[Businessmtg] Fwd: Next agenda topic - ASP Finances, Treasurer's Report, Duties, Donations and More

Sat Apr 25 06:56:03 PDT 2026

Thanks a lot Steve for giving such a detailed explanation about how the
funds of ASP are managed and  how Steering Committee members  have been
working on it. I really applaud and appreciate each of you for your
hardwork and keep ASP going so strong.

Love & peace
Usha

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: steve--- via Businessmtg <businessmtg at asp-afg.org>
Date: Sat, 25 Apr, 2026, 01:26
Subject: [Businessmtg] Next agenda topic - ASP Finances, Treasurer's
Report, Duties, Donations and More
To: <ushavaidya1959 at gmail.com>
Cc: ASP Business <businessmtg at asp-afg.org>

Hi folks,

First, I'd like to thank Anne & Sheila for their work in the background.
Anne has been especially helpful on two fronts; helping Sheila with the
Treasurer's job and carrying most of the weight of changing banks.  More on
that later in this note.

Yes, my wife and I moved from the NW corner of Washington state to eastern
Idaho last September.  To say that the move has been a major disruption in
our personal lives would be a gross understatement.  Additionally, this move
is driving changes and adjustments to ASP which I'll touch on later in this
note.

I have separated the topics below with a row of = signs.

============================================

The Treasurer's Report.

As Anne reminded everyone this morning, the server removes formatting before
sending, which makes a mess out of formatted emails.  None the less, we
require that our trusted servants report to the Business Meeting for the
record.  The fix is simple . . . we post the formatted version on the
website.

============================================

Seventh Tradition Donations

Having served as Treasurer on and off over the years, a couple of things
have become obvious.

1. Passing the Basket

Most donations are received immediately after the Treasurer passes the 7th
Tradition basket.  By most, I mean almost all; the exceptions are uncommon.
During one of those times when I was acting Treasurer a couple of years ago,
I reported that our donations were not keeping up with expenses.  At the
time, I'd been a bit lax in passing the 7th Tradition basket, so I focused
on (a) reliably passing the basket and (b) passing the basket twice monthly
instead of [theoretically] monthly.  The result was as expected; donations
responded and ASP had ample funds for our needs and for donating to our
District, Area and WSO.

Bottom Line: the 7th Tradition donations seem to be entirely adequate when
the Treasurer passes the basket twice a month.

2. Donation Media

It seems that every time the issue of donations comes up, some members
suggest ASP add various other electronic payment services.  A quick check
showed the following electronic payment services available:

*       Apple Pay/Cash
*       CashApp
*       Paypal
*       Paze
*       Remitly
*       Revolut
*       Splitwise
*       Venmo
*       Wise
*       Zelle

If ASP was a business like most businesses and intended to be profitable, it
might make sense to invest in multiple payment services to maximize our
income.  However, ASP is not a for-profit organization, nor do we have
staff, such as WSO does, that can manage/administer complex financial
system.  Instead ASP has a volunteer Treasurer that already has an array of
duties.

*       Manage PayPal account

*       Receive PayPal donations
*       Transfer PayPal funds to brick & mortar bank account

*       Manage brick & mortar bank account

*       Deposit cash & check donations
*       Reconcile monthly bank statement

*       Administer payments as necessary

*       Reimburse trusted servants as needed
*       Make quarterly donations in excess of Prudent Reserve to Al-Anon
service entities per ASP group conscience

*       District 53
*       GEA
*       WSO

*       Create financial reports

*       Reconcile monthly bank account statement
*       Report to Steering Committee as needed/requested
*       Create quarterly 7th Tradition Register of ALL transactions

*       Provide PDF 7th Tradition Register to the ASP Secretary for ASP
website

*       Create quarterly report to Business Meeting

*       Income & Expense Statement
*       Balance Sheet reflecting funds currently in all accounts

*       Reconcile above reports with each other (more challenging than it
sounds!)
*       Treasurer's description of ASP's financial condition
*       Monitor status of Prudent Reserve and make appropriate
recommendations

Considering the dearth of ASP members willing to serve ASP in working
positions such as the Treasurer, I'm loathe to suggest adding duties or
complexities to the Treasurer or any of the positions on our Steering
Committee.

============================================

Prudent Reserve

ASP's Group Conscience #24 (June 2, 2022) states:

1.      "ASP's Prudent Reserve to be equal to one year's operating expenses;
actual amount to be calculated by the Steering Committee and recalculated as
needed."

It seems to me that the determination of the Prudent Reserve is a simple
math question. . . add up the total annual costs of operating ASP, and
voila!  You have the Prudent Reserve.  The most likely scenario is that
expenses go up from time to time, which naturally results in an increase in
the Prudent Reserve.  OTOH, if the expenses did decrease, then the amount of
the Prudent Reserve would decrease accordingly.

As I understand it, our current situation is that our expenses have
increased to the tune of $15/month, or $180/year.

Therefore our Prudent Reserve should increase by $180 until & unless some
other changes have occurred.

============================================

Moving to Idaho

Our personal move to Idaho is driving two significant adjustments for ASP.

1.      Banking.  As Anne mentioned, a core element of which bank we used
for ASP was largely based on personal convenience.  Prior to ASP's
incorporation, the Treasurers opened bank accounts in banks of their choice.
Over time, this became increasingly challenging due to changes in banking
laws.  This was sometimes complicated when a Treasurer received government
assistance which generally considered ASP funds as a personal asset of the
Treasurer, which impacted their assistance.  This led to ASP's decision to
incorporate, which eventually materialized.

In the meantime, Treasurer rotations led to my serving as the acting
Treasurer.  During that time, I was able to open a new bank account in ASP's
name & EIN, but associated with our personal account & SSNs.  It is
important to note that a federal EIN is not adequate to open a bank account
without either (a) an associated personal SSN or (b) the organization having
a legal identity, typically incorporation.

Once ASP's incorporation was finalized, we opened a bank account at a
different local bank, moved ASP funds to the new account, and closed the
account associated with me personally.

When we moved to Idaho, the convenience of having local bank account in NW
Washington vanished.  Anne & I, and the Founders and permanent members of
the Steering Committee discussed our banking options and decided to switch
from local banks that would be convenient for one of us, but not for the
other, to a major national bank that should work for both of us.  So, last
August we initiated the process of opening a new account in a major national
bank.  Anne succeeded just a couple of weeks ago in finalizing the account.
. . on her end.  Work still needs to be done on my end, linked to PayPal,
funds move and Sheila on board.  In any case, we should have this messy
process behind us shortly.  Who knew it would be so challenging?

As noted, one of the side effects is a new monthly charge unless we maintain
a minimum balance of $2,000.  Personally, saving $/month every month is
worth increasing our Prudent Reserve $400 - a decision that belongs to the
members in the Business Meeting.

2.      Incorporation.  Part of the decision to incorporate included the
decision to incorporate in Washington state.  One of the requirements of
incorporating is that ASP must have a street address, not merely a PO Box.
Hence, my residence was ASP's official legal corporate address.  Which no
longer works since we've moved.  Hence the need to change ASP's corporate
address; something we have been investigating alternative approaches.

Bottom Line.  The banking change project is nearly completed, and should be
history before the next Business Meeting.  The incorporation address project
is next and a works in progress, and may involve new one-time expenses.
OTOH, changes in the ongoing corporate expenses should be minor.  More shall
be revealed.

============================================

Lastly, please note that most of what I've discussed here is informational
for the members in the Business Meeting, while the decisions required belong
to the Steering Committee.  The members in the Business Meeting have the
right to decide on APS's general policies, while the members of the Steering
Committee have the right of decision regarding how those policies are
implemented.

Thanks for listening.

Love and SERENITY,

Steve

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