Finance Committee Member

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Serves on Finance Committee to ensure that Elder Wisdom Circle, a nonprofit organization, institutes and operates under sound accounting and financial practices. Report to Board of Directors.T Tasks may include:

1. Oversee financial planning

• During the budgeting process, work closely with staff to ensure that the process is carried out efficiently and to ensure that key elements of the strategic plan are addressed and that previously made decisions are properly interpreted in the budget’s numbers. Review and approve the budget before it goes to the full board for approval.

2. Monitor that adequate funds are available for financial management tasks

• When reviewing financial statements, keep track of the bottom line to spot red flags that might impact the organization’s ability to provide adequate funding for planned budgeted activities.

3. Draft organizational fiscal policies

• Fiscal policies serve as guidelines - and protection - for board and staff as they address all the numerous complicated and routine questions relating to the organization’s financial management. The challenge for the committee is to realize where the line is drawn between everyday procedures and overall organizational policies. Draft policies for board approval that deal with acceptable reserves, the board’s involvement in signing major purchases or financial commitments, or appropriate use of board-designated funds.

4. Anticipate financial problems

• Committee members with an ability to draw the links between the external fiscal environment in which the organization operates and its potential influence on the organization are in an advantageous position to guide the board’s fiscal decision making.

5. Oversee financial record keeping

• Assess the reliability of the information being produced by the organization’s financial staff. Does it exist? Is it timely? Is it helpful? Does it hold up over time? Is it commonsensical? Should there be an audit and when? Oversight and communication with the auditor should that be necessary.

6. Help the full board understand the organization’s financial health

• Serve as a communication channel to the rest of the board, translating financial data into meaningful terms that can be understood by those less familiar with financial jargon. This can include using graphics instead of or in addition to numbers; talking about the implications of a report, not just describe its contents; and linking the financial health of the organization with its goals and strategies.

7. Ensure all legal reporting requirements are met

• As the organization does not have an audit committee, ensure that all federal, state and local reporting takes place.