Section Library
Section Treasurer
Responsibilities of a Section Treasurer
The position of treasurer is very important to a section. The treasurer is charged with stewardship of the section's funds and with the responsibility of anticipating problems and difficulties relating to the finances of the section.
In most cases, the office of section treasurer is a volunteer position. It can be reasonably assumed that the volunteer has only a limited amount of time to devote to the organization. It will further be assumed that the treasurer is not an accountant and does not want to be one, but at the same time, recognizes the need to understand something about the principles of not-for-profit accounting and financial reporting.
A section treasurer has significant responsibilities including, but not limited to, the following:
- Keeping financial records.
- Preparing accurate and meaningful financial statements.
- Budgeting and anticipating financial problems.
- Safeguarding and managing the section's financial assets.
- Complying with federal and state reporting requirements.
- File federal, state, and local tax forms.
It is the responsibility of the treasurer to ensure that there are adequate physical controls and accounting controls over the section's assets. Physical controls involve making sure that the assets are protected against unauthorized use or theft. Internal accounting controls involve segregation of duties of record keeping functions that will ensure control over these assets and adequate reporting of any deviations from established procedures.
Another responsibility of the treasurer is to ensure that the section's excess cash is invested to obtain maximum financial return with a minimum amount of risk.