New rules include safeguards to protect federation’s cash from theft
The Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) approved a new cash handling policy in its council meeting last Thursday.
The motion came after former Finance Coordinator Caleb Owusu-Acheaw used money from ASFA’s petty cash fund for personal use, as previously reported by The Concordian.
The policy outlines how ASFA receives and processes money and provides a regulated way of handling it to avoid future misconducts.
During her time as Interim Finance Coordinator, Gigi Cordeiro noticed that ASFA had a poor record-keeping method for its transactions. Marguerite Rolland, ASFA’s advocacy and executive coordinator, said this is a major issue during big events like Frosh.
“During Frosh, ASFA has a lot of cash because we have ticket sales,” Rolland said. “Sometimes we have amounts such as $5,000 in cash.”
To facilitate the job of member associations, the policy sets specific steps for when money enters ASFA. Two sections—one for handling cash from member associations, the other for handling internal money—lay out the steps members need to follow in order to safely hand money to ASFA as well as deposit money into the bank.
“We’re trying to think of a logical way to approach [money handling],” said Rolland. “We want to provide specific safeguards for that amount of cash.”
Regulations were also tightened for money that hasn’t been deposited in the bank yet. ASFA will have a deposit safe in its main office with very limited access. This safe will only be used for member associations to cash-in money.
The cash-in process will be done weekly and will be prepared by ASFA’s finance coordinator and office manager. After declaring all cash generated within five business days, member associations will have to deposit their money at a mutually chosen location that is accessible to all parties involved, as long as it ensures the security of the money. This measure was amended to make any money transfer as inclusive as possible for all members, since ASFA’s office and some member associations’ offices are in restricted access locations.
While handing the money to ASFA, member associations have to fill out a revenue form in order to keep track of transactions. This helps the executive ensure the money in the safe matches the amount declared on the forms.
Photo by Jad Abukasm.