Membership & Board Eligibility
To be eligible for nomination, election, or appointment to the Board, the Treasurer must be a paid member of EDC: MV in good standing. All applicable dues must be paid in full before the vote or appointment, and membership must remain in good standing throughout the Treasurer’s term.
The annual base membership fee is $15. The annual membership fee for a Board Director, including the Treasurer, is $75. The Board Director fee replaces, and is not added to, the base membership fee. Any effect of a loss of good standing on continued service is subject to the bylaws and applicable law.
Responsibilities
The Treasurer will work with the Executive Director, finance lead, bookkeeper, and external accountant, as applicable, to promote sound planning, decision-making, and oversight. The principal responsibilities are:
Financial oversight and controls
- Financial reporting. Ensure that complete and understandable monthly or quarterly financial statements are provided to the Board, review them before presentation, and explain significant results, trends, liabilities, and risks.
- Financial controls. Oversee the development and periodic review of financial policies, record-keeping practices, banking controls, approval limits, and appropriate segregation of duties or compensating controls.
- Financial position. Monitor cash flow, reserves, receivables, payables, debt, remittances, and EDC: MV’s ability to meet payroll, program commitments, and other obligations when due.
- External review. Meet with the external accountant or auditor when appropriate, bring control or record-keeping concerns to the Board, and monitor management’s response to agreed recommendations.
- Budget review
Annual budget.
- Assist management in preparing the annual budget and ensure it is presented to the Board for approval before the fiscal year or by the Board’s approved deadline.
- Assumptions and alignment. Review revenue assumptions, staffing and program costs, cash timing, reserves, restrictions, contingencies, and alignment with the EDC: MV’s strategic priorities.
- Variance monitoring. Compare actual results and updated forecasts with the approved budget, ask for explanations, and alert the Board to material discrepancies, emerging commitments, or a projected shortfall.
Payroll reports and timesheets
- Payroll report review. Review payroll reports each pay cycle or at least monthly, as approved by the Board, including gross and net payroll, employer costs, benefits, deductions, remittances, leave, overtime, new or departed workers, and authorized pay changes.
- Timesheet-to-contract check. Check timesheets against current signed employment or contractor agreements and approved amendments, confirming hours, rates, overtime, leave, effective dates, program or fund coding, and supervisor approval. A documented Board-approved sampling method may be used where appropriate.
- Exceptions. Require written support for discrepancies or one-time adjustments and report unresolved, unauthorized, duplicate, or unusual items. This review is an assigned financial control and does not make the Treasurer responsible for supervising the work performed.
- Privacy. Use summary or redacted information where sufficient, access only the personal information required for oversight, and keep payroll and timesheet records within the EDC: MV’s approved systems.
Bank reconciliations
- Monthly review. Review and acknowledge the monthly reconciliation for every bank, credit-card, investment, and payment-processing account, comparing it with the independent statement and accounting records.
- Follow-up. Investigate unusual transactions, stale or duplicate items, transfers, missing statements, unexplained differences, and transactions near approval limits; document questions and confirm that exceptions are resolved.
- Separation of duties. Ensure, where practicable, that no one person can initiate, approve, record, and reconcile the same transaction. Recommend a compensating Board review where staffing makes full separation impractical.
Restricted and unrestricted funds
- Fund monitoring. Review a fund schedule showing opening balances, receipts, eligible expenses, approved transfers or releases, and closing balances for restricted, Board-designated, and unrestricted funds.
- Compliance with restrictions. Verify that grants, donations, and contracts are recorded and used consistently with written funder or donor requirements, and that reporting and spending deadlines are monitored.
- Protection of funds. Alert the Board to ineligible spending, deficit balances, unsupported allocations, missed deadlines, or proposed transfers involving restricted resources. No external restriction may be changed or released without the required authority.
Reporting financial concerns to the Board
- Regular reporting. Present or co-present a concise financial report at each regular Board meeting, including financial position, budget performance, cash outlook, payroll and reconciliation review status, fund balances, material risks, and outstanding actions.
- Prompt escalation. Report an urgent or material concern promptly to the Board Chair and Board. If the Chair is involved or conflicted, report to the Vice-Chair or another independent director and the remaining disinterested directors.
- Concerns requiring escalation. Escalate suspected fraud or concealment, unauthorized transactions, unexplained reconciliation items, late payroll or remittances, misuse of restricted funds, material errors or variances, cash-flow threats, missing records, or refusal to provide information needed for oversight.
- Board follow-up. Ensure the concern, Board direction, assigned action, deadline, and resolution are appropriately recorded and monitored to completion.
Compliance and annual reporting
- Government filings and liabilities. Ensure that required financial statements, charity and tax filings, payroll remittances, and other financial liabilities are prepared and submitted or paid on time by the responsible person.
- Year-end reporting. Support Board review of the year-end financial statements and financial information included in the annual report, annual return, and Annual General Meeting materials.
- Professional services. Recommend whether external accounting, review, or audit services should be appointed, reappointed, changed, or expanded, subject to Board or member approval where required.
Committee Membership
The Treasurer serves on the Executive Committee, if one exists and the bylaws provide, and will normally chair or participate in the Finance, Budget, or Audit Committee when established by the Board. Committee authority is limited to its Board-approved terms of reference.
Qualifications
- Commitment to EDC: MV’s mission, values, and strategic direction.
- Experience with financial management, budgeting, controls, or financial reporting appropriate to EDC: MV’s size and complexity.
- Ability to understand and explain Board-level financial information, ask constructive questions, and exercise independent judgement.
- Ability to protect confidential payroll, banking, donor, and employee information and disclose conflicts of interest.
- Capacity to devote time required and obtain professional advice when an issue exceeds the Treasurer’s expertise
