And yet, setting up and managing an efficient and accurate system to process claims is super-important. Why? Because firstly, when volunteers spend their own money on behalf of the organisation, they definitely want to be reimbursed as soon as possible :-) They will not be too happy if their claims take too long to process, and may hesitate to advance funds in future knowing that there is going to be a long wait ahead until they get reimbursed.
Also, from a regulatory and governance point of view, all non-profit organisations have a duty to manage the funds of the organisation properly. Efficient and effective systems need to be in place in order to track and account for every cent that has been donated to your organisation, or supplied in the form of grants.Tracking and recording the movement of cash going in and out of the organisation is therefore of fundamental importance. However small your non-profit organisation may be, if it is a registered society as most of them are, the accounts will be audited after the close of each financial year. In addition, if your organisation has tax exempt status,, there could be further audits or requests for records and documentation from the Inland Revenue Board. So it's really important to focus on what (some may consider to be) the rather tedious details :-)/
Large and well-funded non profit organisations would probably have part-time or full-time administrative staff to handle the nitty-gritty aspects of running a secretariat like claims processing, but small, new non-profit organisations may find that it just costs too much to pay regular salaries. In such cases, one of the founders themselves, or an office bearer like the Treasurer, is likely to end up with the role (in addition to their day jobs) :-)
So to help juggle it all, here are some simple tips on setting up a workable system to manage claims which a volunteer, founder or executive committee member/office bearer could try out:
i) Create a set of general headings, under which all claims will be categorised.
If your organisation is a registered society, you may wish to follow the general headings set out in the Registry of Society's financial reporting template on its e-ROSes portal. General headings under the "Expenditure" section are "Operating Expenses", "Activity-related/Fundraising Expenses" and "Administrative Costs".
ii) Create a template claim form and email it to the members and volunteers in PDF. The format of the claim form is pretty much up to you but you'd probably want to include a space for the name of the person making the claim, plus a table with columns for a description of the item, category of claim and RM amount. You should also add a space for a signature (of the person making the claim) and a counter-signature (of the Treasurer of the society, or other authorised office bearer such as the President). Also, print out copies of the form and leave them at the office or registered address, in case members/volunteers drop by in person to make claims. Another helpful hint is to keep a supply of paper clips next to the forms, so that claimants can clip their receipts to the form.
iii) Create a process flow for getting the claim form to you for processing. The members/volunteers need to know what they need to do once they have filled up the form and clipped their receipts to it. Should they scan the completed form as well as all the receipts, and email them all to you? Or, should they drop off the documents somewhere? Or will you need to meet them in person to collect the documents? This info should be clearly stated on the claim form, so that the person making the claim knows what to do with the form and the receipts. You may also wish to give the member/volunteer an idea of how long processing will take, just to manage their expectations in terms of timing.
iv) Create a set of internal SOPs to process the claim. For example, you might want to create a series of steps such as these to be followed.
1. Review the claim form and ensure that the claims are made under the right category.
2. Check the receipts to ensure that the RM amounts are correctly reflected.
3. Ensure that the form is properly signed and counter-signed.
4. Record the claim in your accounting system and prepare the cash reimbursement and voucher to be signed for the member/volunteer once payment is received.
5. Arrange for the member/volunteer to collect the cash and sign the voucher.
Hopefully the above tips have been helpful! :-) If you have comments or requests for info on particular topics, do email me at spiral1701@gmail.com.
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