October 2001

REPORT
of the
NSS SECRETARY/TREASURER

- Attachment E -

OVERVIEW

Since the July 01 Board of Governors meeting we’ve:

• Established a down-load capability on the NSS Financial Information page in addition to the viewing capability which was available
  
  
• Posted on the NSS Financial Information page for down-load:
  
  an update to the FY01/02 budget that incorporates the changes approved by the Board at our July 01 meeting.
  
  an updated draft NSS FY00/01 fiscal report
  
  the detailed monthly expense reports previously provided to NSS officers
  
  
• Filed to extend the deadline for our federal tax return so we could hire one firm to audit last year’s fiscal report and prepare our tax return
  
  
• Developed a complete new description of our designated and restricted funds to satisfy auditor concerns and provide a more usefull tool for the Board and NSS members
  
  
• Developed list of accounting firms to audit our fiscal report and prepare our federal tax return
  
  
• Obtained certificate of good standing NSS Inc. from the District of Columbia
  

DETAILS

FY01/02 Budget
http://caves.org/nss-business/fiscal-information/index.html provides the updated FY01/02 NSS annual budgets to reflect the Board’s transfer [July 01] of the Annual Report committee from the President’s department to the AVP department. The Executive Summary of our finances the past four years was also updated.

FY00/01 Fiscal Report
Dave Irving and I continued to work on the FY00/01 fiscal report for the period May 2000 to April 2001. You can download the current report from http://caves.org/nss-business/fiscal-information/index.html in a few minutes. The front sheet describes the current issues we are working to resolve before the Board meeting. Note the initial sheets describe for the first time the entire NSS corporation and are intended to comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Practices.

Audit
Kevin Smith prepared a list of accounting firms to audit our fiscal report and prepare our federal tax return. I expect to have one of them under contract by November after we complete last year’s fiscal report and assemble the backup information.

Credit Card Service
Stephanie Cothron has been leading an effort to change our credit card service to reduce our cost.

Office Staff Retirement Plan
Ted Kayes is looking for a better retirement plan for our office staff.

Incorporation of NSS in the District of Columbia
Lee Stevens contacted the District of Columbia government and obtained a "Certificate of Good Standing" which we need to obtain tax exempt status in Maine for the 2002 NSS Convention.

Journal Purchase Orders
We are working with the EVP to implement a purchase order system for the Journal of Cave and Karst Studies as has been used by the other Society publications.

2001 Convention
The 2001 Convention treasurer, Werner Judd, reports a balance of $15K plus about $6K in inventory.

NSS Tax Exempt Status and Federal Identification Number on Bank Accounts
Unless the BOG objects the following new NSS financial policy will be published in Section 9 of the BOG Manual as NSS administrative policy.

“NSS Tax Exempt Status and Federal Identification Number on Bank Accounts

The NSS Federal Identification Number (IRS tax # ) is used only for NSS bank accounts. All transactions associated with the NSS Federal Identification Number are recorded in NSS ledgers, reflected in NSS financial statements, and reported in NSS federal tax returns. ABC Grotto and other NSS internal organization’s fiscal transactions are not reported in the NSS tax return and thus they should not use the NSS tax ID number.

If a NSS internal organization would like to demonstrate the NSS is a tax exempt organization refer to the IRS listing of all 501(c)3 organizations in IRS Publication 78, the IRS's listing of all 501(c)(3) organization. It can be viewed at http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/bus_info/eo/eosearch.html. Search for "National Speleological Society" in Huntsville, Alabama. Note that this list includes many NSS internal organizations which the IRS views as separate organizations for tax purposes. Any grotto could apply to the IRS for tax exempt status.

If a NSS internal organization is looking for tax exemption for some specific major project, it is possible to write it up as a separate project (expeditions are often done this way as they seek corporate gifts) and get it accepted as a NSS project. Donations for the project can be sent directly to the NSS office by the donors and the NSS office staff can write NSS checks against the accumulated donations. Then the project (but not the grotto's other activities) does ‘piggyback’ on the NSS 501(c)(3) status.”

Current S/T Department Members and Agents of the Treasurer
Stephanie Cothron has been working almost full time performing NSS accounting and fiscal functions. Dave Irving helps Stephanie reconcile LedgerMaster accounting at the end of each month, develops fiscal reports, works with our CPA to submit our federal tax return, and is now preparing for another independent audit. Ted Kayes helps prepare the NSS budget. Kevin Smith leads our audit effort. I work on NSS finances and participate in all of the above activities and more.

Secretary-Treasurer - Paul Stevens
Chief Accounting Officer - David Irving (Finance Committee)
NSS Budget Support - Ted Kayes (Finance Committee)
NSS Audit Support – Kevin Smith (Finance Committee)
NSS Restricted Funds Accounting – Nancie Carrigan (Finance Committee)
Review – Bill Stringfellow
NSS Operations Manger – Stephanie Cothron
Insurance Committee - Ted Kayes (Chairman)
Personal Property Committee - Mike Gunderloy (Chairman)

2001 NSS Convention Treasurer - Werner Jud
2002 NSS Convention Treasurer - Joe Levinson
2003 NSS Convention Treasurer - Michele Richardson
NSS Convention Bank Account Reconciler - Scott Fee

MCNP Cooperative Agreement Treasurer - Karen Dennis
MCNP Cooperative Agreement Bank Account Reconciler - Marilyn Walker
Caves & Karst Education Program Treasurer – Peggy Kesner
Caves & Karst Education Program Bank Account Reconciler – Cheryl Jones

NCRC Financial Officer – Kathy Welling [Bank Account Reconciler]
NCRC Northeast Region Financial Officer – John Evans
NCRC Eastern Region Financial Officer – John Appleby
NCRC Central Region Financial Officer – Anmar Mirza
NCRC Pacific Northwest Region Financial Officer – John W. Punches
NCRC Western Region Financial Officer – Peri Frantz
NCRC 2001 Seminar – Anmar Mirza

NSS News Ad Accounting - Bert Ashbrook

Other Bank Account Reconcilers – Ted Kayes

FUTURE ACTIVITIES

Our priority between now and the March 2002 Board meeting will be to continue to process our financial transactions in a timely manner and provide timely reports. Other tasks include:

• Complete the final FY00/01 Fiscal Report and obtain any necessary back-up material we need to have a new professional audit firm certify that our accounting records conform to Generally Accepted Accounting Practices and properly state our finances.
  
  
• File our FY00/01 federal tax501 return.
  
  
• Assure future independent NSS Audit reports and NSS federal tax returns reflect the same data.
  
  
• Work with the NSF to modify our contact agreement to benefit both parties.
  
  
• Provide a cash-flow statement on a regular basis that depicts the expenses we incur for NSS publications in preparation, advances to conventions and other fiscal activity not attributable to our traditional NSS Operating Fund revenue/expense report.
  
  
• Continue to codify our business and financial policies and procedures. Seek to make it easier for the Board to transition our knowledge and responsibilities to our successors. One of the first things we seek to do is to annotate the NSS Chart of Accounts to describe the purpose for some of the non-obvious COA lines.

Paul Stevens
NSS Secretary/Treasurer