Financial Reporting

Reports

Monthly:

1. Section Financials – provided by the Chief Financial Officer to the Section Managers who work directly with the Section’s Treasurer and Chair.
2. InReach/Webinar Reports – provided by Member Services showing registration and revenue by webinar.
3. Membership – provided by the Chief Member Experience Officer to Section Chairs and Vice Chairs showing monthly membership numbers.

Quarterly:

1. Quarterly InReach/Webinar Reports – same as above, covering three months.
2. Quarterly Financials – same as above, covering three months.

Reserves, Budget Principles, and Expense Reimbursementsciples

All reserves are owned and managed by the Board of Representatives. The Board of Representatives is authorized to divide and assign equity into section accounts. The reserves of CLA and the sections are shown in the equity section of the balance sheet.

Budget Principles

Budget Neutral – No deficit is planned.
Goal of a surplus – For the long-term health of the organization, plan for a surplus when possible.
Reserve Policy – Keep at least 50% of annual budgeted expenses in the section equity.
Reasonable, Ordinary and Necessary – Expenses should be reasonable, ordinary and necessary for the purpose of carrying out the mission of the organization or the function of an event. The Association should avoid extravagant spending that may give an appearance of providing a private benefit.

Budget Timeline

Section Managers work with their Section Treasurer and Executive Committee to develop a budget for the upcoming program year, which follows the calendar year. CLA Central Committees follow the same process. All budget proposals are submitted to the Head of Finance for an initial review, necessary adjustments, and consolidation into the entity-wide budget. The CEO then reviews the budget for accuracy and reasonableness before it is submitted to the Budget and Finance Committee for approval. Once approved, it is forwarded to the Board of Representatives for final approval.

Expense Reimbursements

Reasonable volunteer out-of-pocket expenses for Association business are reimbursable. Please see the full Travel Policy on our CLA website: https://calawyers.org/cla/leadership/leadership-resources/

Volunteer reimbursements are due within 30 days of the event transpiring and should be submitted through the Association’s expense reporting platform, Ramp. Reimbursement requests submitted after 120 days require written approval from the Section Chair or the applicable CLA Central manager. This timeline is subject to be shortened as we work to close the gap in receiving reimbursements to account for costs timelier.

Ramp is designed for direct deposit, as the Association transitions away from manual processing methods to expedite reimbursements. Check payments will be offered but take longer to process.

Areas to be attentive to:

• Itemized receipts are required for all transactions over $25.
• Full copies of receipts must be provided, along with descriptive memos referencing the event attended. Receipts that are cut off or incomplete will require resubmission before processing.
• For mileage reimbursements, a Google plug-in is in Ramp. Enter the “to” and “from” addresses to automatically calculate the reimbursement amount and create receipt for mileage.

Proper recordkeeping is essential to ensure accurate financial reporting and facilitate a clean audit.

Sections’ Treasurers Meetings and Budget & Finance Meetings

Sections’ Treasurers Meetings

Every quarter, the Head of Finance will host a remote meeting with all Section Treasurers.

These meetings are a means for CLA to provide Sections with financial information and reports, discuss results of operations and potential areas of concern & go over the budget principles and the process. Treasurers can collaborate with each other and ask questions about their role and duties.

Budget & Finance Committee Meetings

The Head of Finance will host a remote meeting with Budget & Finance Committee members on an as needed basis, at least twice a year. This is an advisory committee to the Board of Representatives (BOR). The committee oversees CLA financial policies, reviews CLA financial reports, investment portfolio, and reviews, approves and recommends the annual budget to the BOR. Any changes to or adoption of policies are discussed and created for BOR approval.

The Committee Chair along with committee members are appointed by the BOR.