[Treasurers] link to Millstone Accounting tool

Tue Apr 10 12:44:38 EDT 2012

Hi Ivy and all,

Here is the link to the software code for the accounting/bookkeeping tool used by Millstone:

https://github.com/joeterry/finances 

I apologize for the long delay.  Questions, problems, or suggestions welcome.

Joe

________________________________
 From: Ivy Foster <ivy.foster at gmail.com>
To: treasurers at lists.bostoncoop.net 
Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2012 6:25 PM
Subject: [Treasurers] Meeting, 11th of February, 2012

Hey, folks,

I apologize for the lateness of these notes. If anybody has
any amendments or additions, I'd also be glad to send out a
revised copy in a more timely manner. Also, given
screenshots, I can integrate them into an HTML version.

Sorry again for the delay! Enjoy!

Ivy

P.S.: Joe, what's the project Web page for your system?

             ==================================
             = Co-op Treasurers Meeting Notes =
             ==================================

Scribe: Ivy Foster
Date:   Saturday, 11th February, 2012

============================================================
= Table of Contents =
=====================

Intro
BCC
Millstone
Financial management consulting project

============================================================
= Intro =
=========

These are the notes taken at the Co-op Treasurers meeting on
the 11th of February, 2012. The folks involved, in order of
appearance, were:

  - Micha, from the Cooperative Fund Of New England (CFNE)
  - Natalie, from the Boston Community Co-ops (BCC)
  - Gabe, from Spirit Of '76 Co-op
  - Matt, from...(sorry, Matt, I totally forgot the name)
  - Ivy, from Whirlybird
  - Joe, from Millstone

Micha
-----

Today, we'll be looking at screenshots of the accounting
systems used by Millstone and the BCC/Lucy Stone. We'll also
talk about the possibility of standardizing across co-ops.

============================================================
= BCC =
=======

Natalie
-------

We use QuickBooks, as well as a few spreadsheets to keep
track of lenders and the budget.

   - QuickBooks gives you a Chart of Accounts (an overview
     of all of your accounts) as the startup screen.
   - The BCC has a money market account, checking, and
     savings, plus the "Leroy" account (named for the street
     Lucy Stone is on).
   - Receipts may be categorized by vendor.
   - You can review individual accounts
   - You make entries by filling out a virtual check and
     categorizing it

We use all our financial information for an annual budget
every fiscal year (starting in September). We report back on
the budget every three months; we're interested in what was
budgeted, how much money we took in, what accounts were over
or under our expectations, and so on. This is presented to
the BCC board.

Micha 
-----

BCC & Lucy Stone have two treasurers: one for the BCC and
one for the house. BCC handles landlord issues such as rent,
and the house handles food and anything that doesn't fall to
the BCC.

Gabe
----

How does the BCC set house rent?

Natalie 
-------

It's $565 per room.

Micha 
-----

The BCC started at Millstone, so at first this was based on
Millstone's rent, but has since been adjusted as needed.

Natalie 
-------

The house decides individual rents. It's done on a sliding
scale based on the room's square footage, then adjusted on a
sliding scale based on income. As long as the house pays BCC
the correct grand total, the details of who pays how much is
left to the house members to decide.

Micha 
-----

...and BCC is elected by Lucy Stone, so it's not like
they're paying some oppressive landlord.

Gabe 
----

How many Allied Lender Loans do they have?

Ivy
---

What's an Allied Lender Loan?

Matt 
----

Somebody loans money (in this case a five-year loan) with a
certain interest per year: 0-4% interest. People decided to
pay 3%, mostly. They're /Allied/ because they believe in the
cause; it's a social investment. That's why they're willing
to accept low interest rates and a high risk (since there's
no government backing).

Natalie 
-------

On the BCC wiki, there's a finance manual. We also keep a
finance log of everything we do.

============================================================
= Millstone =
=============

Joe 
---

We use a homebrewed Web-based system I wrote. It uses fairly
standard accounting language.

   - We have /cash accounts/, such as bulk foods, rainy day
     fund, etc. They represent slices of the big, single
     house account. We also have cash accounts to represent
     other parties, such as vendors, the landlord, house
     members, members of our bulk buying club, etc.
   - You can view each individual account with the date,
     type, relationship to the group, etc. Each member is
     assessed with how much they owe, transactions they were
     a part of, etc. Each member pays a lump sum into the
     house account, and it's automatically divvied up into
     the various cash accounts, as appropriate.
   - Individual members can enter receipts, which are
     organized by category.
   - There's also a budgeting screen.
   - Emails are periodically sent out with totals owed,
     reimbursements due, etc.
   - You can view balances by year, with budgets, etc.
   - You can also export the data.

============================================================
= Financial management consulting project =
===========================================

Micha 
-----

If we standardize co-ops' accounts and financial procedures,
we may be able to pool resources to pay for an outside
accountant, who could support the treasurers. Since the
treasurer's job is one which is potentially fraught with
difficulty and even legal implications, professional support
could be a big help---especially for co-op owned houses.

I sent out a scope of work to seven accountants; I still
need to talk to co-ops about what services they would want.
Rental co-ops need less financial advice, for example.

The CFNE is involved because we want to increase the co-op
economy. Also bringing in an outside accountant allows for
risk management of loans.

_______________________________________________
Treasurers mailing list
Treasurers at bostoncoop.net
http://lists.bostoncoop.net/mailman/listinfo/treasurers
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.bostoncoop.net/pipermail/treasurers/attachments/20120410/05de60d6/attachment.html>