Roles and Resources^

Administrative duties are the responsibility of most everyone in the organization. Everyone has a role to play to make the organization run well and responsibly. Some of the simplest things each of us does for instance can effect an auditors finding, grant funding, or a person’s paycheck – Please be responsible in even the smallest of administrative tasks. Additional information on administrative and financial procedures can be found in the Personnel Policy Manual .

Some of the current main players:

Kathryn – Manages the business side of the organization. Maintains the current budget, cash flow, bank accounts, line of credit, prepares and send invoices, and manages staff payroll and benefits.

Ruth – Is our grants manager. She ensures that we are compliant to grant requirements, especially for our AmeriCorps grants. She also manages staff times sheets in regards to those grants.

Cathy – Takes care of paying most of our bills, both invoices and credit cards statements. She also manages program administration including payroll and petty cash for the Four Corners and Los Valles Regions.

Celia – Manages the administrative needs of the Sonoran Desert regional office. She takes care of member/leader payroll, petty cash, office and technology management.

Budgets and Budget Management^

The main organizational budget is maintained by the CEO and VP for business. Each regional ED is responsible for their individual budgets, managing revenue and expenses, including staff pay.

In turn, most program staff have responsibility for a portion of this regional budget to carry out their duties, e.g. recruiting trips, equipment purchases, etc. Therefore almost every staff person must be responsible for proper spending and budgeting of the limited funds available for their needs.

Each region and program should maintain its own expense tracking worksheet to properly manage their individual budgets. There are various methods currently in use.

Weekly Packet Mailing^

Once each week (preferably of Fridays) regional and program offices remote from Durango must assemble and mail a packet of administrative paperwork to the Business Office in Durango. This packet should include at a minimum all invoices received from vendors, reconciled credit card statements with their receipts, any check stubs attached to their invoices/receipts, completed and signed purchase request forms, request for reimbursement forms, and all other reconciled forms. A good practice is to have an identified box for these items in each office where items can be deposited as they are completed and ready to be sent. Review before sending to ensure that all forms and documents have their required dated signatures.

General Purchasing^

Any purchases, regardless of the process used, needs to be proceeded by a Purchase Request Form if the amount will be more than $500. For this purpose these forms must be signed by an Executive Director or the CEO. When signed they should be submitted with the accompanying invoice/check/credit card statement.

Prior to any significantly large purchases by check, the Business office should be informed to insure sufficient cash flow for the organization (e.g. >$1000, large uniform and tool orders, vehicles, computers).

Purchases can be made a number of ways, each with its own administrative procedure. It is important that all purchases be recorded, with the appropriate account number, in the regional/program expense worksheet to track spending.

Corporate accounts – Some vendors have allowed us to set up corporate accounts for their services. In most of these instances purchases can be made under the account and an invoice will be sent to the address on record.  These accounts should only be utilized by authorized staff (not CLs or CMs). All paperwork provided by the vendor at the time of service/sale should be kept for attachment to the invoice once it is received.

Corporate checks – If the purchase amount can be determined ahead of time, a request for a check can be made. Only certain staff members are authorized to write and sign checks. All requests for checks should be made using a  Purchase Request Form regardless of the amount of the check. (The only exceptions are checks to replenish petty cash, pay checks, and payroll advances.) On the stub of each check the details of the check should be noted – the payee, the amount, the date and the signer should all be noted. The check stub should be attached to a receipt or invoice as well as the signed Purchase Request Form.

Credit card – Many staff have been issued a corporate credit card mostly for use for minor and routine purchases. See the section below for their use.

Petty Cash – Petty cash is intended for small purchases where a credit card would be inappropriate or unavailable. Petty cash is available for both Crew Leaders and program staff. The process for reconciliation  is outlined below.

Receipts^

It is every staff member’s responsibility to obtain and submit receipts for their purchases. Each receipt should be signed by the purchaser. If there is an outstanding charge of over $60 that is not accompanied by a receipt within 60 days, this will become a payroll deduction to the originator of the expense OR if there are 3 missing receipts within one year, the forth missing receipt will be treated as a payroll deduction.

Accounts Payable^

All invoices and bills need to be paid in a prompt manner. Those received and paid directly by the region should be reconciled when received. Those paid by the HQ administrative staff should be sent to Durango in the weekly packet. In most instances HQ administrative staff will fax/scan over to the regional office copies of invoices they receive for regional expenses. Each of these needs to be examined for accuracy and approved by signature of the Executive Director. They should then be promptly sent back to the business office for payment .

Corporate Credit Cards^

Many staff are issued corporate credit cards (VISA) for routine purchases and travel expenses. These credit cards are the property of the organization and should only be used for work-related purchases. Purchases made using a credit card follow the same procedures as other purchases – purchases greater than $500 need prior approval from the ED/CEO via a signed Purchase Request Form; all other purchases should be made with consideration of the spending limits provided to each staff member through the regional budget.

Once per month the Business office receives the statements for each of these credit cards. A copy of these statements will be distributed to each staff holding a credit card. Staff must reconcile this statement promptly after receiving their copy (within a week). The procedure for reconciliation is as follows:

1. Order your receipts according to the order of the VISA statement

2. Number each receipt in that order

3. Complete a VISA reconciliation form. The total amount on this form should match the totalon the VISA statement.

4. Staple together VISA statement, reconciliation form, and all receipts. Submit this for approval to your supervisor.

5. Return all to Business office.

Petty Cash^

For Petty Cash Administrator

For Crews – Determine appropriate allocation amounts with approval of ED/PD for the current hitch for incentive, emergency and food money per crew. Issue crew money in the money envelopes/pouches to Crew Leaders and obtain signature and/or initials on the  CL Petty Cash Issued Form. The same form can be used hitch-after-hitch for the same crew. Keep these forms in a binder. No new petty cash should be issued until the previous issue is reconciled and signed off by Crew Leader and program staff

For staff  – Use the Staff Petty Cash Issued Form.  Amount issued must be approved by a supervisor. These cash issued forms should be collected in a binder.

When the crews de-rig, obtain receipts from the crew leaders along with their tracking form, verify amount spent by adding and running an adding machine tape, have the crew leaders sign off on the tape, and re-issue money as approved by the ED/PD. If receipts fall short of original money allocation, the crew leader will need to pay into the petty cash fund or get a payroll deduction to make up for the lack of receipt(s).  Be sure to have crew leader sign off on a payroll deduction form.

Program staff reconcile their petty cash with a different form, but otherwise are held to the same procedures.

Replenish petty cash funds by completing a Petty Cash Replenish Form. Several crews’ and staff’s tracking forms can be combined onto a single replenish form. Once the total funds spent are calculated on the form, request/write a check to replenish petty cash to the original amount. The replenishment form, along with the check stub, all the tracking forms with their receipts should be compiled together, approved by an ED/CEO and sent to the Business office each time it is completed.

For Crew Leaders

Crew Leaders should manage their petty cash using the Crew Petty Cash Tracking. Specific procedures for the management of these funds can be found in Chapter 8 of the Crew Leader Handbook.

For Program Support Staff

Staff need to reconcile their petty cash using the Staff Petty Cash Reconciliation Form. All receipts should be numbered and signed and attached to the completed form. This form, with any remaining cash, needs to be turned in before any additional petty cash can be distributed.

Cash Advances^

Cash advances are for upcoming expenses generally related travel and field visits. These can be handled trough the regular petty cash procedures.

Expense Reimbursement^

For out-of-pocket cash expenses for which petty cash was not utilized, a staff member or Crew Leader must complete a Expense Reimbursement Form. Receipts must accompany this form and should each be numbered and signed. After a supervisor’s signature is obtained the form should be submitted to the business office. A separate check will be issued to the staff member for reimbursement.

This form should also be utilized when requesting reimbursement for health insurance premium, wellness benefit, and other reimbursable items paid with personal funds.

Crew Payroll^

Crew Time Sheet – All member and Crew Leader hours should be properly documented on clear, legible, time sheets that are completed in pen without the use of white out. Time sheets must be signed/dated by BOTH the member/CL and site supervisors (Regional Recruiting Coordinators are SCC’s site supervisors and sign Corpsmember time sheets) or Program Directors. Time sheets are due at the conclusion of each hitch and must be completed and checked before CLs/members leave for their time off between hitches. SCC documents project hours, other service hours and education/training on weekly time sheets.  Below is a breakdown of how hours are tracked:

Project Hours: Any hours counted towards project partner agreements (this includes for our purposes: hours worked, including on-way travel to the camp/project site on the first day of your hitch; round-trip travel (car ride or hike) to the work site and back to the campsite every day; one 30-minute lunch break and two 15-minute breaks.)

Other Service Hours: Project preparation, supply shopping/purchasing, rig-up, de-rig, tool and gear maintenance.

Education/Training: Orientation, environmental education, outdoor skills, and specific trainings (S-212, S-130/190, crosscut saw, etc.) (For AmeriCorps members, this category should not be more than 20% of a member’s total time)

More information can be found in Chapter 8 of the Crew Leader Handbook. Original time sheets should be kept in the member’s/Crew Leader’s file.

Payroll Summary – The FC region will submit CL/member time sheets directly to Cathy who will create payroll summaries. These time sheets are due to Cathy on Friday of the end-of-hitch week. At LV and SD regions the payroll summaries will be completed at the regional level by the designated person and then submitted to Cathy by the Monday following the end-of-hitch.  A Payroll Summary should be completed for each pay period, one per crew. Accuracy on this form is important, especially when circumstances are changed for a particular pay period (e.g. pay suspensions, pay deductions). Meal deductions should not be figured into the totals due to tax arrangements. When completed the payroll summary must be reviewed and signed by ED/PD before submitting to the Business Office. The submitted summary will be the basis for the actual payroll amounts.

Payroll Deductions^

The Paycheck Deduction Form can be used for a variety of deduction purposes for both members and staff; pay advance, equipment rental/purchase, intentional equipment/tool damage. This form must be signed and dated by both the member/staff and a supervisor. The completed signed form should be stapled to the appropriate time sheet for the period applied. The deduction should be noted and accounted for on the payroll summary for that period.

Member Workers Comp^

This document, Workers Comp Resource Guide for Program Staff, provides guidelines for program staff on managing workers compensation.

Whenever a workers comp claim is made it must be documented on a Workers Compensation Report as well as a Incident Report Form.

Office – Property, Equipment and Supplies^

Property Management – Each region is responsible for the management of its property and office. Procedures should be in place to ensure that an adequate working environment is maintained for all staff and Corps Members. The offices should be kept secure, safe, in good working order and clean. Change office locks as needed, always inscribing each key with “DO NOT DUPLICATE.” Annual inspections of heating and cooling systems should be conducted as well as other inspections as necessary (e.g. termites). Any necessary repairs should be put out for bids and need the approval of the ED.

Office Equipment – All office equipment is for work use only. A master list of all office equipment, software, and other capital equipment (acquisitions costing more than $1000) should be maintained.   Any new purchases of office or field equipment that is over $1000 should be reported to the Business office for the purpose of tracking deprecation.

Office Supplies – All office supplies are for work purposes only. Resource use should be considered before using any office supply product, especially paper and printer/copier ink.

Field Equipment^

An inventory of all field equipment should be maintained by each regional program staff. There should be adequate systems for tracking the check-out and check-in of equipment by crews and staff.

Information Technology^

Each region is responsible for keeping hardware and software used in their office up-to-date so that it properly functions and interacts with the other systems of the organization. Back-ups of all data should be performed on a regular basis either through the use of an outside vendor or by well controlled systems within the office

Insurance^

Vehicles - We use a common insurer for all vehicles, ???? Insurance cards can be found in each vehicle generally in the glove box. In case of an accident be sure to follow the procedures laid out in the section on Incident Management.

Liability - Liability insurance generally covers situations were one of our employees, our equipment, or our facilities has led to a negligent injury to another party. We are insured to the maximum of ???? by ????. This copy of the Certificate of Insurance is sometimes needed for a partner’s records or for grant submissions.

Uniforms and Other Branded Items^

SCC’s everyday uniform is generally a t-shirt or specialized saw shirt. These uniform items are …well, uniform across all regions. They are ordered a couple times a year through the Director of Operations. Other branded items such as water bottles, stickers, belt buckles, etc. are also ordered in bulk usually at the same time as uniforms.

Food and Nutrition Guidelines^

Crew food is ordered and managed on a regional level. In order for the most productive and healthy crew nutrition should be a factor in all food purchases.

Vehicles^

A full set of vehicle standards can be found in the Crew Leader Handbook or in this standalone document – Vehicle Standards 2010

In addition to the operational standards each region is responsible for the following:

1. Obtain a current driver’s record for each driver before hiring for the season and fax/bring to HQ.  After driver is covered on insurance, maintain a master file of current drivers and fax/bring to HQ when revisions occur.

2. Ensure that all vehicle files are complete with title, current registration and insurance that is in force.

3. Ensure that all vehicles have current registration and that the proper paperwork is carried in the appropriate vehicles.

4. Maintain a master list of vehicles, and fax list to HQ when revisions occur.

Trailers and Towing^

These standards can be found with the Vehicle Standards above.