November 20, 2014

I.              Responsibilities

The Finance Committee (FC hereafter) is a standing committee independent of the Board of Directors of CPGIS.  The responsibilities of FC are: 

a). Enforcing the CPGIS Accounting Regulations

b). Managing the accumulated assets of CPGIS;

c). Supervising the financial transactions of the Board of Directors of CPGIS;

d). Supervising other financial affairs of CPGIS and maintaining financial records of CPGIS activities.

II.            Membership

The FC has five members.  The members are recommended and elected by the CPGIS BOD. The Chair of FC is elected by the FC members.  The term limit is five years for the chair. There is no term limit for FC members. The FC chair automatically serves as the Treasurer of CPGIS.

III.     Recall provision

If a simple majority of FC members vote against FC leadership, the FC Chair should resign from the post but would still keep his/her FC membership. FC would then re-elect a new Chair and issue a formal report to CPGIS members within 30 days. The election of the new FC Chair will be supervised by the CPGIS president. The ousted chair has the right to appeal at the CPGIS annual meeting.

To facilitate communication and coordination, the President and  the Board of Directors can be non office holding FC members without voting power.

 IV.    Criteria for office holders

A candidate of the Finance Committee should meet following qualifications:

a). Having a sound record in serving CPGIS;

b). Having no history of financial wrongdoing (any member can challenge the record of a candidate if he or she has any relevant evidence);

c). Having no conflict of interest in CPGIS. For example, current and preceding Directors cannot serve at FC until they complete their projects and close their CPGIS accounts.

III.         Accounting Regulations

The CPGIS Accounting Regulations are a guideline for CPGIS financing activities and are enforced by FC.  FC reviews the CPGIS Accounting Regulations regularly and revises them as necessary. FC should send any suggested amendments to the CPGIS Accounting Regulation to the President and the board of director for comments before making a final decision.  FC has the final authority on any amendments to the CPGIS Accounting Regulations. Amendments to the CPGIS Accounting Regulation will be approved by  a majority vote FC members.  

VI.    Asset Management

FC formulates the general policy regarding assets management. A conservative investment strategy is preferred. The daily management is carried out by the Chair or his/her representative. FC members receive no salary. Only operational costs can be covered by the FC. The compensation for the CPGIS President and FC staff is decided by FC.

VII.   Project Funding Criteria

The CPGIS fund will be used only for the following purposes:

a)       Support of FC regular operations;

b)      Support of projects when unexpected financing difficulty occurs;

c)       Support of special tasks that aim to achieve CPGIS’ long-term goals.

The operation guideline and major financial decisions should be approved by the majority of FC members. Any budget item of $3,000 or more should be approved by the majority of FC members. Any budget item between $1,000 and $3,000 can be decided by the FC Chair under the condition that the chair should inform FC members within 60 days.  The Chair can make a decision for items of $1,000 or less.

VIII. Annual Report

The FC Chair should submit a financial report to CPGIS annual meeting. FC should take timely action against any serious problems in financial management and inform the Board of Directors within three months.