Treasurer's Report

Hello everyone,

I have not attached a profit & loss statement. Karen has been away so it wouldn’t be current/accurate. We have been working on how to better arrange the classes so the information makes sense and is easier to review and run reports for all the venue chairs. We have also been working on reducing the number of classes we use in Quickbooks so we can go back to the lower lever and save some money without loosing any of the data. Some of these changes may seem unsettling but in the long run will adhere to better bookkeeping practices and help us keep up with ever changing technology and legal requirements. Having a bookkeeper and accurate books will make the transition from one treasurer to the next seamless and efficient. We won’t get in trouble because things fell through the cracks. Or have to suffer through a stiff learning curve. It will make the new treasure’s job easier and less stressful.

I have been trying to sort out some problems at the bank. With Covid and being shut down I was a little lax. Unfortunately when when we did the transition from Chris to myself as treasurer with the bank, Chris put Pat Brangs as the main contact with her address because she was the bookkeeper. Since Pat was never a board member and had to resign, it has become a problem. I have had to produce copious documents to prove, I am in fact the treasurer so I have the authority to update our information. Not easy when we have no legal physical address. The bank does not recognize a PO Box. Further complicated by the fact that there is no documents that live anywhere with a letter head, or consistent address that is not a PO Box. I will persist with the bank manager.

I was hoping to get a credit card that would make online purchases, recurring purchases, and immediately needed purchases much easier. Generating a check requires Karen to creating an invoice before I can write a check and mail it. This can easily turn into 7-10 days. I also wanted to add phone/photo banking so people can send me photos of checks to be deposited and I can forward them to the bank for immediate deposit and know where they came from. Then the checks only need to be mailed to me and don’t need to be driven to the bank for deposit. The hope is this will get the funds in the bank and reduce the confusion of who made the deposit and for what. Karen is not a mind reader and has to reconcile all the deposits in Quickbooks via our bank statements. We have also started to use a bank service that will do transfers to regularly recurring bills as apposed to writing and mailing checks. Not to mention getting Pat off of the bank’s books and adding Elizabeth as a check signer which is long overdue. Phew…

On to Address problems which isn’t part of Treasurer but impacts me. I have contacted the Fellowship and proposed we make the Fellowship our legal home. We have always rented a PO Box. I proposed us renting a mail box and file cabinet located at 21 Normandy Heights Road on a yearly basis with a simple lease agreement with a mutually agreed upon yearly amount. Thus making us legal for things like Banks, Insurance, Grants, Vendors, and important documents where a PO Box won’t work. I hope to hear back soon. Fingers crossed, I will keep on it and give Katie gentle reminders.

I’m slowly getting better.

Respectfully submitted

Peggy Karr

Treasurer

Sent from my iPhone