How many clubs are hiring an outside accountant to review your data?

I see no need for such an event to occur. Our Treasurer is responsible for
keying data into Bivio and making sure the reports tie out to broker and
bank statements. Each quarter we make available to all members the paper
copies which tie out to the Bivio reports. The annual statement that ties
into the tax forms are also closely monitored for accuracy.

Internal control is addressed by making sure that the check signing, stock
trading, bank deposit and reporting functions are all administered by
different members. This not only spreads the joy of club administration but
also insures that no one member gets the 'ability' to single handedly
control the assets of the entire club.

I know we all trust each other, but never put 100% of your faith in a single
member.

JM



-----Original Message-----
From: Ion Yadigaroglu [mailto:ion@bivio.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2002 9:16 AM
To: club_cafe@bivio.com
Subject: club_cafe: Re: XML - Simply means?


Yes - XML won't help you with your accountant, unless he is
importing into a club accounting program that supports XML.

Why don't you simply make the accountant a guest in your
club? He can browse all the reports he needs - you need
print out nothing.

--Ion

Tekko Roos wrote:
> For an accountant to do an audit on my club accounts
> he can go through the website or I have to print out out lots > and lots
of reports.

> Internal control is addressed by making sure that the check signing, stock
> trading, bank deposit and reporting functions are all administered by
> different members. This not only spreads the joy of club administration
but
> also insures that no one member gets the 'ability' to single handedly
> control the assets of the entire club.

We concur, Juan.

Our club split up the Treasurer's job so that the Club Agent handles the
trades & banking while the Treasurer handles the books and reporting. They
have to communicate with each other to get their reports done every month.
It's been a wonderful check-and-balance for us. This makes year-end
auditing a snap.

Auditing sounds scary, but it' simply a matter of putting together all the
broker and banks statements, running all the Bivio reports, and checking off
every entry to make sure they were properly entered, and that they balance.
With a team of three people, it can be cracked off in about an hour. In
fact, last year it took longer to print all the K-1s and reports than it did
for us to audit the books!

No paying for accountants here!

Lynn Ostrem
Crowriver Investment Club
www.bivio.com/crowriver