The Finance Committee and Committee Chair Responsibilities

Role of the Committee
The role of the finance committee is primarily to provide short- and long-term financial oversight for the organization. Typical task areas for small and midsized groups include budgeting and financial planning, financial reporting, and the creation and monitoring of internal controls and accountability policies and practices.

Key responsibilities of the finance committee include those listed below. Click to see more details about each.

• Budgeting and Financial Planning
• Reporting & Monitoring
• Internal Controls and Accountability, Transparency, and Risk Management
• Covering Audits and Investments
• Monitoring Other Risk Management Areas  

The finance committee chair is most often the board treasurer, whose specific duties are usually described in the organization’s bylaws. In practice these duties can vary considerably from a hands-on role, in the case of the “working board” model, to a more supervisory role where transactions are largely handled by staff. As chair of the finance committee, the board treasurer makes sure the committee does its job. Each of the following roles is described in further detail using the links at the bottom of the page:

• Role of the Chair
• Budgeting and Financial Planning
• Reporting and Monitoring
• Internal Controls and Accountability, Transparency, and Risk Management
• Covering Audits and Investments
      Audit Committee
      Investment Committee
• Monitoring Other Risk Management Areas

The presence of a fully engaged finance committee is a strong indication that an organization is committed to good stewardship and is actively building and preserving the financial resources necessary to support the accomplishment of its mission, both for the short and the long term.