The Audit Commission is on fire! Right after having selected their jobshadowers for this term and collecting the Activity Reports from all AEGEE antennae, the team met from the 20th until the 22nd of March in Brussels to audit the finances of AEGEE-Europe. The AEGEEan talked to the President of the Audit Commission, Arnau Robert (AEGEE-Tarragona), about the current and future plans of the Audit Commission.
The Audit Commission is a team composed by three members elected every Autumn Agora and is right now formed by Luca Lombardo (AEGEE-Torino), Mathijs Waegemakers (AEGEE-Enschede) and Arnau himself. “Our tasks are basically to ask for a summary of the financial activity that all the antennae had during the previous year, and check if they match with the information provided by the Financial Director through the Financial Reports. In case we have doubts, we ask for their documents”, Arnau explains.
To keep it simple: “we ensure that the finances of AEGEE are correct and according with our values, and following our mission and goals”, Arnau summarises. However, the team members are aware that the Network doesn’t always know what the Audit Commission goals are. This is why one of the points of their program this term was to actually give more visibility to their tasks, by starting to contribute to the AEGEE-Europe newsletter that is sent every two weeks, and through the brand new Facebook fanpage of the Audit Commission, where they broadcast their work regularly and post all reminders and relevant information for the antennae.
Getting ready for the Audit meeting in Brussels
The members of the Audit Commission met in the weekend of the 20th of March at AEGEE-Europe’s Brussels headoffice. It was the first one out of the two meetings that the Audit Commission has each term to check every single invoice and bill, in order “to make sure that everything is correctly posted and the money is spent wisely, and according to AEGEE’s values”, as Arnau explains.
These meetings are usually kicked-off with a teambuilding sessions among the team members, the jobshadowers who will join the meeting, and the Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe. Afterwards, the Audit Commission asks for all the bills and statements, and will spend the weekend checking if everything is correct. If the Audit Commission finds any mistake, they notify the Financial Director in order for her to fix it in her Financial Report.
The auditing sessions are very important, since the Audit Commission will report the findings that are relevant for the Network to know during the following Agora, right after the Financial Director presents the Financial Report. Therefore, a busy and crucial week is awaiting for the Audit Commission and Ioana Duca, our current Financial Director!
The jobshadowers are ready to support the Audit Commission
Meeting with the jobshadowers
Other than preparing for their Audit meeting, the Audit Commission has been gathering all the Financial Reports from the AEGEE antennae, and selected their team of jobshadowers who will support them in their tasks. “It was a very hard decision, because we only needed six jobshadowers, and around twenty people applied in the end!”, out of which eight people were accepted in the end, according to Arnau.
These jobshadowers have a relevant role inside the Audit Commission, since they get a first-hand experience on how the finances in AEGEE-Europe work. They might even become candidates for next year’s Audit Commission, which is why all applicants go through a very strict selection process.
The Audit Commission met a few weeks ago in a Hangout, where they were explained how the work was going to be – by now, they are already checking the main check points of the financial reports of all the antennae, which will be double-checked by the actual commissioners once they finish.
Last but not least, we asked Arnau what it takes to be an Audit Commission member, and why he would encourage potential candidates to apply at the Autumn Agora in Kyiv: “The Audit Commission is a very interesting commission if you want to practice what you studied, and you want to gain experience in this field [finances, ed.].” He adds: “You can help a lot in order to make sure the statements and finances of AEGEE are correct!”.
Written by Anna Gumbau, AEGEE-Barcelona