Division Treasurer: A Leadership Role You Might Not Have Considered

by By Division B Treasurer
Maria McHolland, ATMB

You don’t have to be a mathematical genius, an accountant, or a bookkeeper to be Division Treasurer. Like all volunteer positions, you do need enthusiasm, commitment, a willingness to learn new things, some organizational skills, and the ability to go to the bank from time to time. Although it is helpful to be able to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, a calculator does this very nicely (you do need to know what numbers and signs to put where).

My purpose in this article is to take the mystery out of being Division Treasurer. It is an important leadership role. After all, along with the Division Governor, you do have control over and responsibility for managing the money coming into and going out of the Division bank account. This is a wonderful way to practice your leadership skills as you work with all the Division and Area leaders.

The hardest part for me was getting my name on the bank account! That’s because a total ATM convert, used to banking any time she desired, had to find the time to go into the bank and sign a signature card during a specific time frame. But it’s been fairly smooth sailing ever since.
The Division Treasurer’s responsibilities include:

Attend a training session provided by the District Treasurer. This session lasted a few hours, and it reviewed report formats (budget, monthly report, Area Contest reports), due dates, duties, acceptable expenses, and how to get your name on the account.
Create a budget for the year using historical information passed to you from the previous treasurer and/or District Treasurer.
Submit a monthly report to the District Treasurer. This comes right off the bank statement; you just need to track where the income and expenses came from (contests, division meetings, training, etc.).
Ask for and keep receipts for everything; put them into a binder provided by the District Treasurer.
Keep deposit slips; these also go into the binder mentioned above.
Consult with the Division Governor on what we need to charge for contest fees, makeup training fees, food for Division meetings, or basically anything that requires spending money.
Attend monthly Division Council Meetings. It is important that you make yourself accessible when you are a leader. This builds relationships and trust.
Work with the Area Governors on their contest budgets and guidelines.
Collect money at the door for the Area and Division Contests (or designate a substitute).
Pay bills; all checks need two signatures, usually yours and the Division Governor’s. I have only written 20 checks in 8 months!
Make deposits. I got a bank card so I could do that via the ATM; however, you do need to be careful about depositing cash (which is not usually a good idea)

This may look like a lot of “stuff” to do, but I have found the role interesting and fun. If you can never find your checkbook, never know how much money you have, or “receipt” is just not in your vocabulary, there are plenty of other leadership roles in Toastmasters where you still need enthusiasm, commitment, and a willingness to learn new things. However, if writing checks and balancing your checkbook is “no big deal,” this role is for you. Go for it!