IEEE Policies | 
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Section 10 - Meetings, Conferences, Symposia and Expositions
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Conference advances may be requested from the sole
sponsor and co-sponsoring IEEE organizational
units. The sole sponsor and co-sponsoring
organizational units may issue advances to their
conferences anytime during its life cycle.
Conferences are not allowed to transfer advances from
one years’ conference to the next. All
conference advances are to be repaid one month after a
conference is held. Any advances, which might be
requested from the IEEE corporate resources for the
purpose of conferences, if they are approved, will be
made to the sponsoring organizational units and not
directly to the conference. » Back to Top |
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10.1.8 Conference Bank Account Signatures All IEEE Conference Bank Accounts provide for the signatures of at least two volunteers and the IEEE Staff Director-Financial Services or designee(s), except as shall be required under local government regulations. This will provide assurance to the conference and to IEEE of the availability of alternative signatures, if the need arises (Reference IEEE Finance Operations Manual). Conference Organizing Committees are not allowed to keep bank accounts open from one year's event to the next. Conference Boards (or Steering Committees) may not open nor maintain bank accounts. Guidelines for closing accounts are in the IEEE Conference Organization Manual. Bank Accounts must be closed six months after the Conference is held. Closing bank statement(s) must be submitted to IEEE Conference Services with the final financial report (Policy 10.1.11). Surplus will be transferred as per Policy 10.1.9. A Conference Board/Steering Committee is defined as a continuing organizational unit established by the OU Sponsors to act on their behalf for the sole purpose of managing a specific continuing conference series from year to year to assure consistency and quality. A Conference Organizing Committee is defined as the body of volunteers assembled for the purpose of managing a specific occurrence of a given conference. For co-sponsored conferences, where a non-IEEE sponsor (1) records the conference's financial transactions in its general ledger (2) receives and disburses funds in and from its main bank account, and (3) has a greater than 50% financial responsibility in the conference, the requirements for IEEE signatures on the bank account as well as closing the bank account six months after the conference are not applicable. A Memorandum of Understanding for agents is required and can be obtained from IEEE Conference Services.» Back to Top |
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10.1.9
Distribution of Surplus and Deficits
For solely sponsored conferences, the IEEE organizational unit assumes the entire risk of deficit; i.e., if a deficit is incurred in the operation of a conference, that deficit is chargeable against the sponsoring IEEE organizational unit. Conversely, if a surplus results from the conference, the surplus will be credited to the sole sponsoring IEEE organizational unit (IEEE Finance Operations Manual). For co-sponsored conferences, the Memorandum of
Understanding/Agreement (MoU/MoA) (Policy 10.1.5)
defines the extent of financial involvement of
each organizational unit. Deficit and/or
surplus will be applied according to this
agreement. |
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10.1.10 Auditing of Conference Finances Co-sponsored conferences, where IEEE has a 50% or less financial responsibility shall be encouraged to participate in the audit process. Conferences where IEEE has greater than a 50% financial responsibility, including conferences that are solely IEEE sponsored, and where the actual or budgeted income or expense is $100,000 or more must be audited by a professional independent source, outside the sponsoring organizational unit. The Conference Chair may select, with the concurrence of the IEEE Operations Audit Department, an outside accounting firm or another fully qualified resource. He/she may also ask the IEEE Operations Audit Department to arrange for and/or perform the audit. The selection of such auditors shall avoid any conflict of interest with members of the conference committee. Conferences where IEEE has greater than 50% financial responsibility, including conferences that are solely IEEE sponsored, and where the actual or budgeted income or expense is less than $100,000 will be audited on a periodic basis. IEEE's Operations Audit Department will schedule and arrange for the audits of these conferences. For those conferences not scheduled for an Operations Audit review in a given year, an audit should be conducted by a committee composed of individuals who have no direct or indirect responsibility for the financial transactions of the conference. At their option, IEEE's external auditors will annually select and audit a sample of five or less conferences with total revenues/expenses exceeding $1 million. This will allow them to render an opinion as to whether conference financial reports fairly represent actual results. Conferences will be advised in advance, if the option is to be exercised. Audit fees shall be incorporated in the conference budget by the Conference Treasurer and displayed as a separate line on conference financial report forms. The IEEE's Operations Audit staff will assure that
conference financials are audited in accordance
with the guidelines developed for this purpose.
Once per year, IEEE Operations Audit staff shall
distribute a report of the most common weaknesses
noted in conference financials, to help Conference
Treasurers avoid similar problems in future
conferences. IEEE Operations Audit Department
shall complete conference audits within 90 days of
receipt of required materials for audit. |
