Following is the Financial Policy reflecting all the changes discussed and voted on during the 11/7/19 Officers Meeting. (Thank you, Carmen, for the detailed minutes!)
Gravin Eva van Oudeachterkol,
Exchequer, Barony of Darkwater
Financial
Policies for the Barony of Darkwater
All changes
voted and approved by Financial Committee on November 7, 2019
1. FINANCIAL
COMMITTEE
a. The Financial Committee of the
Barony of Darkwater is composed of the Baronial Coronets voting as one, the
Seneschal, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Knight’s Marshal, the Minister of Arts
and Sciences, Chronicler, Herald, Chatelaine, and Web Minister.
b. A quorum is necessary to enact any
motions before the Financial Committee. A quorum shall consist of 5 (five) of
the above named positions, one of which must be either the Seneschal or the
Exchequer. Officer may attend via electronic means to be included in the
quorum.”
c. The terms of the officers will run
concurrently with the terms of their office. The term of the Baronial Coronets
shall run concurrently for the duration of the reign.
d. The Financial Committee will meet
monthly at the Baronial Officer's meetings unless the officer’s meeting is
canceled. At the request of the Seneschal or the Chancellor of Exchequer
additional meetings may be called. “If such meetings are held at a scheduled
Baronial activity, for instance, an event, a Fighting Practice, a Monthly
Business meeting, a General Populace Arts and Sciences Meeting, no prior notice
is required. No member of the Financial Committee shall be required to pay a
site fee in order to attend a meeting. If the meeting is not held at a
regularly scheduled Baronial activity, 24 (twenty-four) hours notice via
electronic means is required.
e. The Seneschal exclusively has the
ability to hold a meeting via electronic means, including, but not limited to
email, on line real time group discussion. Facebook is acceptable to give
notice of such a meeting but is proscribed from use for that purpose. 24
(twenty-four) hour notice must be given to all officers either via email or
telephone message of the time and method as well as the topic. Only one topic
is allowed for each of these meetings.
f. The Barony must have a copy of the
Financial Policy on file with the Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer. Any changes to the Financial
Policy should be forwarded to the Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer within
thirty (30) days.
g. The Baronial Financial Committee
must approve the Baronial Financial Policy. Financial Committee meetings at
which financial policies are approved are open to all Baronial members.
h. The Barony Chancellor of the
Exchequer must see that the Barony has a current copy of the Kingdom Financial
Policy.
2.
EXPENDITURES
a. Expenditures must follow Corporate
and Kingdom Financial Policy. The Seneschal and the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, or their deputies, must review and sign the request form, following
the guideline of less than $101 two signatures, one from each office, are
required. For amounts over $100 and less than $500, in addition to a signature
from the office of the Seneschal and one from the office of the Exchequer, at
least one of the coronets shall also sign the check request form. For amounts
over $501, a motion must be approved by the Financial Committee for the
expenditure.
b. Baronial officers must submit their
budget requests to the Baronial Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Baronial
Seneschal.
c. The Seneschal shall maintain a
roster of all Officers, including SCA name, legal name, postal address, email
address, telephone number, membership number and expiry date. They are required
to share this information with the Exchequer to facilitate creation of the
annual budget and for other necessary purposes pertaining to the function of
the office. The Web Minister and the Chronicler shall maintain pertinent
contact information.
d. An annual budget shall be prepared
by the Baronial Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Baronial Seneschal.
Approval of the majority of the Baronial Financial Committee will be required
for the passage and implementation of the budget. The budget shall be prepared
and approved before the end of the fiscal year.
e. Unbudgeted items must be approved by
a majority of the Baronial Financial Committee on a case-by- case basis.
i. Items may be approved, rejected or
sent back for revision and resubmission at a later date.
ii. These proposed items must be acted
upon by the Baronial Financial Committee within one month of the date that they
are brought before it unless otherwise noted as part of the submission.
f. Expenditures for the Baronial
Officers shall be for the normal costs of running the office within the budgetary
guidelines approved by the Financial Committee.
g. Covered expenses include but are not
limited to: postage, communications, office supplies, printing, copies,
equipment for office or event use, reference material that remains Baronial
property, travel and meals for corporate sponsored symposiums and mileage based
on the currently allowed IRS rate for non-profit groups or payment by receipt
tendered. Mileage at the rates stated above, as well as other related expenses
may also be reimbursed for the transporting of Baronial Regalia. Any questions concerning
additional legitimate expenses should be forwarded to the Baronial Chancellor
of the Exchequer.
h. Examples of uncovered expenses: any
expenses prohibited by SCA Financial Policy, including alcohol for consumption
and personal gifts, administrative food expense and administrative travel
within the Kingdom with the exception of travel reimbursements as defined
elsewhere in this Policy. In any disputes, the decision of the Kingdom
Exchequer shall be final.
i. Any reimbursement or expense not
covered by the budget or financial policy that is equal to or less than one
hundred and one ($101.00) dollars must be approved by the Baronial Seneschal,
except those expenses directly pertaining to event operation and administration
and to member discounts as established by the SCA, Inc. corporation.
j. If in agreement, the Seneschal and
Chancellor of the Exchequer may approve any expenditure of up to three hundred
and one (301) dollars, which must be reviewed at the next Officers meeting.
This is intended to cover unexpected or emergency needs.
k. Any approved reimbursements must be
made within 30 days following receipt of the written request for funds.
l. No reimbursement requests received
six months or more after the occurrence of the expense shall be approved. This
provision may be waived under extraordinary circumstances by approval of the
Financial Committee on a case-by-case basis.
m. At the end of each fiscal year, any
unused Baronial officer budget will return to the Baronial general fund.
n. Every effort should be made to make
purchases in tax excempt status. Sales tax will not be reimbursed, except by a
vote of the financial committee.
3. BARONIAL
EVENTS
a. Baronial Events consist of the
following: Trident Tourney, Gathering of the Clans and Village Faire.
i. Additional events approved by the
Barony Financial Committee
b. The Seneschal or his designated
deputy shall oversee the events bids for Baronial events.
c. At Baronial Events the Event
Steward, the Feast Steward and the Reservation Steward will not be charged site
fees. Another member may be designated in their place.
d. Greater Baronial Officers will not
be charged site fees at any Baronial Event on a case by case basis as approved
by the Financial Committee where they are performing the duties of their office
for a greater portion of the event.
e. Kingdom Officers attending a
Baronial event for the primary purpose of fulfilling their duties as a Kingdom
Officer will not be charged site fee.
f. At any Baronial Event where the
Baronial Regalia is needed, one (1) representative of the Quartermaster's office will not be
charged site fees or will be reimbursed for mileage, but not both, at the
discretion of the Quartermaster or their representative.
g. Sitting Crowns and Heirs of Trimaris
will not be charged feast, site or bed fees for any baronial event.
h. Visiting Crowns and Heirs of other
Kingdoms will not be charged feast, site or bed fees for any baronial event
conditional on providing two weeks notification to reservations. (Beds and
Feast subject to availability)
i. In support of the Baronial Treaty,
visiting Trimaris Landed Baronial Nobles will not be charged for feast or site
fee if they notify reservations at least two (2) weeks before the event.
i. If the terms of the Treaty changes
those changes can be ratified by a vote of the Financial committee and added
the next time the financial policy is updated.
j. The Financial Committee may approve
that additional staff members not be charged site fees. (For example, the Class
Coordinator at Village Faire.)
k. Families and children are welcome at
Baronial events and shall be charged site fees as follows:
i. Children seventeen (17) years old
and younger shall not be charged site fees.
1. This does not apply to Bed, Feast
and other fees beyond site fees, unless noted as part of reservation
information.
ii. No family shall pay more than
three adult site fees. “Family” is defined as per Society membership policy.
1. This does not apply to Bed, Feast
and other fees beyond site fees, unless noted as part of reservation
information.
iii. Members attending a Baronial
event who are charged a full adult event fee may receive a member discount
based on event reservation fees and Society membership policy.
4.
SIGNATORIES
a. Designated signatories for the
Barony will be: Baronial Chancellor of the Exchequer, Baronial Seneschal, Kingdom
Chancellor of the Exchequer (or that of their appointed deputy), and selected
deputies to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Seneschal. Additional
signatories beyond this list may be added by agreement of the Baronial
Seneschal and Baronial Chancellor of the Exchequer
i. Sovereigns, Consorts, and their
heirs of Kingdoms and Principalities, Landed nobles and their heirs as defined
in the SCA Governing Documents are not allowed to be signatories on any SCA account
while they hold that status.
b. All signatories must be members in
good standing.
c. No signatory may be one of the
required signatures on any check written to themselves or their immediate
family or cohabitants.
d. The Exchequer is required to
maintain a roster of all signers on all bank accounts, including their SCA name,
legal name, postal address, email address, telephone number, membership number
and expiry date. This information will be included in the quarterly reports to
the Kingdom Exchequer.
e. The Barony Chancellor of the
Exchequer will be the only person to manage the Barony checkbook.
i. If the Chancellor of the Exchequer
is going to be unavailable, for example, an extended vacation, arrangements
must be made for the checkbook to be entrusted to a member of the Financial Committee
or the Deputy Exchequer, and the Seneschal must be notified and approve the arrangements.
ii. If the Barony checkbook is
entrusted to an officer other than the Exchequer, a full review of all checks
written during the time it was entrusted must be completed within thirty (30)
days of the return of the Chancellor of the Exchequer by both the Exchequer and
the Seneschal
5. FINANCIAL
RECORDS
a. All Baronial financial records must
be kept using double-entry bookkeeping methods and follow all Kingdom and
Society guidelines.
b. SPECIAL PURPOSE FUNDS OF THE BARONY
i. The Barony may create special
purpose funds as needed and as approved by the Financial Committee.
ii. All special funds must have a
designated secondary purpose.
iii. All special funds must be used
for their intended purpose. Upon completion of that purpose, or termination of
that fund, all remaining monies shall be transferred to the Barony general
fund, unless otherwise specified in Baronial Financial Policy.
iv. All special funds, including funds
held for cantons, which have no activity for three (3) years will be
transferred to the Barony general fund and no longer be available toward that
special fund. The barony may however create a new special fund for the same
purpose if desired later.
c. The final purpose of all special
funds will be the general fund.
6. FINANCIAL
REPORTING AND DISCLOSURE
a. The Baronial Chancellor of the
Exchequer will provide to the Baronial Seneschal on a quarterly basis copies of
documents and electronic storage media that would allow for reconstruction of
the Baronial books.
b. The Barony will report quarterly to
the Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer or their appointed deputy (Deputy
Exchequer for Local Reports). Failure to file required reports within thirty
(30) days after the report deadline, as defined by the Kingdom Chancellor of
the Exchequer or their designated Deputy, may be grounds for suspension and/or
replacement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer
c. The Chancellor of the Exchequer must
provide a copy of the quarterly report to the Seneschal.
d. The Seneschal or the Exchequer of
any Cantons of the Barony must provide a copy of the quarterly report to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer.
e. Financial statements consisting of a
Comparative Balance Sheet and Income and Expense Statement must be made
available to the public at least annually, whether published in Barony
newsletter or distributed to the membership in some other form. A copy of this
statement must be sent to the Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer.
7.
CONTROLLING CASH RECEIPTS
a. Cash control procedures for Baronial
events will be established by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in compliance
with the Trimaris Kingdom Event Handbook.
b. The Barony Seneschal will be
notified as to all cash received at the end of any event run by the Barony.
c. The Barony Chancellor of the
Exchequer will provide a detailed report of receipts and expenses after the closing
of the books for any baronial run event to the Barony Seneschal.
d. The Barony must deposit any funds
raised into an SCA, Inc bank account and follow established SCA, Inc cash
control procedures as described in Society Financial Policy and Kingdom
Financial Policy.
e. All Event funds should be deposited
within seven (7) days. This period may be changed by Society Financial Policy
and Kingdom Financial Policy
f. Personal checks written for amounts
exceeding Five Hundred (500) dollars will not be accepted by the Barony.
Payments for amounts in excess of the limit must be made by money order or
cashier's check or their equivalent. The Seneschal and Chancellor of Exchequer
if in agreement, can on a case by case basis make an exception.
8.
INVESTMENT PLANNING
a. Excess money may be invested in
accordance with Society invest policies by written approval of the Seneschal
and Chancellor of the Exchequer.
b. When making Investments, an excess
of at least 10% of the budget should always available for unbudgeted
expenditures, in addition to a sum equivalent to at least one event’s expected
expenses.
9. REVIEW
AND AMENDING FINANCIAL POLICY
a. Barony Financial Policy will be
reviewed whenever the office of the Barony Seneschal changes hands, or every
two (2) years.
b. Any member of the Financial
Committee may submit proposed changes to the Financial Policy at any time.
Suggestions from the populace are always welcome.
c. Changes in Financial Policy will be
reviewed and decided by the Baronial Financial Committee. Both the Seneschal
and Chancellor of the Exchequer must be present, in person, electronically or
by proxy to an individual not otherwise having a vote on the Financial
Committee, for any vote concerning Financial policy changes.
d. Financial Policy will be interpreted
by the Coronets, the Baronial Seneschal and the Baronial Chancellor of the Exchequer.
If a consensus cannot be reached, a decision by the Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer
will be final.
e. The Financial Committee must review
and either re-approve or revise the financial policy whenever the Barony
appoints a new Seneschal, or every two (2) years. The review must be done
within sixty (60) days of the new Seneschal taking office. Notice of the
Financial Policy's re-approval, signed by both the Baronial Seneschal and
Exchequer, OR a copy of the branch's revised Financial Policy must be forwarded
to the Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer within thirty (30) days.
