Finance Working Group Meeting Minutes  
Saturday, 10/15, 11:00am

Review of yesterday’s meeting & email from Sue Kennedy about Massachusetts Associations. Really need a Massachusetts tax lawyer to settle this question.   Decide main agenda for this meeting is accounting procedures. 

Discussion of handling cash on site. Taking and accounting for cash donations in a ledger.  All donations must be recorded. Thus far, multiple working groups and places around camp have been taking cash donations: Logistics, Info, Food, Media.  Need to centralize, secure and record donations.  Discussion of possible procedures.

OB donation money is not in a bank. Discussion of credit unions, which ones might be best located or otherwise most appropriate for OB. Note that OB account could be at a credit union regardless of whether OB gets a fiscal sponsor, is an association, etc.

Reviewed 3 Main options/possibilities
1) Occupy Boston forms its own 501(c)3 or other corporate entity
Con: If OB were a corporation, could not be on public land. 

2) Fiscal Sponsor
All fiscal sponsors take a cut.  Seen as a temporary step, not a permanent financial arrangement. People will make calls on Monday this week to pursue possible leads for groups willing to fiscally sponsor us.  

3) Become an association
Unincorporated association requires signers.  Con: Need back office to handle accounting paperwork. Fiscal sponsor provides this as part of their fee.  Amount of infrastructure and back office support that a fiscal sponsor provides is significant. We need to make sure that we’re squeaky clean, and fiscal sponsor can do that work for us.

Group will research all three options further.  Need to find a tax attorney for fact-checking on both state and federal laws.

More accounting procedures discussion for current situation.  How to track things? How to deal with a discrepancy? (e.g. theft, or donations not logged?)  If donations are not specifically logged, then assume it is for the general fund – the donor did not specify a specific group.

Checks: photocopy checks before cashing. Make it its own deposit, not mixed with other money.  Copy deposit slip and the checks; make two sets of copies: one for the check casher and one for the Finance WG’s records. Bring the paperwork to the donation tent with the cash. Write a receipt to the say that we received this much $ in cash. Put that receipt with the check casher’s copies. Write a memo saying “Check cashed by X”.

Gmail account for Finance Committee: occupybostonfinance@gmail.com
Email receipts, existing records and photos of the ledger to that email address to get data in one place.  Let’s not send email from that email account just yet, only to that account. Its’ a storage facility online to keep paperwork.  IT set up a May first list for workgroup.

Proposal drafted collectively for submission to tonight’s GA:
The Finance Working Group would like to put this proposal on the agenda for tonight's GA:
“The Finance Working Group will oversee the accounting of all monetary donations and monetary disbursements. 
Working Groups and individual requests for cash disbursements in amounts more than $100 per week must be proposed directly to and approved by the General Assembly.
Finance Working Group has the authority to approve and disburse up to $100 per week to each Working Group.
Each Working Group will determine at least two (2) pointpersons for monetary disbursements and register those names and contact information with the Finance Working Group, in order to insure accountability and transparency in monetary disbursements. 
Working groups will fill out cash disbursement request forms and submit them to the Finance Working Group. Part of that process will be to detail the items requested and to check first with Logistics Working Group to make sure that the requested items are not readily available as in-kind donations.
Working Groups must submit receipts for purchased items and any change back to the Finance Working Group.
If a Working Group pointperson does not provide receipts or absconds with the funds, that pointperson will not be allowed to receive further cash disbursements.
Members of the Finance Working Group will be on site at a specified time each day to accept disbursement forms and to make disbursements. “

Disbursement Procedures   
Discussed procedures for working groups to request small cash disbursement from Finance WG.  Form must clearly explain and walk people through the process, answer questions someone in one of the other WGs might have.   Plan to put printouts at logistics tent and elsewhere for people to see. Rene will draft form, send to others for comments.

Need to register names of people from each working group who are authorized  by that WG to request funds. .At least two names and contact email/phone #s.  Can use form Occupy Wall Street finance group sent.

Examples of items WGs might propose for cash disbursements might include folding tables, trash barrels, or laundromat money.

Next meeting: Monday 3:00pm.