Where to Start? 3 Easy Steps

No matter what organization you are apart of, the treasurer is one of the most stressful and under appreciated positions you can hold. Whether you were elected, hired, or just kinda fell into the position, there are some basic first steps everyone should take. While these are not the full list of steps you should take, these will give you a good starting point to get your feet wet and start making those important decisions.

Unfortunately, most people in this position are not given all the tools to succeed and often end up spending tons of time try to correct mistakes that they made just by not knowing where to start. Everyone has fallen victim to this and it unfortunately puts a damper on the crucial first couple of months in the position. By following the steps below, you will be able to avoid the common pit falls that plague inexperienced and new treasurers through the first couple of weeks or months.

I will use the term "system" a ton in this article. I am referring to this as the overall fiancing system you are running so this is like all the spreadsheets, software, files, etc. This is basically any tools or infrastructure you have to run your system. A small example of this would be an expense report and a budget.

1. Know the Existing System

I know this sounds like a given, but you would be surprised at the amount of times that the new person tries to ignore the system or just avoid it. DO NOT DO THIS. Even the wost designed systems, have pieces you can learn from them as well as these systems teach you about the people you are now leading. Spend some time going through whatever you are given when you take over. Dig through those spreadsheets, orgainze those reciepts, reach out to the previous treasurer to learn how they did it. Now, I am not saying do it the exact way the old treasurer did it. When I took over, I basically had to redesign the entire system, but I studied the old system first. I learned about how the old guy was keeping the system, I looked for the errors that might have existed in the spreadsheets I recieved, and I pulled what I could for when I designed my own system. If you are wanting to design your own system, check out my article.

It is important to note that you do not have to create your own system if the tools you were given are working. However, if you are just going to use the old system given to you, it becomes that much more important that you fully understand how the system functions and how everything relates to each other. The better you know the system the less likely you are going to be confused when trying to keep track of the money. I wish I could go more in depth on how to learn the systems that you recieved, but not everyone recieves the same tools and some do not even recieve anything.

2. Create a Short Term Game Plan

Starting this job can be a little nerve racking. You have all these ideas and are excited to get started. You have already spend some time and studied the existing system and you believe that you fully understand how it functions. Now, you are running the ship. What's next? Create a short term game plan!

So this game plan really functions for two seperate reasons. The first is that it allows you to try out new ideas that you would like to implement. The second is it allows you to use the system you just spent all that time learning and seeing how your organization uses and collects money. Stick to this game plan as this allows you to make mistakes and not ruin the next couple of months for you. As much as I wish it wasn't so, a lot of this job is trial by error. This short term plan will allow you to experiment and learn even when you might be overwhelmed. For the game plan, I would suggest running a expense report and a incoming report. Keep track of the money going in and out. Be as specific as you can. For the expenses, I would keep track of the date, the amount, the purchase, and which department the expense came from. I also might suggest keeping track of how it was bought (cash, card, check, etc). The same goes for the import report aka the payment report. I suggest keeping track of the date, amount brought in, from who, and how it was brought in such as fundraiser, dues, donations, etc. Once again I would suggest keeping track of how the money came in. Throw some of your ideas in there test them out. For all you know, you have a million dollar idea that will make everyones lives easier. Test it out.

The reason I suggest a short term plan instead of a longer one is because this allows you to mess up with ruining everything. For the time length, it really just needs to be less than how the organization keeps track of it. So if your orgaization does yearly budgets you might want to do a quartly budget to start or mayber even less. What I have seen that has had the most success is running this game plan until the beginning of the next cycle espically if you came in mid-cycle. This is where I fall. I took over in November and since we ran on the semester system, our budgets were 6 month budgets. I ran my short term game plan from early November till New Years. During this time I tired out some ideas I had. This time frame helped me design the system I ended up using, and finally it showed me how to track money accuratly.

3. Start Controlling the Money

So you have learned the system, and you have successfully run your short term plan. Now comes the part that you will continue to do for the remainer of your time in the position, control and monitor the money. I know this sounds omnious, but this is the basic purpose of this job. It also seems straight forward, but you would be surprised at the stories I hear.

One thing that should be the most obivious is avoid dept if you can. I understand that sometimes it is required, but avoid it if you can. Your job is to keep the organization functioning and able to do all of the fun things. One of the key things is keeping those who report to you on budget. I will go into budgeting in another post, but you have to keep these people moving in the correct direction and not overspending. This requires you to have a spine and stand your ground. I have seen too many treasurers that are almost too afraid to tell the chair positions no. To be successful in this position you have to stick to the plan and the budget, and that means making sure everyone else also sticks to them.

Lastly, watch the money. You can see how it flows, predict when it will leave and when it will come in. You will be able to budget way more accurately and the chance of money "disappearing" will also decrease. This enables you to grow as the treasurer and gives you more skills that will aid you in the long run. Now this does not mean that this is the only thing that you do. I have seen plenty of treasurers that also are so tight with money that they effectively kill the group because they grab what money they can and hold onto it. Try to find the middle ground, its ok to spend money. It means the group is doing well, but also do not over spend.

You now have everything you need to get started. As mentioned before, a lot of this job is trial an error so just get out there and start working. Trust your gut and do not be afraid to ask questions. Explore around the site and get more advice. Want an answer to a topic, send in a "Get in Touch" form. I would be happy to answer any questions.