Club Financial Operation Update

As part of the board’s initiative to simplify the Treasurer’s responsibilities and provide more insight into the financial statements, the club’s board of directors approved transitioning QuickBooks Desktop to QuickBooks Online, establishing an audit committee, and hiring Sandy Gruber, a bookkeeper. The bookkeeper’s responsibilities will mainly be to process transactions in QuickBooks, including sending invoices to club members. The treasurer will issue checks, create
the budget and review the financial statements.  Sandy works out of her home and also maintains records for other nonprofit organizations so we think she is a good fit for our club. She started training with John Olsen in October. Sandy has served as the administrative office for the Wisconsin Chapter of the Risk Management Association for several years, an organization in which Derek Moehring has been active for many years. She also serves other Midwest chapters of the RMA. Sandy lives in rural Spring Green. We’re hoping she will be able to attend one of our Club meetings in the not-too-distant future, so you will have an opportunity to meet her. Our initial estimate is that Sandy will spend about ten hours per quarter supporting our Club. Her billing rate is $20 per hour, so the estimated cost will be about $800 per year. At the same time, in accordance with the club bylaws, an audit committee was established with Derek Moehring as chair. The audit committee will establish procedures to perform an in-depth review of the books and records. They will have access to QuickBooks and will be able to review activity. With the hiring of a bookkeeper, we wanted to retain control of the cash and bank accounts with a club member.
 
QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based tool that allows multiple users to have access to the books and records from anywhere and with any computer. It also allowed us to start accepting ACH (automated clearinghouse) payments for dues with no additional fees. This will simplify dues payments for both the club members and the treasurer/assistant treasurers.
 
Last quarter over 25 of our members paid their quarterly dues electronically using ACH (Automated Clearing House). The process is quick and easy, and there is no cost to either the Member or the Club. To make the payment, click on the “Review and Pay” box that shows up on the first page of the invoice email you receive and follow the instructions. The first time you use it, you will need to enter your checking account information – Routing Number and Account Number. You can then save that information, and you will not need to re-enter it the next time.
 
If you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact Dawn Frank or John Olsen. And thanks to them for providing the information for this writeup.