New Immigrants United Financial Regulations

Rights & Obligations:

--- Treasurer: A trustworthy person to take this position as he/she has direct access to the money. The treasurer has every access right (deposit, withdraw, transfer) to the bank account and PayPal account. However, the treasurer should NEVER do the bookkeeping job, which is very important.

--- Accountant: Accountant is responsible for bookkeeping. He/she should have right to check the bank account, but he/she should not have right to withdraw or transfer money from the bank account. He/she should NOT have right to access the PayPal account, but he/she should receive the transaction email automatically from PayPal. Accountant should keep all paper documents. 

Operations:

---- Donation: Check donation should be mailed to a P.O. Box. The treasurer has the key for the P.O. Box. The treasurer checks the P.O. Box every couple of days and collects and deposits the checks. The treasurer scans the checks and sends to the accountant to do the bookkeeping, and then the accountant issues the donation receipt to the donor. The accountant should check the bank statement every month to reconcile the balance and make sure it is matched with the book.

For PayPal donation, the accountant should receive the transaction email automatically from PayPal. Once the accountant receives the email from PayPal, he/she should prepare the receipt to the donor (automatically). Every month, the treasurer should send the PayPal statement to the accountant. The Accountant should reconcile the PayPal balance. NEVER pay expense through the PayPal. The treasurer should transfer the money to the bank every two weeks.

---- Expense:  For large expense (over $100), we should get the approval from the board committees and the accountant records the expense and the treasurer issues the check. For small amount ($100 or less), the person who needs the money should send an email to the person in charge (president, vice president, Project Executive Chairman), the accountant and the treasurer. When the person in charge approves the spending by replying the email, the accountant records the expense and the treasurer issues the check. An expense or purchase receipt should be mailed back to the accountant. 

Disclosure:

Accountant should post the monthly financial record to the public, which is actually required by law. Public has right to know all the details of the financial record of a 501c organization. 

Documentation Maintained for IRS:

1. For each donation: donor’s name and address if there is any, check number, PayPal transaction number, and donation date. We should keep a donor roster with all these information. (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT)

2. Expense receipt. 

3. Monthly bank statement and monthly PayPal statement.

4.  The accountant should file tax document to IRS and New York State Department of Law (Office of the Attorney General) Charities Bureau.