoolCPA.com
