AUDIT COMMITTEE GUIDELINES
The Audit Committee is very important committee to the Court. It is the Committee that verifies that the proper accounting of the court's moneys and accounts has been done.
When it is time for the court's audit, you need to furnish the following:
1. ALL reconciled bank statements (including CD's, Money Market accounts, Life membership Accounts, etc.)
These need to agree with the total amount in the Secretary and Treasurer's cash books.
2. All Warrants, and supporting receipts and documents. This is to verify that all bills to the Court are legitimate
and paid in a timely manner.
3. ALL Transfers are legitimate and authorized by the court.
4. ALL Income is promptly and accurately deposited in the proper Financial Institutions used by the Court.
5. All Income is accounted for. Track it from Secretary to Bank statements.
6. Make sure that all savings accounts and CD's/Investments are accounted for, check maturity dates and see that
they are reinvested in a timely manner.
7. Make sure that all interest is accounted for and deposited to the proper accounts.
8. Make Sure all interest from Life Membership accounts are transferred once a year to the General Fund. DO NOT
leave an account inactive be sure to transfer interest. If you do not want to leave the interest in the general Account, by all
means transfer it back to your savings but you must show activity in and out of an account. This is per the International
Revenue Service in order for us to keep our non-profit status.
9. Make Sure you check the warrants against the checks to make sure they are made out to the proper person and the
amount is correct.
10. Make sure you give the audit Committee all checks books, deposit slips, etc. If you do not supply these to the
Audit Committee, they should not state they have audit the books of the court since you cannot do a complete audit without
this information. This information should be given from audit to audit. You also need a copy of the rules and regulations of
your court with this information.
11. Check that the current audit report balances to the previous report.
12. The Audit report, Secretary and treasurer's books must be signed by the audit committee.
An audit committee must keep an open mind and ask questions about any irregularities until these irregularities are resolved to their satisfaction. It is not enough to check the balances in the secretary and Treasurer book to see if they balance…..YOU MUST CHECK FURTHER. We all love and trust our Honored ladies and Sir Knights but as the old axiom says "No one can cheat you until you trust them".
FINANCE COMMITTEE GUIDELINES
I. The Finance Committee shall consist of three members, all of which must not be an elected officer of the Court.
II. The members of the Finance Committee with two members of the Court’s Trustees (chosen by the Royal Matron) shall constitute the Budget Committee. See Budget Committee Guidelines.
III. Each Member of Finance committee should have a copy of the approved court Budget for their term.
IV. The members of the Finance committee should approved only those items in the approved Budget for the term. Those items not on the approved Budget may be approved by the Finance Committee, however this shall be reported each and every time when done in the annual report given by the Committee at the February meeting.
V. Those items not approved by the Finance Committee, may be submitted to the Membership of the Court for approval. Any items approved by the Court, shall be reported in the annual report.
VI. The annual report shall be submitted by the Finance Committee at the February meeting and report on those should cover the time frame from Installation to the current date
BUDGET COMMITTEE GUIDELINES
I. The Budget Committee shall consist of the three(3) members of the Finance Committee and two Trustees chosen by the Royal Matron. The Secretary and Treasurer shall provide any information requested by the committee. The Associate Matron and Associate Patron shall be consulted by the Committee, as they are the head of Ways and Means for the Court.
II. The Budget Committee shall meet annually after the Installation in March and draft a budget to be presented to the Court for approval at the April meeting.
III. Once the Budget is approved by the Court, Copies shall be made available to the following:
All Elected officers of the Court and all members of the Finance Committee.