Welcome to the VFW WI Judge Advocate Information
| | |
 |
Recent News Entries Quartermaster - What's required for a monthly QM Report? Post By-Laws - A Guide to Drafting WISCONSIN VFW CHARTER & BY-LAWS SHOW US WHAT YOU KNOW! THE CHAIN OF COMMAND |
|
Our Sponsors |
|
The Appearance of Political, Product or Service Advertising on this Network is for Informational Purposes Only and Should not be Construed as an Endorsement.
|
|
Become a Friend of the Department of Wisconsin
Multimedia
| | |
Veterans Resources
Veterans Coalition
News
WHO PROTECTS POST FUNDS?
Posted at 7:41 AM on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 by State Judge Advocate in Officer Duties
The Post Trustees duties are probably the most misunderstood of any of the Post Officers. They are primarily the watchdogs of the Post funds. They make certain that no one has his fingers in the till. They audit the Post funds regularly – at least once each quarter.
The Trustees also have authority and responsibility to assure the proper handling of funds. It is only reasonable that their authority should not be limited to catching a dishonest person. Equally important should be the prevention of incompetency. Where funds are guarded carelessly or records are kept inefficiently, the Trustees should call attention and make every effort to correct it.
The Trustees duties extend to every operation of the Post. Their audits must cover all activities, including the clubroom, the bar, bingo, or any other source of income or financial transactions.
Many larger Posts employ private accountants to audit the books. In these cases, the auditors report to the Trustees and the Trustees make certain that the audit is conducted correctly. This should be encouraged in large operations.
A quarterly audit of all funds and accounts is not only necessary, it is mandated by our National Bylaws. Failure to conduct audits can result in the cancellation of the Post Quartermaster Bond and will take away all voting privileges at District and Department Conventions.
If the Trustees don’t do their jobs, the Commander may deem it an emergency situation and appoint an auditing committee on his own initiative. The largest number of complaints that requires the attention of our department is the misappropriation of Post funds. Many of our Posts elect Trustees to “fill a position” and then explain away their duties as mere signatures on the Quartermaster’s Quarterly Report. After all, some Post Quartermasters do their reports in full detail and only ask the trustees signatures. This failure to properly exercise Trustees duties is caused by the lack of knowledge and training.
Trustees duties are explained in National’s Manual of Procedure, Article II – Posts, Section 218 – Officers: Duties and Obligations, (a) officers, (11) Trustees. General speaking, the three trustees fill out the quarterly report with information supplied by the Quartermaster’s ledger and check book.
They look at all income and expenditures of the Post’s ledger and verify those entries, comparing them to deposits and checks written against the check book. Each account in the ledger should be reviewed to verify those funds are entered properly in assigned accounts.
The Quartermaster is there only to supply the necessary information and answer questions that might be required to assist the trustees. No trustee should ever place his signature on a Post’s Quarterly Report without doing a proper audit.
Once the trustees sign off on the Post’s Quarterly Report, it releases the Quartermaster of any responsibility for information supplied during the audit of the ledger, check book and other records. If embezzlement is later uncovered, prosecutors may now hold the Post’s Trustees accountable for those missing funds, because they attested that the Quarterly Report was correct.
We spend a large amount of time training our officers at the annual O.T.I. program. Trustees should attend O.T.I. so they benefit from this training program as well. Posts and Districts should be certain that Trustees are adquately trained.
One last issue, the trustees do not have any authority over the management of the Post Home, nor is property held in their name in an incorporated Post. They cannot serve on any committee having to do with the handling of Post funds, and cannot therefore serve as members of the House Committee, Bingo Committee, or a Club Manager, Bar Manager and etc.
Previous Page | Home | Next Page
