Mountain Freehold’s Financial Policies

(as required by the Kingdom Exchequer’s Policies)

Version 10/25/18

Mountain Freehold Financial Policy is based on the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. (SCA) Financial Policy, and the East Kingdom Financial Policy, and does not repeat the requirements set forth in those documents.

Financial Committee

The Financial Committee shall consist of the Branch Seneschal, the Branch Exchequer, and a third paid SCA member who is mutually acceptable to both. The Financial Committee will communicate as necessary for the smooth running of the Shire. The obtaining of necessary signatures will be done either in person or by mail.

Bank Account

Mountain Freehold currently has a dual-signature checking account, with the signatories being the Branch Exchequer, the Branch Seneschal, and the Kingdom Exchequer. At this time, our only bank account is our checking account.

Financial Reporting and Disclosure

At any moot (business meeting) held in the Freehold, the Exchequer will be prepared to state the current account balance, and will have the most recent bank statement available for review by the populace.

Following each event held in the Freehold, the Exchequer will announce, on our local mailing list, whether the event made or lost money, and how much. An event report form will be available, after it has been filed, for inspection upon request by any Freeholder.

Any member of Mountain Freehold may review the branch financial records at the Exchequer’s home, at any time that is mutually convenient.

Once a year, following the submission of the year-end financial report, the Exchequer will make available, upon request, an Excel spreadsheet showing our year-end Comparative Balance Sheet and Income Statement.

Event Budgets, in advance of the Event

Event autocrats must submit an event budget in advance, to be approved by the Financial Committee, before the event can be publicized. If the budget is not approved, the event is a no-go.

Expense Authorizations

Expenses of over $100 that are not related to events will be discussed openly at the next moot. If a moot is not currently on the schedule, and the need is pressing, discussion of the expense may take place on the group email list. After considering the wishes of the group at large, and the state of the group’s finances, the decision whether to authorize such expenses will remain with the Financial Committee. Ideally, the cost of such expenses will be offset by fund-raising for that purpose.

Expenses of less than $100 that are not related to events may be authorized upon consensus of the Financial Committee. These expenses will also be brought to the attention of the populace through the group email list.

Pennsic Expenses

Pennsic expenses for our Freehold Camp are not normally funded from the Freehold Treasury, for two reasons. First, a certain proportion of people in our camp are not actually Freeholders. Second, many Freeholders do not attend Pennsic. Therefore, each year’s Freehold camp will have a management committee to set a camp budget, to determine the fee for that year’s camp. Typical Pennsic expenses include: trailer storage fee, firewood, plumbing and infrastructure materials, and propane

Freehold Policy for Complimentary Admission to Events,  (Required by the Office of the Exchequer)

The King, Queen, Prince and Princess will get free admission to any Freehold event, including the feast. Members of the Royal Retinue get no special treatment.

Visiting territorial Barons and Baronesses get no discounts.

By Freehold tradition, the Autocrat gets in free, but still has to pay for the feast if he or she will be seated at the feast. The Head Cook also gets in for free and doesn’t sit for the feast. That means free admission for ONE autocrat and ONE cook. If there are multiple autocrats or cooks, they may split the applicable discount amongst themselves.

However, if the event loses money, it’s considered proper for these people to voluntarily pay their share of the site fee anyway – but it’s up to them. The Exchequer should let them know how the event did as soon as possible, and definitely before filing the final event report, so that adjustments can be made.

Freehold Policy for Refunds of Event Fees
(Required by the Office of the Exchequer)

The final authority on whether refunds will be given is the Autocrat. The person who actually issues the refund is the Exchequer. Requests for refunds should go to the Autocrat first. The Autocrat should consult with the Exchequer as soon as possible, so that the refund may be issued in a timely fashion.

Refunds cannot be issued beyond two weeks after the date of the event. (After two weeks, the event report has been finalized and mailed to Kingdom, and changes are very difficult.)

Normally, we only give refunds if the event makes a profit. Exceptions may be made in cases of financial hardship or in the interest of maintaining good will. This is at the Autocrat’s discretion.

Feast fees will be refunded if somebody else is willing to pay for that seat. Otherwise, if we cooked for you, and you didn’t show up, you still incurred that expense.

Refunds of Money Mailed in Advance: Refunds for non-attenders who prepaid will not happen automatically – they need to ask the Autocrat or Shire Exchequer for a refund. The request must be received within two weeks of the event. After that, the event report is finalized, and we can’t change the numbers.

Refunds at the Gate: If somebody pays for the feast in the morning and then decides to leave early – ideally, they can “sell” their seat to somebody else directly; that way they get their money back right away. We can’t take money out of the cash box and give it back to them. If they want a refund, they should write down their name, mailing address, and amount of refund in the Gate Log Book. If the Autocrat has approved a refund, and if the Exchequer can be found, the Exchequer can issue a refund check on the spot.

Here endeth the Branch Financial Policies