Individuals & Positions
This document refers to the following individuals or positions.
SWAN Staff
- Aaron Skog, Executive Director
- Scott Brandwein, Assistant Director
- Ginny Blake, Business Manager
Lauterbach & Amen, LLP
- Wes Levy, Director
- Austin Blaser, Accountant
Expenses/Accounts Payable
Signers
SWAN signers, by title are the SWAN Executive Director, Board President, Board Vice-President, Board Treasurer, and Board Secretary.
- Two signatures are required for all checks
- One signature must be from a board signer whether live or facsimile
Signature stamp
- SWAN uses one facsimile signature (signature stamp) for the Board Treasurer
- The SWAN Board may authorize the stamp use for emergency purposes through an official Board resolution
- The stamp is locked in a cabinet that is only able to be accessed by the SWAN Executive Director
- Every time that the signature stamp is used, a copy of the vendor invoice and payment approval are emailed to the SWAN Treasurer for his or her review and email approval prior to the signature stamp being used
- This email approval is saved, and a copy is attached to the check documentation for filing
Banking
SWAN has two bank accounts: Hinsdale Bank operating account and Hinsdale Bank money market account.
- All SWAN receivables deposit to the operating account lockbox
- The money market account has no activity, but is interest bearing
- Both accounts are insured through the MaxSafe program which provides $250,000 of insurance per banking institution (FDIC coverage) with 15 participating charters for $3.75 million maximum insurance coverage without additional collateral
- The one Wisconsin-located Wintrust charted institution is excluded from the list of depositors, lowering the maximum coverage to $3.50 million
Access
- Hinsdale Bank online access is available to the SWAN Executive Director, SWAN Assistant Director, and SWAN Business Manager
- Aaron Skog is the administrator of the accounts
- SWAN Executive Director’s and SWAN Business Manager’s login is used to review statements online and monitor activity
- Each user has a personalized secure token sign-on for extra security
- SWAN Business Manager's login is able to initiate internal transfers and ACH transactions
- All ACH transfers must be approved by another user with approval authority, namely the Executive Director, or, in their absence, the SWAN Assistant Director
- Bill Pay within Hinsdale Bank online access is only used to generate checks sent from Hinsdale Bank for utility bills and facility rent and must be approved by another user with approval authority, namely Executive Director, or, in their absence, the SWAN Assistant Director.
Positive Pay
SWAN utilizes Positive Pay which is a Hinsdale Bank service where all checks issued are uploaded to the bank and any checks which are not on the list are not accepted or cashed.
Process
- All invoices are reviewed by the SWAN Executive Director or his designee
- Formal payment approval is created by the SWAN Office Manager
- SWAN Executive Director reviews and signs approvals
- SWAN Business Manager prepares the accounting software accounts payable
- All blank checks are locked in a secure drawer at SWAN headquarters
- SWAN checks are blank stock provided by Lauterbach & Amen
- Check number sequencing is printed through the Accounting Creative Solutions (ACS) accounting system
- SWAN Business Manager cuts the checks
- Cut checks are delivered to the SWAN Executive Director, who reviews them, signs the checks when authorized by SWAN Board resolution, and locks them up until ready for an additional SWAN Board signature
- SWAN Board policy requires two signatures
- Signed checks are returned to SWAN Business Manager for mailing, or, in her absence, they are mailed by the SWAN Executive Director
- Hinsdale Bank Positive Pay on the operating account is managed by the SWAN Business Manager and exceptions/alerts to Positive Pay are reviewed and approved/denied by the SWAN Executive Director or the Business Manager
Payroll Overview
Finance
- Paylocity automatically withdraws the payroll each period from the Hinsdale Bank operating account per the reports submitted to Paylocity by the SWAN Business Manager or the SWAN Executive Director
- The amounts are reconciled against the payroll reports by the SWAN Business Manager
Human Resources
- Positions are benchmarked for salary by an independent organization with the amount based upon similar positions in the industry via a fair market survey analysis
- Once a decision has been made on a new hire, Assistant Director and Executive Director determine salary within that benchmarked range based upon experience and education level of the applicant
- New hires are given an offer letter signed by the Executive Director, which they must then sign to accept the terms of the position
- This signed letter is kept in a confidential employee file, with a backup file in a confidential access location in the shared drive
- Payroll is issued every 2 weeks--typically processed on Monday and paid on Friday (exceptions include holidays), and all employees are currently paid via direct deposit
- Hourly employees are paid by timecard, which are reviewed by their managers
- Both employee and manager sign off on timecard via email with an excel document that is signed electronically and the manager giving an email approval
- Business Manager prepares the payroll through the payroll software provided by Paylocity
ICMA-RC
SWAN retirement benefits are provided through ICMA-RC.
- Each payroll the SWAN Executive Director or SWAN Business Manager will process the contribution to ICMA-RC using a password protected account
- The reports from the ICMA-RC payroll contribution are used by the Business Manager to create an ACH transfer from the Hinsdale Bank operating account
- A template is used to ensure that the transfer will go to ICMA-RC’s bank
- All ACH transfers must be approved by a second user with approval authority, namely the SWAN Executive Director, or, in his absence, the SWAN Assistant Director
Other automatic withdrawals/payments
- The SWAN credit card is paid, when possible, with a recurring payment from the Hinsdale operating account
- Two member libraries pay their fees via ACH directly into SWAN’s operating account and then email a copy of the remittance advice to SWAN Business Manager
Credit Card
Four credit cards exist. One of which is in the SWAN Executive Director’s name and retained by them, another is in the SWAN Assistant Director’s name and retained by them, another is in the SWAN Business Manager’s name and retained by them and another is in the SWAN IT & System Support Manager’s name and retained by them.
- Payment approval is made if possible, prior to the cards being used
- In some instances, such as ordering food, the approval is made after the fact
- Payment to Wintrust is made with an electronic fund transfer (EFT) automatically, when possible
- Credit card statements arrive monthly, which are reviewed by the SWAN Office Manager and reconciled with expense receipts
- Expenses are matched up with charges on the statement and a written approval is signed by the SWAN Executive Director
- At least one SWAN Board Officer reviews Wintrust credit card statements and approvals/receipts at the Board Meetings (these are not included in the online board packet for security reasons)
Reciprocal borrowing and ILL loss AR and AP
- The SWAN Business Manager generates RB and ILL Loss invoices and accounts payable per the information provided by the SWAN Resource Sharing Consultant
- All billings and payables are reviewed by SWAN Assistant Director
- The summary spreadsheet is then reviewed and approved with a signed payment approval by the SWAN Executive Director
Journal entries
All monthly journal entries are entered and posted by Lauterbach & Amen. Lauterbach & Amen then provides the SWAN Executive and Business Manager a copy of all entries for sign off/approval.
Fixed assets
Capital Assets are assets with an initial, individual cost in excess of $5,000 and an estimated useful life in excess of one year. Capital assets are depreciated using a straight-line method over their estimated useful lives. All additions and deletions of fixed assets are communicated from the SWAN Executive Director or a SWAN manager who has responsibility for the assets in question to the Lauterbach & Amen accountant who records the deletions in the accounting system.
Bank reconciliations
Bank reconciliations are performed on a monthly basis, within the accounting system by the SWAN Business Manager. These reconciliations are then attached to the bank statement and given to Lauterbach & Amen who reviews them against the system and supporting documentation.
Closing/Reporting
Monthly financial reports are generated and sent by Lauterbach & Amen to the SWAN Executive Director, SWAN Assistant Executive Director, and SWAN Business Manager. When these reports are sent, the month in question is essentially “closed” to additional entries, with the exception of entries that are the result of the year-end audit. The books are closed on an annual basis following the completion of the year-end audit.
Revenue/Accounts Receivable
The SWAN Business Manager generates all member fee invoices per the information provided by the SWAN Executive Director, with the exception of RB and ILL Loss invoices which are generated by the SWAN Resource Sharing Consultant. Member fees are determined by the Board and are approved by the membership at the quarterly meeting. A list of fees by library is posted on the SWAN Support website.
Process
- All SWAN invoices/billings are reviewed by SWAN Executive Director prior to being posted in the accounting system
- All SWAN invoices/billings name the Hinsdale Bank lockbox, so all checks received are deposited through the lockbox
- Any checks sent to Quail Ridge by mistake are forwarded to the lockbox by the SWAN Business Manager
- SWAN Business Manager pulls copies of all checks received from the lockbox through the online access
- SWAN Business Manager enters all deposits for SWAN into the accounting system
SWAN Executive Director reviews all deposits after they are posted.
