As your Treasurer, I have learnt a lot over the last 12 months about our Rotary accounts and after discussion with our Directors last week, we have decided to look at making a few changes.
The first one is to upgrade the accounting package that we use - from Cashbook Complete to Xero. Cashbook is somewhat outdated now and I work with Xero for 2 other organisations and I know that it is a very popular package. It will definitely save time and it seems prudent to use something familiar for everyone.
Also, my knowledge of running Charitable Trusts is very limited - and I know that there are changes being reviewed by Government in this area so I have made contact this week with Findex management seeking their support to help change over our systems and also advise on any training available to maintain Charitable Trust accounts. I have also asked if they are able to offer discounted services for our Rotary Club as I feel we need to have current, professional annual peer review of our accounts in general. So far we have relied on the accounting backgrounds of various Rotarians and Friends to peer review our Trust account, in particular, each year but that resource is quite limited now so we need to look at other options.
Lastly, I am proposing a change to the way we charge Meals at our Thursday night meetings. Currently we have a mixture of Cash and Charge members - Cash, of course, is great but the Charge procedure is a little complicated and involves invoicing in advanced and then crediting refunds from the past .... so I am proposing that we move to invoicing members, in arrears, each month to be paid by Direct Debit monthly - ie members will give Rotary authority to process the charge directly from their accounts on the 20th of the following month. It will give you all nearly 3 weeks to check your invoice and advise if you have any issues before the money is direct debited.
I seem to have spent a lot of time over the last year creating and chasing accounts so this seems an obvious way to streamline the process and save precious, voluntary time. I think the proposal will save time - for everyone.
Anyway, once I have further updates, I will let you all know but if you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact me.
Thanks
Jane
Treasurer