Points to Ponder #06-05

POINTS TO PONDER

Issue 06-05

From CSFC President Helen Zajac

CATEGORY:  Chapter Suggestions    July 31, 2006

Subject:  Chapter Records Storage

            As I visit chapters, they have asked me about how long they must keep their chapter records.  NARFE headquarters has issued that guidance/recommendations in the Federation and Officers Manual, F-10, which can be ordered from headquarters or downloaded from the National Web Site www.narfe.org.  The following information is taken from that document in an effort to assist chapters in retaining their records.

PERMANENT STORAGE:

EIN – Employer Identification Number
Minutes and Committee Reports
Organizational background papers (charter, constitution & bylaws, officers rosters)
Photographs, newsletters, news clippings, audio/visual cassettes
Property Records (accountable property) audit reports, budget and journal
Directory of Chapters (until superseded)
Equipment Inventory (as long as equipment is retained)
NARFE Manuals and Handbooks (until revised or superseded)
State Convention Plans, Minutes, Program Book, National Convention Program Book and Pre-Retirement Seminar – discretion of officer maintaining records
Resolutions – (until adopted and implemented/rejected)

THREE YEAR STORAGE: (Three years proceeding the current fiscal/calendar year.)

Financial Records:

Bank statements (investment accounts, money fund accounts, Treasury Bills, CDs, etc.)
Checkbooks, canceled checks and bank reconciliations
Daily cash receipts and bank deposit
Invoices, reports, vouchers
Per Capita report file
Receipts and Disbursements Ledger

NOTE:  The IRS Form 990 Organization Exempt from Income Tax, page 14, subtitled, Record Keeping.  “Usually records that support an item of income, deduction, or credit must be kept for 3 years from the date the return is due or filed, whichever is later.  Keep records that verify the organization’s basis in property for as long as they are needed to figure the basis of the original or replacement property.  The organization should also keep copies of any returns it has filed.  They help in preparing future returns and in filing an amended return.”

Membership Reports:

            Monthly Chapter Activity Report (M112)*
            Monthly Chapter Activity Summary (M112S)
            Membership Summary State/Chapter (M110)
            Semi-Annual Membership Roster (M114)*

*When disposing of these records, they should be shredded or burned to protect the privacy of individuals listed.

 ONE YEAR STORAGE (Previous year and the current fiscal/calendar year)

 NARFE Publications, etc. and general correspondence. 

 Correspondence should be destroyed unless containing historical information.

 COMMITTEE RECORDS

File folders – two years then screened for disposal of non-essential material prior to turning over to the incoming chairperson.

GENERAL INFORMATION

File folder labels should indicate:  Subject, calendar/fiscal year and disposition instructions (one year, three year or permanent).

Normally, the contents of a file folder should not exceed one and one half inches.

 For additional information/questions, contact: