Delegating authority to agents
Only the Board of Directors can delegate authority to spend money. Therefore, only the Board can empower an individual or group to make purchases as Dallas Makerspace’s agent. Only the Board of Directors or the Treasurer can establish limits for these agents, which may change from time to time.
Board-set allocation and authorization limits
There can be no deficit spending. Neither the Board or its agents will allow allocations or expenses to exceed the General Fund balance for a given year.
When allocating funds, the Board of Directors will not allocate more than five percent (5.0%) of the amount on deposit in the checking account without first obtaining and reviewing the most current financial reports prepared by the financial committee or the Treasurer. When funds have been allocated from the General Fund, but have not yet been spent, no draws or advances on any line of credit may be made unless the draw or advance is approved, in advance, through a simple majority (anything more than 50.0%) by the Board of Directors where a proper quorum is present at a meeting.
$0.01-$200.00
Expenditures of $200.00 or less may be made by a previously authorized Officer, or Committee Chair without advance approval from the Finance Committee.
$200.01-$500.00
Expenditures of $200.01-$500.00 must be approved by the purchasing committee at a regularly scheduled committee meeting, and reflected in their monthly meeting minutes. However, multiple expenditures that are related may not be broken down into smaller expenditures to circumvent obtaining proper approval (e.g. purchasing 4 automotive tires separately for $175.00 each instead of all 4 at once for $700.00).
$500.01-$2,0000
Expenditures of $500.01-$2,000.00 or exceed one-third (33.33%) of the committee fund balance (whichever is smaller) must be approved in advance by the Treasurer, or designated Finance Committee Member, in writing or via electronic approval (email or text) in addition to the previous requirements. However, multiple expenditures that are related will not be broken down into smaller expenditures to circumvent obtaining finance committee approval.
$2,000.01- $1,000,000,000
Purchases or expenditures that exceed $2,000.00 must be approved in advance by the Board of Directors in addition to the previous requirements stated herein. However, multiple expenditures that are related will not be broken down into smaller expenditures to circumvent obtaining Board of Directors’ approval.
Emergency Spending
In a situation where the safety of the organization or its members has been determined to be at exigent risk by any Officer of the corporation or Board Member, or that a piece of high-demand equipment is in need of urgent repair, up to $5,000.00 can be spent without prior Board approval. Said expenditure will be reviewed by the Board of Directors at their earliest convenience.
Required documentation for expenditures
For any expenditure made by or for Dallas Makerspace, a written invoice or receipt is required prior to payment. This invoice or receipt will be provided and will determine the amount to be paid for any good or service. This will apply to both one-off vendors and vendors who regularly provide goods or services, and it will apply to those purchasing agents empowered to make purchases for Dallas Makerspace.
Once the written invoice or receipt is presented, payment will be made directly to the vendor or reimbursement will be made directly to the agent, provided it has been properly approved.
Wherever possible and practical, the Board of Directors encourages the use of purchase orders. However, to be binding, a purchase order must be approved by the Board of Directors or its agents within their authority, as stated under this policy.
Wherever possible and practical, the Board of Directors also encourages the use of internal auditors to reasonably monitor the implementation of these policies or the corporation-set procedures and audit the Dallas Makerspace books and accounts on a regular basis. Internal auditors will report directly to the Treasurer and Board of Directors, and internal auditors will provide regular reports on their audit findings, first to the Board of Directors and then to the Treasurer. Recommendations for improvements (e.g. changes to policy or procedure) made by an auditor will be first considered by the Finance Group and implemented only after Board approval.
Payments on credit card balances and final authorizations
Only the Finance Group or its’ contractors have the authority to make payments or authorize final credit card approvals. Payments on credit cards will be limited to once per month and will be made prior to the credit card bill’s due date. There will be no exceptions made to this policy, as the established credit limit for a credit card is set to curtail excessive spending by an authorized individual.
As part of his or her due diligence, the independent accountant will review past credit card expenditures and make credit-limit recommendations to the Treasurer, at least annually, for his or her approval. Credit limits may then be adjusted up or down based on the Treasurer’s decision to expand or restrict spending.
Payment authority
Only the independent accountant or the Treasurer, as defined above, is authorized by the Board of Directors to make payments on its behalf. Payments include drafting checks for authorized officers to sign or authorizing recurring electronic payments (e.g. credit card bill payments, utility payments, insurance payments, etc.) without officer approval.
Prior to a payment being made by the independent accountant, payments must be approved under the protocols stated within this policy. As such, the independent accountant will ask for satisfactory approval evidence (e.g. board minutes, committee minutes, or signed writings). If satisfactory approval is not provided, the independent accountant shall refuse to make any payment and cannot be compelled to make a payment that is not properly approved and documented.
Only the Treasurer or the independent accountant may provide final approval and upload credit card transactions through an integration tool (e.g. Expensify). The independent accountant will properly code and document transactions from receipts provided by the purchaser before approval submission. Where prior approvals or receipts are not provided, payment will not be authorized, and the purchaser may be held personally responsible for reimbursing Dallas Makerspace for the unauthorized expenses.
Persons authorized to sign checks for payment
Only the Dallas Makerspace President, its Treasurer, or an individual authorized by the Board of Directors, may sign checks to make payments; however, proper approval for expenditures under this policy is required before a payment by check may be remitted.
Persons authorized to remit funds electronically
Only the Dallas Makerspace Finance Group or it’s contractors may remit electronic payments to recurring service providers (e.g. utilities, insurance companies, or credit card vendors) or product providers (e.g. raw, consumable materials providers or office-supply vendors).
Food and Drink
De minimus food/snack purchases for consumption by volunteers on premises (I.e. donuts, muffins, a few slices of pizza per person, tacos, empanadas, cans of kippers, etc.) during a scheduled, open-to-all volunteer event (i.e. open forge, open tours, committee work days, etc.) are permitted. All other food/beverage purchases require pre-approval by the president or treasurer.
