My Experience as UMAC Board of Directors Treasurer Session 2019/2020

                                                                 

Introduction

On 13^th May 2019, I have officially signed on as UMAC Board of Directors Treasurer session 2019/2020. My previous experience as treasurer is in Race of Fittest (KK8 project) during my second-year university life.

What treasurer is all about? Most people think that we are just managing money and preparing paperwork. Having said that, we are more than that. The job scope as treasurers are much dependent on other team members as well.

Hereby, I am honored to share ten main characteristics that I develop throughout the journey along the session.

1. Financial Literacy

As treasurers, our main duty is control income and expense in an expert manner. We are exposed to methodology in budgeting and financial reporting before execution. It is a must for us to equip with knowledge on how to deal with UM Treasury Department on sponsorship money, e-procurement, credit transfer etc. The knowledge learned in managing finance is always applicable in our daily life.

2. Flexibility

When kick-starting the journey, we are being given handbook. Theoretically, everything should run according to the script. However, surprise pops up periodically in every event which turns the planned story into an unexpected scenario. For instance, the implementation of UMPOINT in this session has changed the venue booking method and rental price. Hence, it is a must to always keep updated to the latest information and be agile in countering contingency issues.

3. Independence

Every year, the club will do something different as compared to previous session. In treasury aspect, we need to be dynamic in tackling the new situations step by step. For example, Board of Directors session 2019/2020 has changed the structure of UMAC Birthday and introduce UYDC. We still use back the same methodology in treasury aspect, but we cannot fully rely on past year record in making judgement since it is something brand new.

4. Team Player

As head of treasurer department, I am fortunate to lead a treasurer team of five people (W Week, MASC, ICSC, UYDC, AN) together with my assistant treasurer. In working time, seven of us are a team. Off working time, we are “Meow-Meow Family”. Each person has unique characteristic in the team, we do the best to enhance interaction among each other and ensure that no one is left behind. Overall, I am grateful to meet every one of them throughout my university life.

5. Well-Rounded

Every department will be allocated with certain amount of budget before they commence the work. It is a must for treasurers to understand almost everything for the sake of controlling the finance in the best position. Every week, event treasurers provide weekly update to Board of Directors Treasurers to facilitate the supervising process. It is useful in constantly reminding event treasurers on respective to-do-list.

6. Communication

As treasurers, we have opportunity to directly or indirectly deal with a variety of stakeholders such as club advisor, cash sponsors, participants, UM management, KMUM and vendor. For example, vendor and venue renter may be unclear about the payment procedure or demand pricing hiking. In such situations above, treasurers need to represent the team member in communicating with external parties.

7. Precognition

Preventive control is the security measure to avoid further negative consequence. When something goes wrong, we work it out immediately to avoid repetition in future. After each event, we will ask event team to evaluate and grade all of the vendors for future reference. For example, the vendors that are graded as "poor" will be blacklisted whereas the vendors that are graded as "moderate" may still be applied with proper safeguard.

8. Job Crafting

As Board of Directors Treasurers, we consistently upgrade ourselves to improve the club treasury aspect. For better internal control, we improve the mechanism of cash flow management and implement sponsorship coding system for marketing department to follow. To ensure club sustainable development, we collect feedback from event treasurers through postmortem and conduct a well-structured transition process.

9. Crisis Management

In session 2019/2020, we face an unprecedented global pandemic, which is Covid-19 outbreak. As a result, three events have been forced to cancel. We collect all receipts immediately in last workshop. During the critical period, we work day and night in planning strategy to liaise with sponsors, participants, vendors and university management to reduce the negative impact for all parties. In the meantime, we look for new working methodology for coming treasurers to execute in this new norm.

10. Follow Up Technique

As treasurers, we consistently follow up with UM Treasury Department for the club transaction as well as cash sponsors (with marketing department) for the relevant documentation. We need to have a right follow up technique in order to ensure that things can work effectively without affecting mutual relationship. Follow-up is always the last duty of treasurer before he or she can officially sign off, therefore patience is key.

Conclusion

On 15^th April 2020, I have officially signed off from the position as UMAC Board of Directors Treasurer session 2019/2020. Although technically it is impossible for me to clear off everything on time due to much external factors, I am grateful that most significant pending issues have been cleared off before new session officially reaches their execution stage.

I am thankful for everyone who provide guidance and assistance to me throughout this meaningful journey. It is impossible for me to walk until this stage without continuous support. As an ordinary human being, I would like to apologize sincerely for all of my mistakes done while holding the position.

Best wishes for coming Board of Directors Treasurers and Event Treasurers in session 2020/2021! It will be a challenging session but I believe that they can do an amazing job.