Dennis Feyh — President

Inside this issue:

Bob Bulman — 1st Vice President 2

Fred Jex — 2nd Vice President

4

Jimmie Goodman—

3rd Vice President 4

John Hudson —

4thVice President 5

Ralph Calhoun II—Secretary-Treasurer 6

A Publication of The Shrine Treasurers Association

November 2013 Volume 16, Issue 2

STA Ledger

Special Dates to Re-

member

Mid Winter Meeting

Tampa FL.

March 21—24, 2014

Annual Meeting

2014 Imperial Session

Minneapolis MN.

July 6 - 10, 2014

STA Mid Winter Meeting

Tampa FL

March 27-30, 2015

April 1-4, 2016

March 24-27, 2017

Treasurer’s all It’s time to get a jump on the New Year. Plan ahead for the winter semi-nar in Tampa, March 21-24, 2014. The informative classes and breakouts will be of interest to all attending. There is still some time to get your special request in for the last minute hot topic that needs to be addressed. Give Ralph Calhoun or me a call or e-mail and we will try to accommodate your request. We just got back from our planning meeting. The agenda is filling up with exciting speakers. More information on the wounded warrior program is being requested. We will have tours of the national headquar-ters on Friday afternoon and again on Monday morning. There is limited seating, get your request in early. Sue and the ladies committee have planned a wonderful sight seeing tour of Tarpon Springs for Saturday with lunch at a bay side restaurant. More

information will be in the brochure coming out the first of the year. The ladies won’t want to miss this exciting trip. Offer your Assistance to the Chief Rabban with the annual budget; make sure there are ample dollars in the budget for you to attend the annual seminar and the Imperial session. Decisions made at Imperial in Indian-apolis have changed the prerequisite to be a Shriner in Arkansas. This is the first such occurrence and where the future is heading in other states, no one knows. Times are changing; we need to be in the leaders group of the future. Long range planning needs to be addressed in every Shrine cen-ter. The Treasurer needs to provide current financials and progressive ideas for the future, to assist with this planning. This is something that each Treasurer (CFO) should be current on to advise the representatives from their Shrine Center. The main reason we exist is the Kids we serve and the Hospitals that can take care of their needs. Each Treasurer needs to hear the cur-rent financial reports from Imperial Treasurer Jim McDonnell to help un-derstand the financial picture of Shriners International. The question of an assessment or increase of dues will be back on the call next year in my opinion. Our favorite Past Grand Master and Legal Council Ted Corsones and the new Legal Council Alex Rogers, rep-resenting Shriners International CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

will lead the discussions on the rela-tionship some states have with their Grand Lodge and other legal issues. We will have a report from Shriners Hospital Chairman Doug Maxwell, PIP on the finances and operation of the hospitals which still show contin-ued improvement. There is still an enormous amount of work to be done. The new Wounded Warier program with the US Government is an exciting program that we all should support with enthusiasm. If you have any specific request for the spring meeting, please e-mail Ralph Calhoun and he will do his best to ac-commodate your request. STA has a website where a Shrine

Treasurer can get the information to

communicate with others who share

the same experiences and problems.

C h e c k o u t o u r w e b p a g e

www.shrinetreasurers.org.

It’s always good to review the policy & procedure and by laws available on our web site. Any treasurer wishing to put their name up for election for an officer, needs to send a resume to Ralph Calhoun before the meeting in Tampa. Sue & I are looking forward to seeing a large turn out of Treasurers and their wives in Tampa next spring. Mark your calendar for March 21—24, 2014 in Tampa. Book flights now!!! Take advantage of any cheap fares that you can. Room rates, shuttle services, food (meals and snacks) and hospitality rooms are top quality. One last quick reminder, be sure to allocate funds in next years (2014) budget for the Treasurer (CFO) to at-tend the annual meeting. Best regards and happy holidays, Den

“STA has a website where a

Shrine Treasurer can get the

information to

communicate with others

who share the same

experiences and problems”

www.shrinetreasurers.org.

Page 2

STA Ledger

Dennis Feyh — Continued from page 1

Bob Bulman —1st Vice President

DID YOU KNOW That the BATS Manual had 116 pages updated in April of this Year? And that it had 9 pages updated in Octo-ber of this year? Considering that there are only 283 pages in the Manual that is a 44% change. All of these updates are available on our

Web-site www.shrinetreasurers.org. Please make sure that everyone preparing your financial documents are aware of these updates and that the updates are being followed. It is our job as CFO to assure that the fi-nancial documents are correct and in proper form.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

The STA Planning meeting was held on October 24 and 25 in Tampa FL. Our President Dennis Feyh, myself, and Ralph Calhoun Sec./Treas. Meet with the hotel staff, and Matt Noll in prepa-ration for our March 21 to 24, 2014 Mid-Winter meeting. We are looking at some very interesting topics and some hands on time with our web-site. The agenda is filling up rather quickly and a ’tentative’ copy will be available on our web-site prior to the next publication of the “Ledger”. With that being said IT”S BUDGET TIME. How is the budgeting process for next year coming along? Are all of the elected Divan participat-ing? Do you have a line item for STA mem-bership and the STA March meeting? We are looking into the possibility of some additional activities either be-fore or immediately following the meeting. Look for more information in the coming editions of the ’Ledger’. I hate deadlines but they are necessary, so here are a few reminders:

Membership Reports: (Shriners Interna-

tional)

Electronic monthly membership and PCM re-

cords and corresponding paper reports are due

by the 5th day of every month.

Annual Recapitulation Report due by January

15th.

Creation Reports: (Shriners International)

Send immediately following the ceremonial. Do

not hold for monthly report.

Per Capita Tax and Hospital Assessment:

(Shriners International)

50% postmarked no later than March 31st,

35% postmarked no later than June 1st,

Remaining 15% postmarked no later than Octo-

ber 1st.

Annual Election Returns: (Shriners Inter-

national)

Send immediately after the election. Do not hold

for installation.

The following reports are to be sent di-

rectly to the Director of Temple Account-

ing:

Annual Operating Fund Budget and Com-

parison Report

Original budget no later than March 1st.

Budget revisions within 30 days after adoption.

Outside auditor’s annual financial state-

ments

Before May 1st following the end of year re-

ported on.

U. S. Federal tax returns: Form 990 and

990-T

Before May 15th following the end of year re-

ported on unless an extension has been granted

by the Internal Revenue Service.

Temple’s Annual Report of Hospital Pa-

tient Transportation Fund

Complete and submit by May 15th following the

end of year reported on.

Shrine Charitable Activity Fundraising

Event Form (CAF)

Submit within 60 days following the end of the

event along with a check distributing the net

proceeds or a copy of check that was forwarded

to Shriners Hospitals for Children to the atten-

tion of A. J. Pasmas.

Request permission to hold a Shrine

Charitable Fundraiser by sending a re-

quest to Jack Jones, Executive Vice Presi-

dent, Shriners International at least 30

days prior to the start of the event.

Shrine Treasures Association Dues

Submit by January 31 a Shriner.

You’re a brother and a friend. You know you can make a difference.

You’re a Shriner.

See you in Tampa!

Robert The Bob (RTB)

“budgeting process for

next year …

Do you have a line

item for STA

membership and the

STA March meeting?”

Page 3

STA Ledger

Bob Bulman —Continued from page 2

“do a comprehensive

review of your

financial/operational

internal controls”

Page 4

Dr. Fred Jex — 2nd Vice President

Greeting fellow Treasurers: When did your Temple last do a compre-hensive review of your financial/operational internal controls? Remember good internal control helps run the organi-zation much smoother and efficiently.

Components of good controls are: Control procedures – Competent, reliable and Ethical Personnel Assignment of specific responsibilities Separation of duties Audits Detail documentation of ALL transactions Risk assessment – What are you specific risks (Circus?) Information system – Adequate approval of ALL transactions Monitoring of controls – Periodical review of temple records both in-

ternally and externally Environment – Lead by example in good ethical behavior

It is Budget time for our Chief Rabbans; make sure there is a line item in their budget for you and your Lady to attend our winter meetings in Tampa, March 29 – 31, 2014. Kathy and I are looking forward to seeing all of you in Tampa,

Your officers are here to serve you, please

do not hesitate to contact any of us.

Dr. Fred

STA Ledger

Jimmie Goodman — 3rd Vice President Boy o boy, its budget time again and next year's board of directors are making notes for our soon to be get together to hash out a viable and realistic budget we all can live with. Certainly we will have to allow some extra funds for those later in the year ex-penses which always crop up such as girls kickball or boys T ball or someone’s pet project. Golly, everyone always thinks that Shriners are made of money. As of today we continue to stay in budget here in south Texas and it looks like this trend will last for the balance of 2013. Next year does pro-pose a concern, will prices rise beyond rea-son or will medical costs be so high that it strains our ability to continue operating 22 of the world's best children's hospitals? Right now, who knows. This makes our job more difficult in our budget ef-

forts. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Please keep our midwinter date in your budget as well as Imperial as we all know change is definitely in the wind and it will surely blow harder than in the last few years.

We cannot mention membership too often as it is our life blood at present. If only each of us would bring in one new member what a boost it would give us. I will do it, will you?

The March midwinter meeting will give you a warm feeling after the cold winter winds ease up and remind each of us that only the first quarter is almost history and reality is setting in as to the remainder of the year. The second

quarter can and has been at times a train wreck if we have forgotten to really allow for all of the expenses associated with Impe-rial so be sure to include a little extra funding for the spring months.

This is also a great time to get that group of possible members together and take them to one of our hospitals along with their ladies. It is always show and tell time to push for mem-bership.

Until the next time take care,

God bless, Regards, Jimmie Goodman

“membership ... it is

our life blood… bring

in one new member”

“keep a definitive line

between your hospital

and fraternal

fundraising”

Page 5

STA Ledger Jimmie Goodman — Continued from page 4

John Hudson — 4th Vice President Hello Treasurers, I hope all of you are having a fun and profit-able year. I feel this year has went by at warp speed. I hope you have filed your IRS Form 990 or 990 EZ. If your fiscal year ends on December 31st, the final filing deadline with extensions is November 15th. This is the form that keeps your Shrine, units, clubs and organizations tax-exempt so be sure you get it filed on time and make sure you list all of your units, clubs and organizations because it is a real pain to get them reinstated. I have learned many things serving on the Divan and as Potentate of my Shrine. I would like to share one thing that I have found useful in trying to control the finances. I find that if I have an issue with overspending it always

goes a lot smoother if I contact the Potentate to discuss my concerns instead of putting him on the spot during a board meeting. I would also like to share another story about making sure to keep a definitive line between your hospital and fraternal fundraising. We are one of the few Shrines that still produce and work our own three ring circus. Without our circus income, we would be out of busi-ness. A few years back a local television sta-tion made a statement about our circus mak-ing money for the hospitals which made it back to Shriner's International. We were con-tacted and had to prove we were not at fault. We had to send a copy of the media kit that we provided to the television station stating that all proceeds were for the benefit of Hadi Shrine general fund along with a copy of the television stations retraction. I can not imag-ine the shape our Shrine would be in now if we had not been diligent in the preparation of our media guide. I am not a fan of cold weather and it is starting to get cold in Southern Indiana so I start looking forward to getting down south to Tampa, Florida to see all of my fellow Treasurers at the mid-winter session. I can't wait to see all of my old friends and to make a few new ones. I hope all of you have a safe and happy holi-day season. Yours in the Faith, John "Show me the Money" Hudson

“valuable information can

be obtained at our webpage

www.shrinetreasurers.org”

“see you in Tampa in 2014”

Page 6

STA Ledger

Ralph Calhoun II — Secretary-Treasurer

At our mid-winter meeting in Tampa, FL March 21 – 24, 2014. We will do our best to provide the necessary training to answer your questions and concerns. However, having said that if any of you have ideas that would be of interest to the Treasurers Associa-tion please let the officers of the asso-ciation or me (Ralph Calhoun- Sec/Treas.) know. We will do our best to make it happen. We are asking you to talk to your Chief Rabban’s and ask them to place our seminar in his budget so that you may attend. You will receive valuable information as to IRS and Imperial Law requirements that govern your temple in reference to 501(c)3 Non-profit organizations. It is beneficial for new and seasoned treasurers to stay current because the laws change every year. We would also like to remind you that a few years ago we voted to discon-tinue the newsletter mailings because

of the cost factor. We now do it elec-tronically. We send them to you via email. This is why it is important for you to provide us with your current email address. There is a lot valuable information that we provide in the newsletter. The newsletter and other valuable in-

formation can be obtained at our web-

page www.shrinetreasurers.org. If you

do not have an email address then we

ask you to provide a current email ad-

dress of someone in your temple ad-

ministration, then they will be able to

download a copy of the newsletter to

give to you.

We also ask each of you to check to verify if your temple dues to the Shrine Treasurers Association (2013) are paid. The reason that I am asking it will soon be time for us to send out the 2014 dues notices. They will be mailed out this month. We will also try to provide you a copy of the regis-tration form in the mailing for the up-coming 2014 mid-winter seminar. We ask that you complete the form (along with check) and mail it back to us ASAP and prior to the cut-off dates. We need this information in order to make the necessary arrangement. This seminar not only provides valu-able information but provides fun and fellowship with your counterparts throughout Shrinedom. It is the only Association that you get the biggest bang for your dollar. We look forward to hearing and see-ing you in Tampa 2014. Fraternally Yours, Ralph A. Calhoun II STA Secretary/Treasurer