Finance Policy

1. In accordance with the National Constitution, the Treasurer shall manage the financial affairs of the Chapter.

1. The Treasurer does not have the innate power to make financial decisions on behalf of the Chapter.
2. The Treasurer can not vote on any financial matter, unless explicitly stated in policy.

1. Fulfill the duties set by Chapter policy, the Chapter itself, or Nationals.
2. Announce and collect Dues in accordance with Article VI.
3. Maintain Financial Accounts in accordance with Section 9.
4. National Submissions

   1. In accordance with the National Finance Policy Sections 3.3.2, 3.3.3, 3.5.1.1, and 10.3.1; the National Office Operations Policy Sections 6.1.1 and 6.1.2; the Treasurer must submit the following to Nationals:

      1. Fall National Active Dues by September 30th of each year
      2. Fall National Initiation Report by January 30th of each year
      3. Fall National Initiation Fees by January 30th of each year
      4. Spring National Active Dues by January 30th of each year
      5. Spring National Initiation Report by April 30th of each year
      6. Spring National Initiation Fees by April 30th of each year
      7. Chapter Audit by June 30th of each year

1. The Finance Committee shall aid the Treasurer and the Chapter on financial matters relating to Mu Beta Psi.

1. The Treasurer is the chair of the Finance Committee.
2. There must be at least 3 members, not including the Chair.

1. The Finance Committee does not have any power to make any decision on behalf of the Chapter.
2. Except for the Treasurer, committee members acting individually may vote on financial decisions for the Chapter.

1. Aid the Treasurer with their responsibilities.
2. Aid and advise the Chapter on financial matters relating to Mu Beta Psi.
3. Propose the next fiscal year's Budget, in accordance with Section 3.
4. Handle Reimbursement Requests, in accordance with Section 5.
5. Maintain Financial Records, in accordance with Section 8.

1. A Budgeted Committee is a Standing or Ad-hoc committee, or one of the following:

   1. E-Board
   2. Member Education

      1. Member Education consists of the Member Educator and the Assistant Member Educator.

1. For each Budgeted Committee, the Budget must specify a list of expected expenses and incomes for the budgeted year containing the following information:

   1. Whether the entry is for an expense or expected income
   2. The amount for the expense or income
   3. A brief description for the expense or income
2. The Budget must specify the Active Member Dues and the New Member Dues for the fiscal year.
3. The Budget must specify the amount of money to be allocated for the General Fund for the fiscal year.
4. The Budget must include the current total savings of the Chapter.
5. The Budget must include the calculated net income for the year according to the budget (all income - all expenses - general fund).

1. The purpose of the General Fund is to act as an allocation of money that the Chapter expects to spend for the fiscal year but it is not tied to a specific committee or purpose.
2. A Budgeted Committee may motion to move money from the General Fund to the Budgeted Committee's budget. A simple majority vote (of quorum) is required to approve the motion.
3. A Budgeted Committee may voluntarily move money from their committee's budget to the General Fund.
4. If money is moved to/from the General Fund, the Budget must be modified to reflect the change.

1. The Finance Committee must propose a Budget for the next fiscal year by the end of the 9th week of the Spring semester.
2. Any Active member may propose a Budget for the next fiscal year.
3. A 3/4 majority vote of the Active membership (not quorum) is required to accept a proposal.

1. If a proposal by the Finance Committee is not accepted and no other proposal has been accepted, then the Finance Committee must propose a new Budget by the next General Meeting. Voting on the Budget must take place at that meeting.
2. If a total of 3 Budget proposals by the Finance Committee are not accepted, the following de-factor budget is set:

   1. Chapter Dues (Income)

      1. Fall/Spring Active Member Dues: $50 times number of expected actives
      2. Fall/Spring New Member Dues: $74 times number of expected new members
   2. National Dues (Expense)

      1. Fall/Spring National Dues: $50 times number of expected actives
      2. Fall/Spring National Dues: $74 times number of expected new members

1. Amendments to the Budget require a 3/4 majority vote of the Active membership (not quorum).

1. Each Budgeted Committee has the right to spend Chapter money if

   1. the money is allocated in the Budget for the committee; and
   2. the expense is related to the committee; and
   3. the expense furthers Mu Beta Psi’s purposes per Zeta’s Bylaws Article II
2. Each budgeted expense must be made with the Chapter's money, unless otherwise allowed in accordance with Article V Reimbursements.

1. An Active member may use their own money for Chapter expenses and get reimbursed if:

   1. the expense is in accordance with Section 4.1; and
   2. the Chapter has the financial ability to reimburse the member; and
   3. the member submits a Reimbursement Request to the Finance Committee within 2 weeks of the expense being made.
2. The member making the request is responsible for verifying with the Finance - Committee that the Chapter has the financial ability to reimburse the member.
3. Reimbursement Requests must include the following information:

   1. Name of the person submitting the request
   2. Description of the purchase
   3. Date of the purchase
   4. Purchase amount
   5. Receipt of purchase

1. Once a Reimbursement Request is made, the Finance Committee has 2 weeks to review, verify, and reimburse the member. As long as the request meets the above requirements, the Finance Committee cannot deny a request. Members on the Finance Committee cannot approve their own request.
2. When a member is reimbursed, the Finance Committee must create a Reimbursement Receipt for internal record keeping. The Reimbursement Receipt must contain the following:

   1. A copy of the Reimbursement Request
   2. Contact information of the reimbursed member
   3. Proof of reimbursement

1. Active and New Member Dues are set by the current fiscal year's Budget.
2. Active Dues are due 1 week before National Active Dues are due 1 week before National Active Dues are due or 3 weeks after the start of the semester, whichever comes later.
3. New Member Dues are due at the end of the Member Education Process, per the Chapter Bylaws, Article III, Section 3.7(e).

1. If any member cannot afford dues and needs financial assistance, then the member may ask any member of E-Board for help.
2. E-Board may offer the following to financially assist the member

   1. Payment Plan
   2. Waiving Dues
3. Payment Plan

   1. If a member cannot afford dues, the member may work with the Treasurer to form a payment plan.
   2. The payment plan must not extend beyond the current semester.
4. Waiving Dues

   1. If a member cannot afford Dues or a payment plan, then the member may ask E-Board to waive their Dues.
   2. Dues can be waived by a 3/4 majority vote of E-Board. In reference to Section 1.2.2, the Treasurer has the power to vote here.
5. If the member seeking financial assistance is on E-Board, approval for any type of financial assistance requires a simple majority vote of active membership (not quorum).

1. The purpose of the Ledger is to track and record all financial transactions and the running total of money in each account.

1. A Ledger must exist for each Financial Account for each fiscal year.
2. For each income/expense of each Financial Account, an entry in the corresponding Ledger must be created with the following information

   1. Date of transaction
   2. Amount of transaction
   3. Brief description of transaction
3. The Ledger must include the running total of the respective account.

1. The Ledger must be updated at least once a week and verified that it is consistent with the corresponding account.
2. A new Ledger must be created at the start of every fiscal year.
3. All previous Ledgers must be kept and archived forever.

1. If a Ledger's account total does not match the actual amount in the account, then the Finance Committee must begin an investigation to determine the cause of the inconsistency.
2. If the Finance Committee has not resolved the inconsistency within a week, the Finance Committee must announce the inconsistency at the next General Meeting.
3. The Finance Committee must continue investigating until the inconsistency is resolved or until the Chapter votes to ignore the inconsistency. A 2/3 majority vote (of quorum) is required.
4. If the inconsistency is ignored, then an entry must be added to the ledger with a description of the inconsistency.

1. Financial Records are any digital or physical documents that contain financial information that is relevant to the Chapter. Financial Records include but are not limited to:

   1. Reimbursement Requests
   2. Reimbursement Receipts
   3. Ledgers
   4. Billing Statements
   5. Bank Account statements
   6. Budget
2. Sensitive Financial Information (SFI) is any financial information pertaining to an individual's financial account information.

   1. Examples

      1. Billing Address
      2. Full or partial credit card numbers
      3. Check number
   2. Counter Examples

      1. Names
      2. Reason for expense / reimbursement
      3. The amount spent / reimbursed

1. All Financial Records must be kept for a minimum of 7 years or until it is no longer relevant to the Chapter, whichever is longer. This is following the guidance of the IRS due to the statute of limitations.
2. Ledgers must be kept indefinitely.

1. If applicable, maintain and update each record.
2. All physical Financial Records must be digitized whenever possible.
3. Digital Financial Records must have an external backup that is updated at the end of every semester.

1. Physical Financial Records must be kept in a secure location which is reasonably expected not to be accessible to non-members.
2. Digital Financial Records must be stored in a secure and password protected application.
3. Financial Records containing SFI must only be accessible to E-Board and the Finance Committee. The only exception to this is when it is legally mandated, such as submitting Financial Records to the IRS.
4. At the discretion of E-Board, Financial Records with SFI may be shared with others including non-members.

1. The Treasurer must be the primary account holder on all Financial Accounts.
2. To ensure that Financial Accounts are not lost, the President must be the secondary account holder on all Financial Accounts. In cases where a secondary account holder is not available, then the President must have the login information and the written permission to access the account.

1. Financial Accounts must be checked and updated at least once every semester.

1. Financial Account passwords must be randomly generated passwords with at least 15 characters in length.
2. Financial Login details must be stored in a physically secure location or in a secure digital password manager. If the password manager is an online service, then it must be end-to-end encrypted.

1. The Finance Committee is responsible for publishing all relevant Financial Records (with SFI censored) to the Chapter. This includes putting relevant Financial Documents in the Google Drive and notifying the Chapter the location of the documents.
2. Every Active member has the right to review all Financial Records and Financial Accounts within a timely manner. The Treasurer is responsible for getting the requested documents to the member.

1. When a new Treasurer is elected, the previous Treasurer must completely transfer the following in a timely fashion:

   1. Treasurer possessions
   2. Financial Records
   3. Financial Accounts

1. When a new President is elected, the previous President must be removed from the Financial Accounts and the Treasurer must work with the new President to add them to the Financial Accounts.

1. The fiscal year starts on July 1st and ends on June 30th of the next calendar year.

1. Amendments to this policy must be proposed to the Chapter at the General Meeting. A 3/4 majority vote of the active membership (not quorum) is required to approve the amendment.
2. The Policy Maintenance Committee may amend this policy to update references contained within the policy, with approval from the Finance Committee. These amendments do not require a vote from the Chapter.

As updated on April 20, 2024