Vincentian Discernment   |   Mental Prayer   |   The cross in Vincention Sprituality

Expectations of Individual Members

Behind every work of service being carried out by SSVP, there is a Vincentian who, with the help of God, is committed to increase this “network of Charity” and to bring hope and love by providing spiritual, emotional and material assistance on a person-to-person basis to those living in poverty, the lonely and the forgotten in our communities and to everyone around the world, because, “God who draws the clouds together to scatter the lightning, also draws souls together to radiate love” (Blessed F. Ozanam). 

The Society and its members adhere to the Rule and to the highest standards of excellence. We believe we see the face of Christ in those we encounter. We believe we are called to a lay vocation to serve those in need and each other as we grow in holiness and friendship with each other and offer ourselves as servant leaders in our mission of charity and justice.  Therefore, each member agrees to:

1.      Strive to grow in holiness.

2.      Value the importance of friendship with fellow Vincentians and those we serve.

3.      Regard home visits as the primary method of service to those in need.

4.      Attend scheduled meetings and offer insight and wisdom regarding strategic and tactical matters of importance to the Society and those we serve.

5.      Support fellow Vincentians in our Vincentian journeys.

6.      Act in accordance with the Rule, Constitution, Bylaws and Policies.

7.      Be an advocate and voice for the poor.

8.      Be in solidarity with the various levels of the organization.

9.      Participate in major events as often as is possible.

10.  Encourage twinning both domestically and internationally.

11.  Support the Society with personal monetary contributions based on his/her own personal circumstances.

12.  Offer self as a servant leader when called upon and to offer the gifts and skills granted to each one for the common good of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

13.  Be goodwill ambassadors for the Society to promote our mission, vision, values, and programs in our communities.

SSVP HYMM - Offical Hymm of SSVP

Role and Duites of Vice President/s

The duties of the Vice President are to assist the president to carryout those duties and to cover the presidential duties as appointed by the president when the president in not available.

Role and Duties of a Secretary

1. Record Keeper

2. Record minutes of meetings

3. Official correspondence / notices

1. Record Keeper

Be custodian of, keep up to date, and have available in meeting the files of minutes, committee reports, resolutions, membership roll, governing documents, paper for ballots, and the seal if the organization is incorporated. Meeting attendance recorded.

Ensure all official correspondence are filed.

Ensure all meeting records are keep for 7 years and passed down to the next conference secretary.

2. Keep accurate minutes of meeting 

and ensure are minuted are signed off by the appropriate persons, Call the roll when required

Make records available. Notify officers, committee members, and delegates of their election or appointment, Furnish committees with required documents, Furnish delegates with credentials

3. Official correspondence / notices

• Sign certified copies of acts of the organization

• Send out notices of meetings

• Conduct general correspondence that is not otherwise assigned

• Prepare order of business or agenda: make list of unfinished business and matters that are known in advance to be due to come up, Call the meeting to order at the designated time in absence of the president and vice-presidents and preside until the election of a chairman pro tem.

• Perform other duties that may be assigned by the bylaws.

Purpose of Minutes

• An official record in the event of a possible lawsuit or judgment.

• Information on financial orders, work of members and officers.

• A history of the organization’s acts and accomplishments.

• Helpful information for publication of achievements, historical sketches and other documents.

• A review of actions taken at the previous meeting to refresh memories of those present at the meeting

• A review of action taken to inform those who were absent from the meeting.

• Provide a valuable record of attendance, floor work, and the services of officers, committees, and delegates.

Preparing for the Meeting

A copy of the minutes to be approved at the next meeting should be given to the president for review.

The president and secretary should work together to prepare the agenda for the meeting.

Organize all materials for the meeting such as organization’s constitution, bylaws, standing rules, special rules of order, and any procedure manuals.

Preparing for the Meeting

Prior meeting minutes

Membership roll

List of committee chairpersons and members

Blank motion forms

Blank ballots (in case a ballot vote is ordered)

During the Meeting

The president should assist the secretary by clearly announcing each item on the agenda

Speakers should be advised to identify themselves clearly and to make all remarks so they can be easily seen

All lengthy motions should be submitted to the president in writing, with a copy to the secretary.

All committee reports should be given to the secretary in writing

The secretary should interrupt and ask for written motions when necessary to ensure the correctness of the minutes, but should avoid delaying the progress of the meeting.

Every effort should be made to not embarrass the president or the maker of a motion.

The president may ask the secretary to read the pending motion or advise who has spoken on a pending motion.

Contents of Minutes

• The kind of meeting

• The name of the organization

• The date, time and venue of meeting

• The full name and title of who presided and who took the minutes

• Whether the minutes of previous meeting were approved as read or corrected.

• Quorum present or not

The body of the minutes should contain:

• All main motions

• The wording in each motion

• The voting result of the motion whether passed or failed

• Secondary motions that were not lost or withdrawn

• All points of order and appeals, whether accepted or lost.

The last para of the minutes should contain:

• The time/hour and manner of adjournment

• Order of Business (Agenda)

• Call to Order

• Opening remarks

• Reading of the Minutes

• Amendments

• Passing of Minutes

• Matters arising from previous meeting

• Reports from Committees

• General

• Adjournment

The Role of Secretary in a Vincentian Context

Article 8 of the Vincentian Rule Book: The Secretary prepares and presents the minutes of meetings and is responsible for the statistical and clerical work of the conference.

Minutes should record the business of the conference briefly and accurately.

The secretary handles correspondence both in and out of the conference as required by the president.

Most important of all, the secretary is required to record the statistics of the conference activity for monthly and annual reports.

Article 17:

The Secretary prepares and presents the minutes of meetings and is responsible for statistical and clerical work. 

He maintains records of aggregations and institutions and the attendance of members at council and board meetings.

He collates the statistical reports of conference and councils for transmission to the National Council.

The council secretary is the organiser of council meetings. He/she prepares the meeting room, distributes agendas and provides all items necessary for the conduct of effective meeting.

Example of Forms

Notice of Meeting

Submission to Registrar of Societies (ROS)

This is done by the Hon Seceretary.

This is to be done online ONLINE - Eros System (see Guides Click here)

To be done annually, 28 days after the AGM.

The following are submitted to the ROS:

List of Office Bearers 

Minutes of AGM (current year)

Annual Report

Audited financial accounts

National office will assist with EROS final submission as it need to be approved by National office.

See ROS Submission Details at Chart of Accounts (click here)

DUTIES OF THE TREASURER

TREASURER’S FINANCIAL GUIDELINES

i) Receive all monies due to the Society and issue receipts promptly.

ii) Make all payments due promptly.

iii) Scrutinise expenditure.

iv) Maintain books of accounts —-Cash Book, Journal and Ledger.

v) Prepare monthly statement of accounts — Receipts and Payments for information to

the Conference.

vi) Prepare Annual Statements of Accounts — Receipts and Payments; Income and

Expenditure and Balance Sheet.

vii) Ensure accounts are duly audited externally for presentation to the Annual General

Meeting.

viii) Maintain separate files for correspondence, vouchers/receipts; bank statements; bank

pay-in slips. A copy of the Pay-in-slip to be attached to the copy of the official

Receipt.

ix) The Treasurer must be the main signatory to bank accounts.

ACCOUNTING PROCEDURE

i) The financial activities of the Society are mainly confined to the receiving of cash

and the distribution of it to the poor either in the form of cash or kind and in other

cases, for the maintenance and management of special projects. In order to record

these transactions properly, Conferences shall keep a uniform set of account books,

viz:

a) Cash Book

b) Journal

c) Ledger (follow the national chart of accounts)

The Cash Book, as the name implies, records all receipts and payments, whether in

cash or cheques. Care must be taken to show bank and cash separately.

The Journal is used for the closing entries; to transfer items wrongly posted; and to

record any transaction which cannot be recorded in the Cash Book.

The Ledger contains separate folios for each item of income and expenditure of the

Society. Postings are done from the Cash Book and Journal into the Ledger. When a

posting is done (following the national chart of accounts), a folio reference is normally shown. In the Cash Book/Journal, the ledger folio is shown. In the Ledger, the cash book/journal folio is shown.

There are two sides in an account - the debit (usually on the left), and the credit

(usually on the right). The system used is what is commonly known as “double

entry”. Therefore, EVERY DEBIT MUST HAVE A CORRESPONDING CREDIT.

AND EVERY CREDIT MUST HAVE A CORRESPONDING DEBIT. This is very

important. Otherwise the books will not balance, and it will not be possible to prepare

the accounts at the end of the year.

Expenditure is always debited, and income always credited. Similarly, a debtor is

debited and a creditor is credited.

When money is received, the cash book is debited. If the amount received is an

income, (e.g. donations, church collections, twinning contributions, sale of articles,

grants etc), the relevant credit MUST be posted to an income account in the ledger

UNDER THAT NAME. 

However, if the amount received is a payment made by a debtor, then the credit must go to that debtor’s account. Sometimes, an outstation cheque is received in which case a bank commission is normally charged when the cheque is paid in. ‘In such cases, the FULL AMOUNT of the cheque should be entered on the debit side of the cash book, and the bank commission shown on the

credit side (as if a payment has been made).

When money is paid out, the cash book is credited. If the amount paid is an

expenditure, (e.g. cash grant, purchase of rations, education, State Council

contribution, etc) the relevant debit must be posted to an expenditure account in the

ledger UNDER THAT NAME, If the payment is to a creditor, the debit goes to the

account of that creditor. Sometimes, a payment is made for an asset, like the purchase

of typewriter, filing cabinet etc., Is this case, an account UNDER THE NAME OF

THE ASSET should be opened, and the amount debited there. Occasionally, a

payment is made to Yayasan Ozanam for exchange of cheques for tax exemption

purposes. In such cases, it is preferable to record the payment on the credit side of the

cash book and debit the amount to “Yayasan Ozanam Account” in the ledger. When

repayment is made, the procedure is reversed. With regard to the 3% commission

charged by Yayasan Ozanam, this will have to be recorded in the journal by debiting

“Miscellaneous Expenses” and crediting Yayasan Ozanam account. The account of

Yayasan Ozanam will thus be closed.

At the year end, provision must be made for all expenditure which has NOT YET

BEEN PAID at the end of the year, e.g. the 10% contribution due to State Council,

and bills etc, in connection with December rations, amounts to be paid to National

Council for the Special Project Fund or X’mas cards, etc. This should be done

through the journal by debiting expenditure and crediting the creditor concerned.

Similar provision must be made for income which has NOT YET BEEN RECEIVED

at the end of the year. This is also done through the journal by crediting income and

debiting the debtor concerned. When this is done, a trial balance should then be

extracted. This is merely a record of all the account balances in the ledger. These

balances, together with the cash and bank balances, when added up, should agree in

total. Once the total agrees, the next step then is to draw up the income and

expenditure statement, the balance sheet, and the receipts and payment statement, and

have the books audited by the internal auditors.

Upon completion of the internal audit, the draft financial statements together with the

account books and all supporting documents are to be sent to the external auditors for

public auditing. 

PAYMENTS

As far as possible all payments shall be made by cheques. A bank account shall be opened

in the name of the Conference and shall be operated by two office-bearers - the

President/Vice President and Treasurer. The Treasurer shall always be one of the

signatories. The President shal! always initial the butts of the cheque after signing the

Cheque.

VOUCHER

A voucher shall be prepared for all payments, both by cheque and cash, and authorised by

the President, Where a payment is made against the bill, then the bill shall be certified by

the President.

RECEIPTS

Receipts shall be issued for all monies received by the Conference including Secret Bag,

First Sunday Collections, building fund, fund raisers; etc.

CLASSIFICATION OF INCOME (see chart of accounts)

The income of the Society shall be classified under the following heads:—

1. Secret Bag Collections

2. Ist Sunday Collections

3. Donations

4. Grants (including twinning)

5. Xmas Cards

6. Fund raising projects (Flag Day, Sale of food, clothing, etc)

7. Others (which do not fall under f

CLASSIFICATION OF EXPENDITURE (see chart of accounts - click here)

The expenditure of the Society shall be classified under the following heads:—

1. Educational Aid

i) School/Exam/Tuition fees

ii) Bus fares

iii) School books/Uniforms

iv) Scholarships

b) —Adoptees Subsistence

i) House Rent

ii) Food Rations

iii)Transport

iv) Allowances

v) Medical expenses

vi) Packing expenses (for food parcels)

c) Fund Raising

i) Flag Day

ii) Xmas Cards

iii) Sales-food, articles, etc.

iv) Walkathon/Dance/Hamper draws

v) Special Project Fund

vi) Charity Golf Tournaments, etc

d) Administrative Expenses

i) Postage

ii) Stationary /Printing

iii) Travelling Claims

iv) Meeting expenses

v) Mass Stipends

vi) Printing of annual reports, etc

e) Other Projects

i) Grants to other organisations

ii) Catechism Classes

iii) X’mas Party

iv) Sewing Classes

v) Self-help projects

f) Miscellaneous

Expenditure below RM500/- p.a. which do not fall into heads ‘a' to 'e’.

Notes:

FUNDS OF THE SOCIETY

1. FUNDS OF THE SOCIETY

are intended to carry out the activities of the conference as guided by the Rule . SSVP is not a philanthropic society. It does not make donations, nor create projects to be operated by others. In every Vincentian activity, the members must be involved on a person-to-person basis.

2. SOURCES OF INCOME are members' personal contribution (Secret bag ) ,Church

collection and fundraising, Grants, approved by State/National Council as appropriate.

3. HOARDING OF MONEY The Society observes the spirit of poverty. Hence it does not

hoard money or material assets. All monies received are considered held in ‘Trust’ to

provide as the need arises.

4, EXPENSES OF CONFERENCES

Assistance in cash/kind to the Needy, special works or self-help projects

mass stipends, retreat, Re-collection days, general and festival meetings including light

refreshments ( where possible participants should be encouraged to share in

the expenses), administrative expenses ( secretarial and other miscellaneous expenses)

5. SURPLUS FUNDS Should be given to the next higher Council to be allocated to

Councils and Conferences where the need justifies.

6. MAINTENANCE OF ACCOUNTS

6.1 Council/Conferences shall open a Bank Account to be operated by the Treasurer,

jointly with the President or another member of the Board.

6.2 At each Conference meeting a verbal report of the funds of the Conference shall

be given by the Treasurer. He shall prepare a monthly statement, which on

approval by the Conference, shall be exhibited on the Parish notice board for information of

All Parishioners. In the case of Councils, a statement of accounts (Received and

Payments) shall be presented at each Council meeting.

6.3All accounts of theSociety shall be Audited by Public Certified Accountant, in

addition to Internal Auditors.

WHAT IS AN INTERNAL AUDIT?

Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organisation. 

INTERNAL AUDIT FOR SSVP

Both the internal auditors must be present to conduct the internal audit (preferably). As it is impossible to check every single transaction, a random check method is usually adopted.

The treasurer is required to make available the following documents to the auditors:

i. Cash Book

ii. Receipt Books

iii. Payment Vouchers

iv. Bank Statements

        v. Cheque Counterfoils/cheque buds

        vi. Financial Statements

HOW TO CONDUCT AN INTERNAL AUDIT

Ensure payments are correctly recorded in the book with the right payment voucher number.

Ensure receipts are correctly recorded in the book with the correct receipt number. 

Ending balance must be correctly carried forward to the following month. 

CASH BOOK

The serial numbers of the receipt book must be consistent. 

If a receipt has to be cancelled due to an error, the treasurer should retain this receipt with the words “cancelled” or “void” written on it. This will help when checking why there is a jump in serial numbers of the receipt. 

Receipts must clearly state the amount of money in words and also in figures. 

RECEIPT BOOK

If a cheque is received, indicate the issuing bank and the cheque number on the receipt.

Most receipt books have duplicate copies. 

Ensure the duplicate copies can be read because a lot of counter-checking will be done from the duplicate copies. 

The issuing party must sign the receipts issued.

Those using ordinary receipt books, please stamp the receipt with Conference/Council stamp.

Payment vouchers must be numbered and dated to make it easier for cross-checking.

PV must be signed by the President/Secretary who authorize such payment and Treasurer initials beside the President’s signatory as the person who prepares the voucher.

The recipient must sign the voucher.

Members cannot sign on behalf of their adoptees unless the adoptees are illiterate.

PAYMENT VOUCHERS

The reason for getting the adoptee to sign the voucher is to ensure that the adoptee actually received the money.

There have been instances where a member signed on behalf of the adoptee and pocketed the money. The money did not reach the adoptee.

If a bill is provided for the purchase or the expenditure, attach the bill to the voucher.

This serves as evidence for the said transaction.

Go through the cheque counterfoils in the cheque book.

If a cheque is to be cancelled due to error OR returned due to an error, the cheque should be retained by the Treasurer with the words “cancelled” written on it and its counterfoil.

Or, cut out the cheque number at the bottom of the cheque and attach it to the counterfoil. 

CHEQUE BOOK

This will help anyone going through the cheque book to see that this particular cheque was cancelled.

Auditors must go through the bank statements. 

Check for unusual transactions. Seek clarification with the Treasurer if there is any unusual transaction.

It is the duty of the Treasurer to prepare a Bank Reconciliation Statement to reconcile the differences in the book and the bank statement. Check if this is done.

BANK STATEMENTS

After having gone through the book, vouchers and receipts, the auditors must then go through the statement of receipts and payments, income statement and the balance sheet drawn up by the Treasurer.

 If the figures in the cash book are correct, chances are the income statement and balance sheet drawn up will be correct.

STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS

Some Conference/Council may carry stocks of T-Shirts, Christmas Cards, pewter plaques, etc…..

Internal auditors will have to view the physical stock.

Where a fixed asset/property is purchased, the auditors could have a glance at the title/deed of the property if it is available. 

SIGHTING OF PHYSICAL STOCK/FIXED ASSET

Having vetted the books and statements, the internal auditors will prepare a report to the Board declaring that they have conducted the internal audit.

The report will have to disclose any abnormalities discovered or observed during the audit, or if the auditors feel a reply must be provided by the Board to some queries.

INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT

By signing the report, the internal auditors have concluded their duties, and will be held accountable and responsible, along with the Board in answering queries concerning the accounts.

DISCLAIMER

The information given is merely a guide on how an internal audit is conducted. It is neither in-depth nor conclusive. It does not form an expert’s opinion on the matter. 

SSVP USA MANUAL - as a resource for leaders (download click here) 

SSVP Scotland Gulde for new members (download click here)

Home Visitation

From the very beginning and throughout the Society's 175+ years of existence around the world, home visitations have been at the core and heart of the work of Vincentians (lay members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul). Although Ozanam, our founder, was open to all forms of charities and the Society has responded to new and changing needs by establishing Special Works, home visitations continue to be the way that most Vincentians choose to make person-to-person contact with those in need.

Home visitations have the following characteristics:

They are made by a pair of Vincentians to the home of a person seeking assistance from the Society;

Although the Society is a Catholic organization, we visit and serve anyone requesting assistance, regardless of religious beliefs or affiliations;

People may call the Society for various types of assistance. Some may need a compassionate ear. Some may need some emergency assistance in the form of food vouchers, clothing, or furniture. Others may need some information that will help them access appropriate services. 

Ideas for delegation