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Quartermaster - What's required for a monthly QM Report?
Posted at 9:58 AM on Thursday, September 10, 2009 by State Judge Advocate in Officer Duties
From the mailbag…
When our Quartermaster gives his financial report every month, he just states money received, money spent. He always states that if you want to see the complete report, the books are open for you to look at.
Our previous Quartermaster always gave a complete report and it was easy to hear and understand.
Are there any rules or regulations that we, as members, can invoke to make him give a complete report to our satisfaction? A person can't help but to assume that something might be not on the up and up.
A good question - and one that crops up fairly often. Let’s begin by looking at what our National By-Laws and Manual of Procedure say about the duties of the Quartermaster, with respect to reporting to membership:
Our Resources:
The National By-Laws address duties and obligations of Post Officers in a single sentence under Section 218: Post officers, elected and appointed, and chairmen, shall have such duties as are prescribed in these By-Laws and in the Manual of Procedure.
The corresponding section of the Manual of Procedure then sets out the specifics, such as they are, for each position, from Commander to Service Officer.
For the Quartermaster, there are 12 key points enumerated by letter. The instruction for reporting is item “k”: k. Report on transactions concerning receipts and expenditures, for any given period, at a regular or special meeting of the Post.
As you can see, the description of the “report” is not really detailed.
So let’s take a look at what Demeters Manual of Parliamentary Law has to say regarding financial reports at a meeting (Demeter’s refers to a “Treasurer”, which we call a Quartermaster):
“He should be prepared to give a statement of the condition of the treasury at each meeting. Technically this is called a report. Such statements are given purely for the information of the members at meetings and need not be put to vote to be accepted or adopted, because this would be certifying to their accuracy and completeness without proper audit.” (Demeter’s, Page 253)
Page 15 of Demeter’s gives an example of a basic Treasurer’s (Quartermaster’s) report:
“Total receipts from all sources, since our last meeting $290; total disbursements, $140; total amount in the Tenth Federal Bank as of tonight, $1,234.56” (The members have a right to inquire into any item, and can ask questions thereon.)
(Not addressed in this article is the question of what direction your Post By-Laws might give in this area. For example, you Post By-Laws might specify a more detailed, itemized style of report. We can only know that by reading the Post By-Laws. State By-Laws are mute on this topic.)
Summary - The minimum:
So, having looked at all of our resources, what we have come up with is the minimum standard for reporting financial matters. It sounds as though, technically, your Quartermaster meets the minimum standard.
The happy medium:
Going beyond that, however, we come to understand that many Post members prefer something beyond the simple minimum. In the Demeter’s example, for instance, the receipts report might be fleshed out to itemize at least where the income was derived. Or a comment may be added highlighting some unusual expenditure that is included in the expenses, with a notation that other expenses were for normal and usual items such as utilities, etc.
Over the top:
Some Quartermasters give an extraordinarily detailed report, listing every check number, the date it was issued, the exact amount, to whom and when it was sent. Likewise for income. This gets us into the realm of over-reporting and thus “turns off” a lot of members who are bothered by the extent to which this “drags out” the meeting time.
No matter how detailed the report, the Quartermaster has an obligation to answer questions from the floor following his presentation.
Most members prefer “The Happy Medium”. A member in attendance would like to come away from the meeting with some degree of confidence that he/she has heard a clear financial report.
In addition to taking questions, the Quartermaster would be wise to also reserve some time after the meeting to address individual concerns.
Your Trustees
Left out of the foregoing is the critical role of your Post Trustees. Among other things, Trustees are elected to perform two important functions:
a) The trustees are to review the books prior to each monthly report to ascertain that the Quartermaster is following proper procedures in handling all accounts. Does the checkbook balance? Are all transactions written down? Are funds properly accounted for?
b) The Trustees are to perform a quarterly audit. Trustees function as an “audit committee” who certify the accuracy of all accounts on a quarterly basis and report the results of their audit not only to the membership, but to the Department Adjutant/Quartermaster, who then forwards their certified report to the Department Inspector.
While the Quartermaster typically reads the Quarterly Audit to the membership, it is really the work output of the Trustees. It would be good policy of one of the Trustees were to present the Quarterly Audit so as to assure members that it is, indeed, the work of the Trustees.
So there you have it: The rules and the reality.
As an aside, having begun my Quartermaster duties by delivering the “minimum” report, I can attest to the fact that life is a lot simpler and happier by going the way of the “Happy Medium”. Your Quartermaster would do well to enhance his report somewhat so as to “flesh it out” a little better.
The overwhelming preponderance of Post Quartermasters is honest and hard-working. They take on a great deal of responsibility and most do an admirable job, but mistakes can, and do, happen. For everyone’s benefit, shedding a reasonable amount of light on their duties, and keeping the books open to members, makes for a stronger, more viable VFW Post.
It is never advisable to badger a Quartermaster in an accusatory manner. Ask your questions in an open and honest fashion. If you suspect foul play or misappropriations, take these matters up with your Post Trustees and ask them to investigate. It’s what they’re there to do.
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