Spending levels and limits for financial accountability

Select a trustworthy person from among the school staff to oversee finances and the ingathering and distribution of funds.

General Principles

 * Be as transparent as possible
 * Make sure you have authority to spend when you spend
 * Make sure your spending decisions do not place yourself or YWAM into financial difficulty
 * Act with the utmost integrity
 * If possible, decide in a team. The person who holds the funds should never have the authority to make decisions in isolation as to how they are used!
 * Clear guidelines promote understanding and aid in the training by example of YWAM leaders

General Staff

 * Must request a receipt when spending money.
 * Discouraged from spending from their own money and asking for a refund - this can be confusing for authorities examining your personal accounts (e.g. for tax purposes)
 * When purchasing items for a church when you share joint ministry (i.e. a holiday club, joint outreaches etc.), always do this with YWAM money. Do not mix your own money with YWAM money and church money.
 * Do not write IOU's (I owe you) and take money from stamp, washing machine contribution jars!
 * If you are given funds in cash for a project, put in cash box as income, only then draw out money to spend! This way a clear picture of what has been received and what has been spent is created. Do not try to short circuit or speed spending along.
 * Unless you are given a clear instruction to spend YWAM's money do not assume you have authority to do so!

Team/Ministry Leaders

 * Team leaders need to create a budget and stick to that budget
 * Team leaders can spend up to xxx,00 (fix a limit) on a single purchase but require the agreement of line leader to spend above that
 * If there are insufficient funds in your account then you may not spend even if you have budgeted for an item
 * Only ministry leader can sign sign contracts which must be agreed beforehand with their line leader
 * May not go overdrawn in their accounts
 * Donors must be thanked for all irregular gifts
 * Donors must be thanked annually for all regular gifts
 * Must inform their line leader with all amounts over xxxx,00 (fix a limit) either income or expense
 * Must inform their line leader as soon as they realise they may have a financial difficulty
 * Report on the level spending as requested by the line leader
 * Tithes and gifts from the ministry need to be considered and discussed with the line leader
 * Loans at team ministry levels are exceptional exceptions and not the norm. This must be discussed fully at the BLT at the earliest stage.

Base Leaders

 * Must must follow the rules for team/ministry leaders
 * When needing the agreement of a line leader they should find another member of the team to agree with them. It is preferred that the two leaders are not married.
 * Must ensure all team leaders are no more than one month behind in their accounts
 * Train all team leaders in this policy
 * Receive budgets/plans for each year from all their team leaders
 * Check or request periodic reports on the financial status of all teams
 * YWAM's ASBL status is purely for use with YWAM. Other organisations and churches are not allowed to use this to process their own transactions
 * Loans at Base Leader level must be discussed at Base level then National Level and receive Board approval.

Loans
In the case of interest free loans from donors, bank loans and mortgages the following guidelines must be followed:
 * Loans can only be agreed for capital expenses (buildings and equipment) and not running costs
 * A loan agreement must always be drawn up with private individuals