Balances of all accounts. A brief synopsis of which expense and income accounts are within Budget and which are not and what needs to be done to fix those not in budget. A summary of inventory items and if anything needs replacement that isn't already budgetted.
As a recovering CPA I'm sure I do more than the average Treasurer. In my opinion there are two principal functions that the Treasurer should fulfill, and one doesn't have to turn the Lodge meeting into a financial review to do this.
First is Accountability and Control, much of which can be done outside the meeting. Every month I reconcile all of our accounts and provide a copy of the reconciliations and the bank/investment statements to the lodge officers. I also review our expenses vs. budget and report on budget variances. This process ensures that there are no missing funds and that the numbers can be trusted. I also make it clear that every Brother is welcome to complete access to all of the books and records at any time.
Second is Financial Health and Outlook. This is the narrative that I report during the lodge meeting and it consists of a sentence or two about our balances, liquidity (ie, our ability to meet upcoming expenses), and whether or not we're going to conform to our budget for the remainder of the year. For this report to be meaningful I believe it is essential that both the Lodge and Temple Corp finances be reported.
Prior to my involvement in the financial records the members of my Lodge believed that there had to be a strict barrier between the Temple Corp and the Lodge finances; we reported only the Lodge finances during Lodge meetings, and Temple Corp finances only during Temple Corp meetings. When I first became involved in our finances I was elected to be the Temple Corp Treasurer and learned for the first time that the Temple Corp was bleeding cash as it was transferring money to the Lodge. Of course, the Lodge reports were always brief, meaningless, and conveyed a false sense of security ... "there's money in the checking account and we spent $8 on stamps." I insisted that we combine information from both entities and the Brothers were shocked to learn that we were steadily marching toward insolvency.
Yes, the two entities should have separate tax ID#s and separately elected governing bodies. But the finances of both are of direct interest to the members. Unless the information is combined for internal reporting the members won't have the complete picture.
As a past treasurer of a failing lodge (since closed), the treasurers report should contain previous balances, expenses, income and current balances of all accounts. As John mentioned, it doesn't need to be some long drawn out affair, just the information needed by the brothers to know where they stand.
The more important document the treasurer needs to present to the lodge is the budget. The budget needs to be hammered out between the Pillared officers and finance committee. It also needs to be at the very least a balanced budget, with adequate income to cover normal expenses, and preferably some money set aside in an emergency fund.
The temple board should also provide their own report on their finances, but I seldom (if ever) hear one in lodge.
Ideally, the treasurer should email out to the members the report (via spreadsheet) prior to the stated meeting so the brothers can get into the weeds on the lodge finances if they so desire.
Most brothers don’t want to know about GAAP, esoteric debt, securitization, asset allocation or amortization of capital projects. Heck, even some treasurers don’t want to know about this. Most treasurer reports shouldn’t last more than five minutes, if that in Lodge. I have been to meetings where discussions over income optimization and variance reporting have devolved into a group of nattering nabobs of negativism. (I did not invent this term, really!).
Why do I say this?
Each year, every Lodge, according to your Lodge By-Laws, stipulate that your Lodge, put together a budget that must be reviewed by your officer group and approved by a vote of members. Once approved, things like monthly expenses should be normal and you should not take up valuable Lodge time approving bills that are technically already approved. Where there are exceptions, such as unplanned for expenses, should be taken up by the Lodge Finance Committee (usually the Wardens and the Lodge Secretary) and the Officers meeting. If these are major variances, then we should bring it to the vote of the members. This should be at the discretion of the responsible parties and documented in meeting minutes.
All Brothers want to know are these questions:
Are we solvent?
How are our investments doing?
Is there anything I should be concerned with?
As treasurer, are you being straight with us?
The written Treasurer’s report and any documentation should be submitted to the Lodge Secretary and included in the meeting minutes.
Being Treasurer is more than balancing the Lodge checkbook. It is macro-recording keeping and being honest and accountable.
It’s as simple as that.
And Hooray for Bro. John Gebhart and Glenn Geiss' comments!
Bro. John: Blush is budgeted under the Master's Discretionary Fund. If it's under $5.00 is not reportable unless you amortize it over a 60 month period. Ask your Lodge Secretary. :)
For many of our Lodges, the building is the largest investment. The value of this investment does change over time, based on the market, but also based on maintenance and improvements.
Yet while I've often heard Lodge Treasurer's report on the value of stock and bond investments, I've never heard a Treasurer report on the value of the real estate investment. Not even a report as simple as the government's assessed valuation.
It could be, under the temple board report (the TB of course would be the ones with the information). But, county assessor information is public records, you can look it up for free if so inclined.
The valuation of illiquid assets is of little use unless a decision about what to do with illiquid assets is on the agenda. Period valuation of real property, like the county's annual tax assessment, is probably enough at all other times. Marketable securities, while not completely liquid can be liquidated relatively quickly so more frequent reports on valuation and market trends can be useful. At no point should these topics devolve into a discussion of the capital asset pricing model during Lodge.
I think that the reason for my question is that two Lodges that I am quite active in own their buildings, but in both cases those buildings haven't been properly maintained in years, one much worse than the other, but neither good.
But, both of these Lodges have very substantial investment accounts.
It seems to me, from listening to the Brothers, that they see those investment accounts as their only investments, and the buildings as not investments. But clearly, if those buildings were properly maintained and updated, they would be worth a great deal more money than they are in their present condition.
So, I'm wondering if talking about the investment value of our Real Estate holdings periodically (as we do with our other investments) the Brothers will come to realize that the buildings are also investments that can and will grow in value with proper care?
Sounds like a decision is called for, and in this case an understanding of market value before and after improvements would take the discussion well beyond a collection of diverse opinions. The cost of repairs and upgrades is also needed to complete the picture.
In any event, if the building's value is deteriorating either take care of the building or take the cash and invest it wisely.
I would think that talking about the value, or more particularly, the declining value from lack of care of our lodges, is a good thing. The intangible value of the building to Masonry should be a part of that discussion. We should be thinking about how we are going to preserve and grow the Lodge for the next hundred years, and how other investments might play into that most important goal.
One of the things that should *not* be in either the Treasurer's report or the Secretary's report is a line-by-line/name-by-name listing of income from dues. "Brother Hiram Jones paid dues of $81, Brother Zebadiah Smith paid dues of $81..." and so forth. Rather say, "Income from annual dues is $162." Just my thoughts...
Balances of all accounts. A brief synopsis of which expense and income accounts are within Budget and which are not and what needs to be done to fix those not in budget. A summary of inventory items and if anything needs replacement that isn't already budgetted.
As a recovering CPA I'm sure I do more than the average Treasurer. In my opinion there are two principal functions that the Treasurer should fulfill, and one doesn't have to turn the Lodge meeting into a financial review to do this.
First is Accountability and Control, much of which can be done outside the meeting. Every month I reconcile all of our accounts and provide a copy of the reconciliations and the bank/investment statements to the lodge officers. I also review our expenses vs. budget and report on budget variances. This process ensures that there are no missing funds and that the numbers can be trusted. I also make it clear that every Brother is welcome to complete access to all of the books and records at any time.
Second is Financial Health and Outlook. This is the narrative that I report during the lodge meeting and it consists of a sentence or two about our balances, liquidity (ie, our ability to meet upcoming expenses), and whether or not we're going to conform to our budget for the remainder of the year. For this report to be meaningful I believe it is essential that both the Lodge and Temple Corp finances be reported.
Prior to my involvement in the financial records the members of my Lodge believed that there had to be a strict barrier between the Temple Corp and the Lodge finances; we reported only the Lodge finances during Lodge meetings, and Temple Corp finances only during Temple Corp meetings. When I first became involved in our finances I was elected to be the Temple Corp Treasurer and learned for the first time that the Temple Corp was bleeding cash as it was transferring money to the Lodge. Of course, the Lodge reports were always brief, meaningless, and conveyed a false sense of security ... "there's money in the checking account and we spent $8 on stamps." I insisted that we combine information from both entities and the Brothers were shocked to learn that we were steadily marching toward insolvency.
Yes, the two entities should have separate tax ID#s and separately elected governing bodies. But the finances of both are of direct interest to the members. Unless the information is combined for internal reporting the members won't have the complete picture.
As a past treasurer of a failing lodge (since closed), the treasurers report should contain previous balances, expenses, income and current balances of all accounts. As John mentioned, it doesn't need to be some long drawn out affair, just the information needed by the brothers to know where they stand.
The more important document the treasurer needs to present to the lodge is the budget. The budget needs to be hammered out between the Pillared officers and finance committee. It also needs to be at the very least a balanced budget, with adequate income to cover normal expenses, and preferably some money set aside in an emergency fund.
The temple board should also provide their own report on their finances, but I seldom (if ever) hear one in lodge.
Ideally, the treasurer should email out to the members the report (via spreadsheet) prior to the stated meeting so the brothers can get into the weeds on the lodge finances if they so desire.
Most brothers don’t want to know about GAAP, esoteric debt, securitization, asset allocation or amortization of capital projects. Heck, even some treasurers don’t want to know about this. Most treasurer reports shouldn’t last more than five minutes, if that in Lodge. I have been to meetings where discussions over income optimization and variance reporting have devolved into a group of nattering nabobs of negativism. (I did not invent this term, really!).
Why do I say this?
Each year, every Lodge, according to your Lodge By-Laws, stipulate that your Lodge, put together a budget that must be reviewed by your officer group and approved by a vote of members. Once approved, things like monthly expenses should be normal and you should not take up valuable Lodge time approving bills that are technically already approved. Where there are exceptions, such as unplanned for expenses, should be taken up by the Lodge Finance Committee (usually the Wardens and the Lodge Secretary) and the Officers meeting. If these are major variances, then we should bring it to the vote of the members. This should be at the discretion of the responsible parties and documented in meeting minutes.
All Brothers want to know are these questions:
Are we solvent?
How are our investments doing?
Is there anything I should be concerned with?
As treasurer, are you being straight with us?
The written Treasurer’s report and any documentation should be submitted to the Lodge Secretary and included in the meeting minutes.
Being Treasurer is more than balancing the Lodge checkbook. It is macro-recording keeping and being honest and accountable.
It’s as simple as that.
And Hooray for Bro. John Gebhart and Glenn Geiss' comments!
Brother Woo, you're making me blush.
Bro. John: Blush is budgeted under the Master's Discretionary Fund. If it's under $5.00 is not reportable unless you amortize it over a 60 month period. Ask your Lodge Secretary. :)
For many of our Lodges, the building is the largest investment. The value of this investment does change over time, based on the market, but also based on maintenance and improvements.
Yet while I've often heard Lodge Treasurer's report on the value of stock and bond investments, I've never heard a Treasurer report on the value of the real estate investment. Not even a report as simple as the government's assessed valuation.
Should this information be reported?
It could be, under the temple board report (the TB of course would be the ones with the information). But, county assessor information is public records, you can look it up for free if so inclined.
The valuation of illiquid assets is of little use unless a decision about what to do with illiquid assets is on the agenda. Period valuation of real property, like the county's annual tax assessment, is probably enough at all other times. Marketable securities, while not completely liquid can be liquidated relatively quickly so more frequent reports on valuation and market trends can be useful. At no point should these topics devolve into a discussion of the capital asset pricing model during Lodge.
I think that the reason for my question is that two Lodges that I am quite active in own their buildings, but in both cases those buildings haven't been properly maintained in years, one much worse than the other, but neither good.
But, both of these Lodges have very substantial investment accounts.
It seems to me, from listening to the Brothers, that they see those investment accounts as their only investments, and the buildings as not investments. But clearly, if those buildings were properly maintained and updated, they would be worth a great deal more money than they are in their present condition.
So, I'm wondering if talking about the investment value of our Real Estate holdings periodically (as we do with our other investments) the Brothers will come to realize that the buildings are also investments that can and will grow in value with proper care?
Sounds like a decision is called for, and in this case an understanding of market value before and after improvements would take the discussion well beyond a collection of diverse opinions. The cost of repairs and upgrades is also needed to complete the picture.
In any event, if the building's value is deteriorating either take care of the building or take the cash and invest it wisely.
I would think that talking about the value, or more particularly, the declining value from lack of care of our lodges, is a good thing. The intangible value of the building to Masonry should be a part of that discussion. We should be thinking about how we are going to preserve and grow the Lodge for the next hundred years, and how other investments might play into that most important goal.
One of the things that should *not* be in either the Treasurer's report or the Secretary's report is a line-by-line/name-by-name listing of income from dues. "Brother Hiram Jones paid dues of $81, Brother Zebadiah Smith paid dues of $81..." and so forth. Rather say, "Income from annual dues is $162." Just my thoughts...
You forgot the check numbers submitted by each brother…🙂
Great comments, thank you all. Very timely - did our Lodge audit yesterday as we transition from old to new Treasurers.
Our members often have great ideas for donations (for example). Lodge votes, minutes show approved, check sent. So far so good.
What I’d like to see: no votes to spend money unless the discussion includes a decision on where to take that previously budgeted money from.
We ought to do this. We don’t.