In Focus

Surf's Up, Chick Treasurer --
Let's Catch the Wave Together!

Since I think writing about what the treasurer does is, ummm.errr.boring, let me try to make this a little more exciting by comparing it to surfing. I know it's a bit of a stretch, but I'm in Hawaii at the moment and I just surfed for the first time yesterday. So I thought it'd be appropriate.

In order for your club to ride the right wave, you need to keep track of many details. Who is the person who is going to do that? It should be the Chick who loves being organized and isn't afraid of numbers. Once your club has voted on a Treasurer, have her read this article, and then have her hit the surf!

Set Up Your Discount Brokerage Account:
Buy a Surfboard

Obviously to surf, you need a surfboard. It's important to choose a board that suits you. Some are too long, too short, too wide, too narrow, so you try them all until you find one that fits your style. A brokerage account is your clubs' surfboard -- you need it to ride the waves - er, buy stock. Just like picking your board, you need to find a brokerage company you like, and that you're going to like for a while. So the treasurer does research on each brokerage company she thinks might be good for the club. She should compare each company's customer service, fees, and stability (are they going to be in business a year from now?) and whatever other research criteria she comes up with. Then the club votes on the treasurer's recommendation. Once that's all decided, the treasurer fills out the necessary paperwork and sets up an account. Way to go: You've just bought your first surfboard.

Keeping Track and Handling of the Monthly Dues:
Paddling Out to the Big Waves

Yep, just a little more work and you can ride the big wave. In order to get there, you need to do some paddling, so lay down on the board and start those arms moving. How does a treasurer paddle (keep track of all those dues)? Each chick is responsible for sending in her monthly dues to the treasurer. The treasurer keeps track by either using software or a plain old piece of paper. Chick Jeanette does it by paper. She lists the club members in a column and then across the top of the page she has a column for each month. She makes a checkmark by our names when we've each paid our $50. Every month she sends all 10 checks into the brokerage account. That's it, you've just made it out to the big waves.

Buying a Stock:
Riding the Big Kahuna

This is what you're doing all the work for. You've bought your board, you've paddled out to the big waves, and you're ready to jump in and ride the big kahuna on the Bonzai Pipeline. I mean, you're ready to buy that stock. Once the club decides on what company to buy, the treasurer goes on-line or over the phone and buys the stock with the money from the brokerage account. She then sends an e-mail to each club member listing how many shares she's purchased and for what price, along with the commission fee (what the brokerage charged). Here's what it looks like:

Purchased Nokia on 10/24/00, 36 shares at 40 per share = $1,440 + 19.73 brokerage fee. Total $1,459.72.

Monthly Treasurer's Report:
Waxing Your Board

Just like you need to wax your board to keep it moving smoothly through the water, a treasurer needs to report on the club's finances. Once a month our treasurer sends an e-mail telling us how much cash and how much stock we have in our brokerage account. There are a number of resources that can keep track of this for you automatically (websites and software) or you can do it by hand; you decide on your wax. We hope to offer clubs electronic tools soon on this very website. In the meantime, Chick Jeanette has the Chicks portfolio in three different places, www.msn.com, www.fool.com and through the brokerage account. She also keeps track of it on her little piece of paper, just in case any of the websites are down. She likes having all four different waxes at her fingertips. If you ask her which one she likes best, she'll say it all depends on the day and the wave. (Chick Jeanette surfing, now there's a sight!)

Year End Tax Stuff:
Accessing Your Surfing Skills

At the end of the year, the treasurer needs to let everyone know how much interest the club has made, any dividends on the stock you've owned and any gains or loses on the stocks that were sold. Just like seeing how many gashes you've received from the Bonzai Pipeline, or how many cool tubes you've caught, you need to know how you're doing. This information is also given to person preparing the income tax return for the club. In yesterday's article, Chick Karin wrote about the I.R.S and these tax returns, so refer to that for more information.

That's it! You've bought your surfboard; paddled out to the big waves, ridden the big kahuna, kept your board waxed and looked back and taken stock (heehee) on your performance for the year. Nice job. I now only wish I could really catch a wave on the Bonsai Pipeline. It's scary out there, you know, but I have 3 more days left to conquer it. My sincere apologies to the real surfer-dudes for comparing surfing to investment club accounting. But who knows? Maybe I've given them something to ponder besides the size of the wave!