¶ … Gross, McCarthy and Shelmon's text, Financial and Accounting Guide for Not-for-Profit Organizations (8th ed.) (2008). All of the following summarized information refers to this specific chapter. Not-for-profit organizations range in size and scope but they are all defined by their mission and the board of directors and executive management are responsible for executing the mission. Although the laws that govern the manner in which non-profit organizations oversee their fiduciary responsibilities vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, they all share the same types of oversight needs, including the need for a chief fiscal officer, treasurer or a director of accounting; some organizations also use a comptroller, business manager or accounting manager to serve as the chief fiscal office or treasurer. Irrespective of the title that is assigned, the individual serving as treasurer may be a paid employee or a volunteer and is responsible for properly maintaining the financial records of the organization. In smaller organizations, the treasurer...

This is an important responsibility because donors want and need to know how their money is being spent by the non-profit organization. The treasurer is also responsible for explaining any variances against the budget during the period it covers (Gross et al., 2008).
In addition, the treasurer is ultimately responsible for providing physical safeguards for the organization's resources, ensuring that insurance coverage is adequate to its needs, that a system of internal controls is in place to prevent unauthorized use of organizational resources and ensuring that the special requirements for accounting for endowment…