Finance Committee Report

March 2001

Committee Members:
Frank Rose, chairman
David Wegman
Annette Jörgensen
Chia Kee Seng, ICOH Secretary General

At the First Board Meeting of the ICOH Board held on 30 August 2000, a Task Group on Finance was constituted by ICOH President, Bengt Knave, to propose a set of financial guidelines and policy for ICOH. The Task Group was headed by Frank Rose with Annette Jorgensen, David Wegman and Chia Kee Seng as members. They have submitted a report to the President which is reproduced below.

REPORT

1. The ICOH Board had accepted the recommendation to form a Finance Committee as allowed for in the ICOH Constitution. The role of the Finance Committee is to support the Secretary General and Officers by proposing appropriate finance policies for ICOH, reviewing and ultimately endorsing the budget as prepared by the Secretary General, and endorsing any proposed revisions to that budget, before submission to the full Board for approval. The main purpose of the Finance Committee is to help ICOH achieve financial transparency and accountability.

2. The ICOH budget cycle is from one General Assembly to the next, normally a period of three years, with accounts kept by financial years. It was agreed that the budget is for planning purposes only and separate controls on expenditures within that budget must exist under the direct management of the Secretary General.

3. The Secretary General has proposed some guidelines for the control of expenditures and theses were supported and added to. Theses guidelines, designed to achieve financial transparency, prudence and accountability are;

• 3.1 There will be a clear description of expenses allowed under each respective vote. Transfer of budget between lines after the budget has been approved by the Board requires prior approval by the Secretary General and where significant (>5000 SFR) endorsement from the Finance Committee.
• 3.2. The majority of expenditure will be on a reimbursement basis except for staff salaries and petty cash. Petty cash will only be used in exceptional circumstances, must always be supported by receipts, and will not be allowed to exceed 200 SFR at any one time or 1000 SFR in any one year.
• 3.3 Travel and subsistence for essential ICOH business will be within the following policies;
  A per diem rate will be paid. The rate will be that established by the WHO.
  Air travel will be at lowest possible cost. For total flight time over 7 hours lowest cost Business class may be used.
  ICOH will not cover the travelling expenses of partners.
• 3.4 If any circumstance arises which cannot be resolved by the preceding guidance it will be resolved by the four officers with a decision based on the majority. In the event of a split vote (2:2) the President will hold the casting vote. In such circumstances the decision should be endorsed by the Finance Committee.

4. The Secretary General is to explore the possibilities of investing the ICOH reserves to achieve a higher income without significant increase in risk. A proposal will be put to the Finance Committee for evaluation.

28 February 2001

For the ICOH Finance Committee:
Frank Rose, chairman

The ICOH Officers had a meeting and discussed the report in detail on 4-6 March 2001. They have agreed in principle to adopt the report with the following modification:

1. Transfer between various budget lines (votes) in access of 2000 SFR would require approval from the ICOH Finance Committee