I think this is one reason that our new treasurer is sort of an "understudy" for a semester before becoming the actual treasurer. This way at least one semester there are two people on the books to keep eachother honest.

We had a VPF once who everytime we would be voting on something relating to money (ie. donating money to XYZ's philanthropy) she would say, "How is this going to affect us financially?" Um, you're the VPF, shouldn't you know? She should have been asking, "From where do you propose we take the funds?"
She was great....she also quit balancing the checkbook somewhere around June, so she had no idea how much money we had - or didn't have. The new VPF after her spent the better part of her Christmas break and a good chunk of January reconciling everything.

From what I hear and see- that's a common thing at Iowa State. I'm in at least 2 student organizations where the current treasurer had to clear up and complete the paperwork of the previous treasurer.

I've seen that happen quite a bit too. The best key is having a good Advisor to oversee the VPF and not let them get behind. But, people running for VPF should realize that it is the equivalent of another 3 credit class. However, if you're an accounting major and you're at a large school, it can be great resume material. "Managed a $300,000 budget for XYZ".

Dee

Well that's not good. :( It's unfortunate when the new VPF or treasurer often has to spend so much time cleaning up all that mess left behind. Luckily since that time, we've also had good advisers for the position - the current and previous one were accountants.
The funny thing that happened with the VPF I was talking about was that since she wasn't doing her job (balancing the books) she wouldn't let us spend any money. So once the new one came in, rectified everything and caught up on the bills, she discovered we actually had some extra cash.

honeychile, that woman sounds AWFUL. How terrible to take something as special as your sisterhood and take it for granted -- especially when that means stealing from the collegiates, who are just learning what it means to be an ADP!

I'm glad she's no longer with the sorority. She's not worth your letters.

Thank you - I agree! What scares me is, she is the type to pick up a pin on ebay and suddenly transform herself into a member of another sorority. Very, very tricky, that one!

They have a good Financial Advisor now, who's firm but great. I hope we can get a new Housing Corporation going soon, though.

The secret to all chapter finances, is audit every year. We started doing quarterly checks, (treas, pres, and advisor) so that we knew where budgets are, and if you spend over, thanks for the donation. I think it'll work better for us, but its all about the audit.

The chapter finances need to be audited when the treasurer from the previous year has 'lost' all bank statements and kept no records.

They need to be audited when OmegaFi tells you that your collection rate is only 85%.

A chapter needs to be audited every time there's a new VPF. I inherited TERRIBLE financial problems from the previous years' overspending and irresponsible behavior, and with little help (we had no advisor), there wasn't much I could do about it. Especially when you have sisters who think that if they put in $500/semester, that they can buy enough things for the chapter to be reimbursed that $500. :rolleyes:

Must be something in the water there. LOL. ;)

Audit EVERY SINGLE YEAR and make sure all your membership records are current with national HQ as well - that they're not charging insurance on the person(s) you terminated 2 years ago.