Finance Department Plan

The Plan for ICC Finance Department May-August 2023

The Human Resources Situation: Our Director of Financial Services resigned at the end March right before the review at the end her 90 day orientation period. The previous DFS resigned in November 2022 after 17 months in the position. Her predecessor as DFS was fired in the Fall of 2021.

The Financial Records Situation: An attempted audit of fiscal years 19-20 and 20-21 was abandoned in Summer 2022 by the CPA we hired, Yeo and Yeo, after several months of work. ICC was unable to provide a clean opening balance sheet for FY 19-20 to Yeo and Yeo. An accurate opening balance sheet is required for an auditor to certify an organization’s financial statements in an audit. ICC is up to date on our tax filings, but we have not kept our own books up to date (in Rent Manager) for many asset accounts including our fixed assets (buildings and equipment). Some of our asset accounts have not been reconciled since the last completed audit in 14-15. In addition to inaccurately recorded assets, ICC allowed $300,000 in past member debt to accumulate as accounts receivable since 2015 without attempting to collect payment or writing off the bad debt.

Steps taken up to this point:

Since January ICC cash accounts are reconciled on a regular basis within 30 days of the end of each month.
House cash accounts have been regularly reconciled but not usually within 30 days of the end of each month.
House Closings and shares refunds are up to date. Past errors have been found. Some of them have been addressed to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.
Letters have been mailed to around 200 past members with outstanding debt. Ongoing efforts to collect on past member debt are underway.
Current member debt is being managed on a monthly basis resulting in a 300% reduction in unpaid charges as we approach the end of FY 22-23 compared to the last three years.
ICC hired Wegner CPAs starting in May to assist with reconciling and adjusting ICC accounts so that FY 22-23 financial statements are accurate enough for an audit to be completed.
ICC also hired Wegner to audit ICC financial statements and file our 2022 Tax Return.
According to SR 10.6.2. (see below), four meetings of the DFS Hiring Group including staff and members have led to the development of the following short-term plan.

HIRING OTHER EMPLOYEES: When the General Manager receives notice that an employee intends to resign, or when the position becomes available, the General Manager will call a meeting with the appropriate staff and at least three Board members and/or other concerned members to discuss changes to be made in the job description and to suggest criteria to be used in selecting a new employee. From this group, a hiring committee will be formed. The General Manager will be responsible for setting up a timeline for hiring and for advertising the position in appropriate places. The hiring committee will screen the resumes and select (if possible) at least five candidates to interview. The hiring committee will meet before the interviewing process begins, in order to consense or set priorities in hiring, desired qualifications, and format for the interviews. The committee will interview the candidates and the hiring committee will make a recommendation to the General Manager as to who should be hired. The final decision will be solely the responsibility and prerogative of the General Manager.

The Plan for the next 4-8 months: Since this plan will cost less than the budget, board approval is not required. It is being shared with the board and staff for input before proceeding.

Wait to post and hire a new Director of Financial Services.
- Reconsider how to move forward long-term at the end of Summer.
Select an Interim Director of Financial Services through the end of August with a temporary bump in pay. Mary Buescher is the preferred candidate.
Extend Accounts Payable Coordinator to full time temporarily through the end of the year. The job will be governed by the staff contract. Kyle LaChance is the preferred candidate.
Hire an accounting contractor to work on the asset reconciliation at 20 hours a week from May to July. Ester Lee is the preferred candidate. Ester is current working at SHC as an Americorps Vista.
Recruit and hire a member to fill the Finance Central Member Assistant role. This job description needs to be reviewed and updated. Compensation will be 50% of ICC Charges during the spring and summer and possibly the Fall.

The DFS Hiring Group will identify a hiring committee that will review job descriptions and interview the preferred candidates for Interim DFS, Full-time Accounts Payable Coordinator,and Accounting Contractor. The Hiring Committee will approve a job description for the FCMA role, post the job, and interview qualified candidates.