Part I. General Statement
and Purpose
The purpose of the Kingdom Financial Policy is to document all rules, procedures, and
precedents that pertain to the Kingdom of the East and its funds, and the Office of the
Exchequer and its deputies.
A. This policy should be revised whenever appropriate due to changes in Corpora, Kingdom Law, or agreement between the Kingdom Exchequer, Kingdom Seneschal and the Crown of the East.
This policy should be reviewed at least once per year by the Kingdom Exchequer. Any necessary changes should be recommended to the Kingdom Exchequer.
B. Practices and procedures of this office and its subsidiary deputies may be changed at any time by the Council of the Exchequer as deemed would best serve the interests of the Kingdom or the SCA.
C. From the Society Chancellor of the Exchequer's Handbook, July 1996:
"Other organizations known in the Society but not officially recognized are Households. Households are not an official part of the SCA, Inc. and SCA funds may not be combined with their funds in a non-SCA account. Households are simply groups of people with similar interests, sometimes but not always organized around either specific persons or a specific cause (fighting, archery, dancing, etc.). If you have any questions about whether some group qualifies as a household or about transactions dealing with households, call your superior officer for guidance before doing anything."
Part II. Practices and Procedures of the East Kingdom
Exchequers
A. Job requirements, Warrants, Removal from Office
1) Job requirements of exchequers
All persons who wish to become an exchequer should have some experience with bookkeeping procedures and accounting. The exchequer must prove an ability to reconcile a bank statement to the branch account, to produce quarterly reports, and to comply with requests from the Kingdom Exchequer for information. Knowledge of tax law regarding nonprofit organizations and individuals as well as access to a computer with e-mail is a plus for the Kingdom Exchequer.
2) Warranting and Rostering of Exchequersa) The outgoing exchequer and the incoming exchequer, and the seneschal of the group should all write, a joint letter is acceptable, to notify the Kingdom Exchequer of the proposed change. The incoming exchequer must notify the Kingdom Exchequer that s/he is of legal age in the state/province of residence, provide name, address, phone number, and proof of SCA membership. In addition, the new exchequer should confirm receipt of files from the previous exchequer. Finally, the new exchequer must change over the signatures on the local SCA bank account.
b) Whenever possible, the Kingdom Exchequer will accept the designated choice of the local group. However, exchequers are not official until they receive notice from the Kingdom Exchequer regarding their appointment.
c) All exchequers have a term of office of 1 year, expiring on February 15, the date the annual report is due. If the report is on time, and the exchequer remains a member, the exchequer is automatically renewed unless otherwise notified.3) Removal of Exchequers from Office
a) Exchequers (including the Kingdom Exchequer) may be removed from their office for failure to perform their duties in accordance with Kingdom law, including but not limited to the following offenses:
i) Failure to maintain funds of the Society/Kingdom separate from their personal funds, and/or misappropriation of funds.
ii) Consistent failure to file timely, accurate reports required by the Kingdom or Society, including but not limited to failure to file quarterly reports and year-end financial statements.
iii) Inability to cooperate with other officers of the branch or with the Kingdom officers on a consistent basis.
iv) Failure to maintain adequate books and records for the branch with which they hold office.b) Removal of an exchequer from office will proceed after the following steps are followed:
i) A written complaint must be filed with the Kingdom Exchequer (or the Kingdom Seneschal if the Kingdom Exchequer is the subject) by the local seneschal or the local head of the branch. This complaint should provide detail on the reason the removal is requested, and provide documentation, if available, of the problem encountered with the exchequer. The exchequer in question must receive a copy of this complaint.
ii) The exchequer in question will have 15 days from the receipt of the complaint to respond to the allegations or provide proof of their inaccuracy. An extension of time to present this evidence may be requested from the Kingdom Exchequer. The length of the extension will be determined by the Kingdom Exchequer depending on the facts and circumstances of the allegations, and the cause of the delay in obtaining these records.
iii) A review of the local branch's records will be performed by the Kingdom Exchequer or his/her appointed deputy within 30 days of receipt of a complaint, regardless of the nature of the complaint. The local branch is responsible for making sure that all books and records are provided for this review.
iv) The Kingdom Exchequer will make a final decision within 60 days of Receipt of the initial complaint, plus any extensions granted in (b) above.4) Reports Required
a) All branches within the kingdom will be responsible for filing financial reports with the Kingdom Exchequer or designated deputy. The responsibility for filing these reports is with the branch exchequer. If, for any reason, the branch exchequer is unable to file these reports, the branch seneschal is responsible for the filing.
b) A general ledger is a document that specifies the following items for a transaction: date, check number (if any), received from or paid to, amount an explanation for the deposit or check, and the SCA account that the deposit or expense would go into. A check register may serve as a general ledger if the entries are detailed enough. The person that a report is being given to determines if the ledger is detailed enough for acceptance. Local exchequers will contact their regional exchequer for assistance in setting up a general ledger.
c) Required reports are:i) The annual financial statements required by the Corporation. The due date of these reports is: for the Kingdom to report to the Society Exchequer, March 15; for branches to report to the Kingdom Exchequer, February 15. The annual reports must be made available by the exchequers to their groups. The annual financial statements will include a general ledger.
ii) The second quarter report (mid-year) is a balance sheet for the period 31 December to 30 June and an income/expense sheet reflecting income and expenses for that period. This report is due July 30th to the regional exchequer. The mid-year report will include a general ledger.
iii) The first and third quarter report is a short letter or electronic mail stating that you are still the exchequer and there are/are not problems, as well as a copy of the general ledger. The first quarter ends on March 31st, and the third quarter ends on September 30th. These reports are due April 30th and October 30th to the regional exchequer.
iv) Computer generated forms may be used in place of the forms. A computer-generated general ledger is also acceptable.
v) Event reports must be filed by the Autocrat with the assistance of the local exchequer within 30 days of holding an event. The report must contain sufficient detail so that it can be used to help fill out the mid and end year reports. A suggested form is included in the Exchequer's Handbook. The local exchequer keeps the original event report and sends a copy to the Regional Exchequer. For Kingdom events, the local exchequer sends the copy to the Kigndom Exchequer as well. Local exchequers will receive a reminder from the Regional Exchequer if the event report is not received on time. Event reports may be filed electronically.
vi) Any other reports which may be requested by the Kingdom Exchequer, Kingdom Seneschal, or Corporate officers. Due dates will be set at that time and must be complied with.B. Administration
1) Bank Accounts
All accounts must bear the Kingdom Exchequer's signature or a designated representative. In addition, each account will customarily bear the signatures of the local seneschal and exchequer and other signers at the branch's discretion as long as they don't violate the authorized signers as mandated by the SCA Branch Financial Policy. All accounts must be in the name of the SCA, Inc. <group name> and bear the SCA's tax ID number, 94-1698556.
It is acceptable for more than one group to pool assets in one SCA account as long as the assets can be allocated to the individual groups by the exchequer responsible for the account. If the account is a dual-signature account, bank statements should be sent to the exchequer. In those rare cases where the Kingdom Exchequer has granted a waiver and allowed a single signature account, bank statements must be sent to the seneschal, or other responsible person, who will then forward the statement to the exchequer after review.
2) Who May Raise Funds
Territorial groups and Kingdom Great Officers of State may raise money in the name of the SCA without special approval. Lesser Officers of State, guilds, orders, and special funds may raise moneys in the name of the SCA only if they have an official exchequer who has been confirmed in that office by the Kingdom Exchequer. In some cases the exchequer may be the same officer as the officer or leader of the guild in question. Entities which raise funds MUST have a bank account in the name of the SCA. All checks should be made payable to "SCA Inc. <name of group> and deposited in the group's bank account. Funds may not be run through an individual account. The Pikestaff chronicler is instructed not to publish any event announcement where the checks are made payable to any non-SCA account.
3) Who May Expend Funds
Territorial groups, Kingdom Officers of State, and Royalty may expend funds to the extent authorized by Kingdom Law and Curia. Guilds, orders, and special funds may expend moneys in the name of the SCA only if they have an official exchequer who has been confirmed in that office by the Kingdom Exchequer. Such expenditures must be made in accordance with the charter of the group.
4) Donationsa) All official exchequers and all Great Officers of State may accept and provide receipts for cash donations. Donations received must be reported by the exchequers and Officers on their year-end financial reports.
b) Any donation in excess of $500 must be reported to the Kingdom Exchequer when received. A donation received from another SCA entity is not counted as a donation for these purposes.
c) Non-monetary donations, e.g. equipment, supplies, items for resale, with a value in excess of $500 requires prior approval of the Kingdom or Principality Exchequer. The Kingdom or Principality Exchequer will issue the receipt. The donor individual or business is responsible to set the value of the donation; we are not to place a value on items donated and nothing should be considered without seeing it first. When the mundane economy is poor, businesses will look for ways to donate excess inventory. This is allowable under IRS code, but we should never act in haste. Your cooperation is appreciated.
d) Donations to the Kingdom Royal fund will be maintained as a separate line item in the Kingdom financial records. It will be used to reimburse the Monarchs for their expenses. These will be reimbursed by the Kingdom Exchequer upon presentation of receipts. Expenses may not be reimbursed if they violate any local laws or Federal Law, regardless of the amount or hardship presented to the person requesting reimbursement. Expenses will not be reimbursed if doing so would jeopardize the SCA's tax exempt status.5) Event Finances
a) Event reservation checks must be made payable to "SCA, Inc. - name of group" and deposited in the group's bank account. The autocrat of an event may request money from the group's exchequer as needed.
b) Before publishing an event announcement, the autocrat is to discuss finances of the event with the local exchequer. The autocrat and exchequer should estimate the amounts of receipts and expenses per individual anticipated to attend, including the effects of late reservation charges, family discounts, and/or membership discounts.
c) It is not appropriate to apply a late reservation charge until after the point where a normal subscriber to the Pikestaff has had a chance to read the announcement and respond at the original price for the event.
d) The Society has very specific rules that must be observed when a household works with a group during an event. Local exchequers that are involved with such an event should notify their regional or kingdom exchequer as soon as possible, so that no misunderstandings or rule violations will occur.