Chapter Accountants

#1 02-08-2002, 03:40 PM

OK, there are many sororities on my campus that have accountants to handle the finances. Well last semester our hosue mom told our VP Finance that she was looking into getting one for our house and this did not go over well with our VP. She felt that it would be taking away from her position along with the finance committee that we have. Do any of your chapter's fraternities or sororities have accountant and do you feel that they take away from the VP Finance/Treasurers/ or whatever your org calls it position?

dzsaigirl · #2 02-08-2002, 08:44 PM

Okay...let's put it this way. Our chapter does not have an accountant. I was treasurer for a year and had to deal not only with normal chapter stuff, but also all the money related to our house that was forwarded to housing corp. If someone had walked in and said "Hi, this is Susie, your trusted accountant!" I would have bent over and licked her feet and then feel the floor to see if hell had frozen over...An accountant would have been a God send, not a blow to my position!

Aphigal · #3 02-10-2002, 04:57 PM

Hi UM girl...

I know several of the A Phi chapters use the same one she is located in the Syracuse area. It has really helped the chapter maximize finances, especially if it is a housed chapter.

All Alpha Phi chapters must get an audit done once a year by a serperate accountant.

MooseGirl · #4 02-24-2002, 01:34 PM

My chapter doesn't have an accountant...we don't need one. If your VP finance can handle everything fine then let her...have the accountant just do a sort of audit once a semester if necessary. A lot of small businesses work that way - the manager does the books then an accountant just takes a look.

Just have your VP really look at her position and how well she does it and how easy it is...it might be easy for her, but what about the next girl?

tridgirl · #5 02-24-2002, 02:12 PM

As a VP of finance for my chapter I think it would help alot especailly if your system is as complicated as our peg board. I am switching to quickbooks and I think it will be a lot easier, but still there are some questions that i would love to be able to go to someone for, for that we have area financial consultants and alumni finance advisors. If I was think girl i would be happy for the extra help its a huge job, we always joke you should get paid by the hour to do it.

ZZ-kai- · #6 02-24-2002, 03:28 PM

Does any chapters out there in "Greekdom" use PayPal or any other electronic forms of payments?

Thanks!

12dn94dst · #7 02-24-2002, 05:51 PM

my undergrad chapter did not, and does not, have an accountant per se but the soror who is elected to be the treasurer is usually an accounting or other business major. why not make an amendment to your chapter by-laws that states, whenever possible the chapter treasurer/vp of finance, etc. be an accounting/business major? Take advantage of the talents you have in the chapter before looking for outside help!

CrucialCrimson · #8 02-24-2002, 05:58 PM

It really depends on your organization and how your chapters are treated by the national headquarters - do all chapters report to headquarters as a unit of that body in the same manner, with the same forms, or are they seperate, filing their own taxes, having their own 501c3's etc. Having a house makes a huge difference too. I say an accountant is a good idea to have for a semi-annual review of your books and an annual audit - however, if that person is too involved in your day-to-day activities, they shouldn't do the audit - it should be someone completely different. The chapter Treasurer should also be supported by a finance committee to draft the annual budget and do monthly or quarterly budget updates and cash flow projections.

Kevin · #9 02-25-2002, 02:06 AM

I'm my chapter's treasurer and without our Tax Attorney or Accountant I'd be completely lost. We may be in a slightly different spot than most of ya'll -- just having come to the end of a three year colonization process. We're having to file 501c3 forms and set all those things up.

Honestly, your VP of Finance will have a LOT of weight on her shoulders. I consider this to be the toughest job in the house (I've been several other senior officer positions) -- and therefore I'd say that ANY help at all if your VP has her head screwed on straight should be most welcome.

Otherwise I'd have her question why she took the office -- for the power or to do the best job she could, maybe improve on previous people? If the later is the truth than why not an accountant to help?

SAEalumnus · #10 02-25-2002, 01:11 PM

My chapter doesn't use any specific accountant, but we do use Omega for our billing and such. We also have both a finance committee and an auditing committee, so our bases are pretty much covered.

Kevin · #11 02-25-2002, 05:08 PM

Omegafi.com has kept me sane. It's a great billing company that has actually gotten our collection rate above %100. I actually have no one that is late on their dues right now and that's usually how it is.

LHT,
Kevin

dzrose93 · #12 02-25-2002, 05:18 PM

We didn't have an accountant for my chapter -- just a collection agency for individual sisters' delinquent bills that got really out of hand. However, I'm sure that our treasurer would have jumped at the chance to have a company like Omega handle the financial duties. Being treasurer is a tough job, and most girls don't like it because they have to deal with members constantly coming to them to complain about various costs. By having an accountant take over, the treasurer's stress would be drastically reduced and the position would be much more desirable when elections came around.

I say, if you've got the opportunity to get an accountant - GO FOR IT! It offers nothing but benefits to your chapter.

(My brother's chapter of KA uses Omega, and I've never heard a single complaint -- not from the fraternity members or from the parents.)

Kevin · #13 02-25-2002, 07:01 PM

Oh I get complaints....

But that's only because Omega Fi allows us to send past debtors to collection agencies...

Other than that, brothers really enjoy features like being able to pay dues online and use credit cards... It really lets me move my focus less from collections and more to financial planning.

The only drawback to Omega (and you'd only see this as Treasurer) is that they charge a pretty hefty chunk of change. It varies as far as what percentage they take -- their formulas are based upon your previous year's collections per member. They essentially aim to get $35 per semester from each of your members (that's $70 per year). My chapter's dues are pretty low, so it translates into about 10-12% service charge.

I have heard whisperings recently of some alternative service that charges less. I'll of course let people know what I find out if anything.

LHT,
Kevin