Project Description
Client Profile: A small 501(3)C membership organization and campground, founded in 1952.
Background: This membership organization is 100% staff by volunteers responsible for the day to day activities of running the campground. Board members are elected every two years. There were no written policies or procedures concerning bookkeeping functions and use of the Quickbooks accounting system. When a new Treasurer is elected little if any instruction is given to the new Treasurer causing confusion and inaccuracies in the bookkeeping from year to year.
PBSI was engaged in developing and documenting the policies and procedures for the Treasurer position as well as devise custom forms and other documents.
Results: The new manual covered the following areas
- Introduction
- Overview of the organization
- Objective of the manual
- Internal controls
- Accounting procedures for all components of the financial statements
- Financial statement close process-monthly and annual
- Accounting policies embedded within each section such as
- Signatories for bank accounts
- Record retention of documents
- Tax filings
- Budget process
- Exhibits of key forms
Sound and practical policies and procedures are the foundations of accurate accounting and reporting of financial information. Creating policies and procedures may require working with several departments such as accounting, development, human resources, compliance, legal, and management, among others. In addition, it is important to keep in mind that organizations must have the ability to implement a policy that they decide to document. The organization needs to assess the resources available to them (time, systems, personnel, etc.) when determining what policies and procedures are practical for their organization.
