Party Expenses
All Party Expenses must be paid from the Party's chequing account. This account is with TD Canada Trust. The home branch for the account is at Jane Street and Bloor Street West in Toronto.
In order to reduce the risk of malfeasance(?), every cheque must be signed by two people, preferably members of the Executive Committee. Since about 2010 the Leader, Recording Secretary and Treasurer have had signing authority. Three people were given signing authority in case one is unavailable. As a matter of practice, the "Payee" does not sign the cheque. In order to change who has signing authority, all three new signatories must attend at the home branch together to sign the required documents. At the Convention on November 4, 2017 the Recording Secretary and Treasurer have been replaced.
Because of the requirement for two signatures, the ATM card cannot be used to withdraw cash from the Party's account. It is only used to deposit cash and cheques. This also limits our ability to obtain a credit card from TD Canada Trust.
There are two procedures currently in use for obtaining two signatures on cheques;
- The Treasurer (or other person with signing authority) prepares the cheque(s) and takes it/them to a meeting, such as Pub Night, where one or both of the other individuals with signing authority will be present to sign them.
- If such a meeting is not happening soon, the Treasurer prepares the cheques and mails them to one of the other authorized signers, who signs them and forwards them to the Payees. (The Treasurer usually includes stamped envelopes addressed to the Payees.)
Some expenses may be "pre-authorized" by the Party to be taken directly from the Party's account by the Payee. The Executive Committee must approve such an arrangement. Currently the only pre-authorized payment (PAP) is the monthly cell phone charge.
The Treasurer must have an invoice or expenses statement before preparing a cheque. For example, Paragon dpi sends the Treasurer an invoice after printing our quarterly newsletter and return envelopes (and delivering them). So to for our insurance company and the company that provides our mail box. However, many of the expenses must be paid in cash or by credit card;
- PayPal Pro (the service that allows donors to pay by credit card instead of PayPal) will only accept payment by credit card.
- Facebook advertising also will not accept a cheque from the Party.
- Stamps and courier services
- Office supplies such as paper and ink cartridges
Typically the person responsible for conducting party business, such as publishing Bulletin, 'Boosting' Facebook posts, preparing and mailing New Member Kits, mailing Nomination Packages to Candidates or Official Receipts to donors must pay for the materials and (later) be reimbursed by the Party. The individual incurring such expenses must provide the receipts or invoices to the Treasurer. These may be original documents or scanned. They may be listed on a covering email or on an Expense Statement. Expenses must have been approved by the Executive. Many are covered under the Operating Budget (Bulletin, postage, Insurance, Telephone, Internet, etc.) or approved spending motions (e.g.election campaigns, fundraising campaigns).
This method works provided the individual incurring the expenses (on behalf of the Party) has a credit card with a sufficient credit limit, or adequate funds in their bank account. Otherwise the delay before being reimbursed is unacceptable and would prevent them from taking on the responsibility. This can be overcome by the ...