Club Officers (cont.) - The Treasurer

Of all the officer roles in Toastmasters, the easiest one for someone to figure out the duties is the club treasurer.  If it's the treasurer, it must have something to do with money, right? 

Correct!

The treasurers main duty is to watch over the club's finances.  More specifically, it is the treasurer who gets involved whenever money comes into or goes out from the club.  The two busiest months for the treasurer are March & September -- because Toastmasters International requires all clubs to pay their renewal dues by April 1 and October 1.  If the club is corporate-based, the treasurer uses those preceding months to work with the corporation to receive whatever monetary support is given to the club.  If the club allows non-employee members, then the treasurer invoices those members for their dues.  If the club is a "community" club such as ours, then the treasurer needs to contact all members to request their dues payments.

Outside of these two dues-paying periods, the treasurer would accept applications & checks from new members, then log on to TI and enter the app & payment.  The treasurer also places orders for any Toastmaster supplies from International, and pays out reimbursements at the local level that are approved by the club president.  And of course the treasurer receives the monthly bank statements & reconciles the club's check book.

As you can see, the treasurer's work seems to come in spurts.  It requires someone with attention to detail and is a self-starter.  If other officers need to keep reminding the treasurer to pay /collect dues, or they take weeks to enter a new member app, the club is going to feel the impact.  Delays in paying member dues could affect whether a member receives an educational award they are due, or a member's eligibilty to compete in speech contests.  This is a great officer role - even a good one for a first-time officer.  As with all the officer positions, training is available from TI (through the officer manuals), the District (TLI/Officer Training) and former treasurers of your club.

Please consider taking on a club officer role.  Our club will hold its elections in May for the 2012-13 Toastmasters year.

My final post on club officers will focus on the last two officer positions: VP of Education and President.