[IAEP] Intro to non-profit finances.

[David Farning]

It is time to start formalizing the Sugar Labs finances.

It has been a rather long process, but I am satisfied that we headed
in the correct direction.

BACKGROUND
Typically, finance is one of the most difficult issues for non-profits.
First, no one cares.  After all, we are here to create a great
learning platform not move number around.  Secondly, dealing with
money can be contentious.  Thirdly, it is hard to find a reasonable
balance of up to the minute accuracy verses the time and effort
required to achieve that accuracy.

In a for profit business, it is often the primary role of the top
people to figure out how to make the business turn a profit.  _All_
decisions come down to, 'How does that affect the bottom line?'

As we know, money is a scarce resource and we all have an unlimited
number of wants.  In our personal lives we have to make hard decisions
about the priority of our wants and needs.  In a for profit business,
the decisions are still hard, but there is a clear line of authority
over who is responsible for making the decision.

Financial detail. If I sound like a broken record here, it is because I am.
The detail and up-to-dateness of the financial records is a
engineering decision. We as a project need to find the right balance
between our needs and the amount of resource we are willing to spend
meeting those needs.

MONTHLY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The SFC handles the back end of our book keeping.  Donations are
received by the SFC and put into their Sugar Labs account.  Sugar Labs
does not have it's own check book.  Instead, we submit our board
approved expenses to the SFC for disbursal.

Once per month, the SFC sends us a statement of the previous month's
donations(income) and purchases(expenses); and a statement of our assets.

The treasurer will then turn around and present that information at
the slobs for
review and approval.  The three forms will be; a balance sheet, an
income statement, and a statement of outstanding liabilities.

The balance sheet is a statement of what we have and what we owe.

As of December 31, 2008 our balance sheet is:
|--------------------------+----------|
| ASSETS                   |          |
|--------------------------+----------|
| Cash and cash equivalnts | $3085.08 |
|--------------------------+----------|
| TOTAL ASSETS             | $3085.08 |
|--------------------------+----------|
| LIABILITIES              |          |
|--------------------------+----------|
|                          |          |
|--------------------------+----------|
| TOTAL LIABILITIES        |          |
|--------------------------+----------|
| BALANCE                  | $3085.08 |
|--------------------------+----------|

The Income statement is a summary of what we have take in and what we
have spent.

For December 2008, and the entire year of 2008 our income statement is:
|---------------------+----------+---------|
| 2008                | December | Total   |
|---------------------+----------+---------|
| REVENUE             |          |         |
|---------------------+----------+---------|
| Individual Donation | $3085.08 | $3085.0 |
|---------------------+----------+---------|
| TOTAL REVENUE       | $3085.08 | $3085.0 |
|---------------------+----------+---------|
| EXPENDITURES        | $0       | $0      |
|---------------------+----------+---------|
| Travel              | $0       | $0      |
| Infrastructure      | $0       | $0      |
|---------------------+----------+---------|
| TOTAL EXPENDITURES  | $0       | $0      |
|---------------------+----------+---------|
| EXCESS              | $3085.08 | $3085.0 |
|---------------------+----------+---------|

The outstanding liabilities statement is a list of items that the
board needs to approve before we ask SFC to write the checks.

Our outstanding liabilities as of December 31, 2008 is:

Travel expenses SugarCamp November 2008.
|------------------------+--------|
| Name                   | Amount |
|------------------------+--------|
| Marco Pesenti Gritti   |    542 |
| Tomeu Vizoso           |    720 |
| Edward Cherlin         |    300 |
| Christian Marc Schmidt |    171 |
|------------------------+--------|
| Total:                 |   1733 |
|------------------------+--------

Finally, there will be a list of upcoming budget item for
consideration.  Current those items are:
Purchase of server. approximately $1800
Hiring intern       approximately $450

Next the budget....

david