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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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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.
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