C.A. WORLD SERVICE CONFERENCE 2017 FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT
INTRODUCTION AND OPENING COMMENTS
Opening Comments:
The Finance committee is charged with oversight of the financial well being of the
fellowship. The good news is, welcome to the 2017 WSC. The bad news is………we don’t have the money to pay for it, so we are going to pass the basket. Thank you for generous support.
We have had a very productive committee this year, we have had referrals that we have addressed and sub-committees who have worked hard throughout this conference and will continue to work hard throughout the year for you.
We are going to working on changing the Finance Guidelines for Groups, Districts and Area’s to be an internationally friendly document. We will have a draft in the 2018 Standing Rule 14 Delegate mailing.
The Finance Committee, with the permission of the WSO, has formed an International Banking sub-committee. They are tasked with assisting our fellowship with receiving funds from our international areas. They will be having monthly committee meetings until we have a solution for the Office and our international fellowships.
As usual, we have spent a great deal of time in our committee meetings working on our 2018 Budget.
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Committee Introductions: Chairperson – Heidi J.
Vice-chair – Maya B.
Secretary – Caryl S.
WSO Treasurer – Allison M.
Paul S.
Luke J.
FR.ie P.
Dawn M.
Pierre K.
Jim G.
Stephanie K.
Ian C.
WSBT Member – Rob W.
COMMITTEE WORK THAT RESULTED IN MOTIONS
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Maya B. –
- 1. MOTION: to approve the draft 2018 CAWSO Budget.
Seonded.
Melissa W. – Regarding the Public Information budget, do we need to define our items in the budget?
Heidi J. – We passed the budget in the committee. You have to go the World Service Office for funds.
Chris W. – There is a line item in the budget for moving expenses.
Maya B.– This was in the 2017 budget. It was also included this year but it was zero out. Gary M. – Have the line items converted from CAD to USD in the 2018 convention budget? Maya B.– Converted the rate to .81 cent.
Gary M. – Are these converted numbers?
Jon H.– Under line 500 208, donation to C.A. convention shows $2,500 and nothing for next year?
Maya B. – We did not include it in the budget because it is no longer needed. Vote 14 – For 147, 7 against. Motion passed.
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REFERRALS THAT RESULTED IN MOTIONS
NONE
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REFERRALS OR ITEMS TABLED UNTIL NEXT YEAR; AND ITEMS THE COMMITTEE WILL CONTINUE WORKING ON THROUGH THE YEAR
Freddy P. – This is a referral that we will work on during the year referral – 2017-3.
Finance 2017-3 From Dawn M. CAUK Area (In-Conference)
That the WS finance committee operate bank accounts in various currencies (subject to any legal requirements and constraints) to alleviate the cost of exchange rates and charges. E.G: — Dollars for US
–EURO for ER
–Sterling for UK
–Krona for Denmark
This proposal supports not only cost efficient financial management but also commences to underpin one of the fundamentals of international development and long term planning.
It seems onerous and costly to me that Areas donate in one currency to have it exchanged to credit it to an account and then possibly spent again in another currency incurring further losses. An example of this is where Denmark donates in krona, then when buying its Literature it costs more due to the exchange rate
-possibly pricing/rate cards could be developed by currency type for all goods/literature and payments received through the correct currency account.
Action:
The Finance Committee, with the permission of the WSO, has formed an International Banking sub-committee. They have a task list:
Task: Investigate and determine the most reliable and economical method of exchanging foreign currencies to US dollars. Pounds, Euros, etc) currencies to US dollars for transfer into CAWSO accounts. May lead to banking in other countries and keeping the monies in their native currencies
Things to do:
Freddy –Will participate in conference call with the CAWSO treasurer and Bank of America to determine if the bank has a feasible operation already. Will also look at the past 2 yrs of transactions and analyze the costs incurred.
Luke –Contact an acquaintance who is an international banker and see what may be involved in exchanging currencies with a international bank account and the rates involved.
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Pierre –As a resident of So. Africa, he will contact local banks about how to move monies and the costs to do so.
The subcommittee will be having monthly conference calls until they are ready to make recommendations to the office.
REFERRALS OR ITEMS REFERRED TO OTHER COMMITTEES; WORLD SERVICE OFFICE, OR BOARD OF TRUSTEES
NONE
REFERRALS THAT DID NOT RESULT IN MOTIONS
From Jay F. Colorado Area (In-Conference):
A Motion will be brought related to this SR-14 Notice which will be addressed to both the WSC Finance Committee and the WSOB to cease (not fund)for two years the participation by C.A. World Services at the annual United States National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) Drug Court Conference; and only then reinstated thereafter if and when it can be substantiated that the significant funds which are being spent on CA’s participation each year provide an acceptable return on CA’s investment in terms of measurable results, including without limitation: the number of new meetings started directly after C.A. Drug Conference participation, new C.A. cities/states/countries colonized where there is little if any C.A. now, and judges and referees sending their people specifically to C.A. (how many people are sent).
With regards to the referral to the Finance Committee will take no action. At the 2016 WSC, the group conscience of the conference was to continue to fund the National Association of Drug court Professionals and do not deem it to fall under the purview of the Finance Committee to make decisions to fund or not fund a particular line item but rather to allocate the appropriate monies with the budget.
Finance 2017-2 from Heidi J. Oregon/SW Area (In-Conference):
WSO Treasurer as paid personnel
That the WSO Treasurer be a paid WSO Bookkeeper/Treasurer position. With the following job description:
- 1. Should have prior Area or District, service committee Treasurer Experience or professional experience
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In the fields of finance or accounting.
- 2. Responsible for supervising all financial matters at the WSO including:
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- Accounts payable
- Accounts receivable
- All bank accounts
- Coordinates negotiations with vendors
- Contacts outside accounting firms
- Supervises all tax filings
- Creates the WSO Budget
- Manages all accounts in QuickBooks
- 3. Chairperson of the WSO Finance/Spending committee.
- 4.Supervises policies regarding financial matters.
- 5. Attends WS Convention
- 6. Manages all funds coming into the WS Convention
- 7. Attends the WS Conference with one vote
- 8. Attends all WSOB meetings with one vote
- 9. Has prepared by outside firm of Certified Public Accountants annual financial statements for CAWSO Board and WSBT in time to be distributed at the World Service Conference. In addition, prepare any additional reports or explanations to describe noteworthy changes or trends in the financial condition of C.A. World Services.
- 10. Sits on WSC Finance Committee.
The Fellowship of Cocaine Anonymous has been in business for 35 years. It is unreasonable to think a volunteer should have to take on the intensive responsibilities of Treasurer and it not be a paid position. The WS Convention alone the Treasurer spends the entire convention counting, accounting and depositing funds. We currently pay for a bookkeeper, and those funds could go forward to pay for the Bookkeeper/Treasurer position. They would have a maximum of 20 hours per week.
This way, the Treasurer would have specific job responsibilities and tasks and would be held accountable to those responsibilities like other staff members. They would take over the bookkeeping and reporting. They would be held to the same standards as any other CAWSO employee regarding completing responsibilities, etc.
This is to be implemented by Oct. 31, 2017.
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No Action Taken. At this time, the Finance Committee feels that the Treasurer position should remain as it currently is.
NEW COMMITTEE STRUCTURE AS OF THIS CONFERENCE
Chair – Maya B.
Vice-Chair – Luke J.
Secretary – Jim G.
CLOSING COMMENTS
The C.A. Finance Committee continues to focus on our main Fundraisers: the new “Donate” button on www.ca.org, the Single Contribution Envelope (we have passed these out to you), and of course the “$.M.A.R.T.” Program. We are transitioning the World Contribution Plan into the “donate” button. We are re-working the World Contribution Plan and you will be seeing some incentives in the near future for donating monthly.
We want to remind everyone of our beautiful commorative chips. They come in 13 beautiful colors and are $20.00 each, or 3 for $45.00 and this is an excellent fundraiser for the Office. These are available at the ca.org on-line store. These are an amazing gift for your sobriety friends.
The finance committee is working toward bringing the accounting of the Fellowship into more up to date methods. You will be seeing more about this as the finance committee works on assisting the Fellowship in checks and balances. The Financial Guidelines are being reviewed, updated and prepared for your approval in next SR-14 mailing.
We would like to thank the WSC for allowing us to be of service to you.
Respectfully Submitted:
Heidi J.
Trevor S. – Seeing no questions for the committee, please join me in thanking the Finance Committee. This meeting will adjourn for lunch break at 11:43A and reconvene at 1:30P.
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