Finance Procedures

All Salvation Army accounts require two signatures. The Power of Attorney is designated as the principal agent for the unit operating account. The designee for the Power of Attorney is the Ministry to Women Treasurer. In the absence of a commissioned treasurer, some other person will be designated as the Power of Attorney upon approval by the supervising headquarters. No unit checking account can be opened or supported without a duly designated countersignature.

The designated countersigner is an appointed Corps Officer or Corps Administrator and cannot be related by birth or by marriage to the officer who has been designated as Power of Attorney. Requests for Powers of Attorney or any change in signatures for all bank accounts must be submitted on official forms provided by the supervising headquarters for approval.

All funds given to, or received by, Ministry to Women must be promptly and fully deposited in a properly authorized bank account. All check endorsements must clearly indicate “for deposit only to The Salvation Army account". Each week’s income is to be promptly deposited in the bank.

All income must be deposited in the exact form in which it is received. Coins should not be changed into bills, or vice versa; nor should any checks be cashed out of income before it is deposited. Income waiting to be deposited must not be used for petty cash purposes. Receipts should be issued as soon as possible for all cash donations. The required information is to be recorded for all income received. Receipts must be accounted for in numerical sequence. If a receipt is erroneously written or not used, it must be marked “cancelled” or “void” and recorded in the cash receipts journal. The Corps Officer, or other responsible personnel, must take all necessary precautions to protect unused receipts against theft, forgery or other misuse.

A duplicate or carbon copy of the bank deposit slip must be completed, stamped by the teller and attached to the bank statement. All deposited checks must be listed on the deposit slip or some other supporting document.

All expenditures must have supporting documentation. This would normally be in the form of an invoice or bill. These vouchers must be filed in numerical order, using the officially recognized voucher system of the Territory for this purpose. Purchases of any type must be supported by original invoices or sales slips issued by the seller, clearly detailing quantities, type of goods bought, or services rendered and the amounts.

Monthly statements, if submitted to The Salvation Army, are not acceptable as supporting documentation. Invoices rendered by creditors for sales made to The Salvation Army or for services rendered to The Salvation Army, need not be returned to be receipted when paid by check. The invoice should be retained for filing with the cancelled check.

Checks must be issued and accounted for in consecutive, numerical and chronological sequence and promptly released to the payee upon issuance. It is not permitted to draw checks and withhold them from release because of low balances, in order to permit later check payments to be made that may be considered more urgent. It is equally irregular to release checks in anticipation of income. Overdrawn bank accounts discredit The Salvation Army and the Corps Officer. All checks should be completely filled out, indicating the name of the payee and the correct amount, before being signed by the Power of Attorney and the countersigner. Departure from this procedure is in violation of good accounting standards and practices. Checks should always be made payable to a specific person or organization, not to “cash", “petty cash", etc.

Erasures or alterations should not appear on completed checks. If an error is made or the check is otherwise spoiled in some manner, it should be marked “void” so that there will be no possibility of it being used inadvertently or intentionally by someone else.

Petty cash (or reimbursement) items must be supported by original receipted sales slips or vouchers secured at the time the expense is incurred. Personal expense vouchers reimbursed from petty cash for traveling, official meals, etc., are to be fully described on the approved voucher forms. When official guests are entertained, their name should be provided, the date of the visit, the reason for the visit, as well as the nature of the expense.

All books and documents dealing with cash and accounts are periodically audited by Territorial or Divisional Headquarters.

No grant for any purpose may be made from The Home League / Ministry to Women to Corps funds without full consultation of the Ministry to Women Secretary or Home League Secretary and Treasurer, consent of the Corps Officer and endorsement of the Divisional Director of Women’s Ministries.