In the AEGEE structure, you can find the Audit Commission, a two-member-group which checks AEGEE antennae’s accounting. Normally, it should have three members, but the two Commissioners elected during Autumn Agora Kyïv can count on some job shadowers. We spoke to Deborah Pistori, 26 years old, member of AEGEE-Cagliari since 2012, and Mateusz Muszalski, 23 years old, member of AEGEE-Krakòw since 2013, to discover something more about the tasks of the Audit Commission.
Before Deborah and Mateusz became AC members, they were just two students not involved in any scientific subjects. Deborah studies Political Science and International Relations, so this is something that has not changed after the election. At the same time, she can boast about some previous experience in AEGEE: in 2014 she was a sub commissioner of the Network Commission on Financial Matters and she became a member of the Human Resources Committee. She was also in charge of Human Resources and Treasury at her local’s board, as well as Autumn Agora Cagliari’s Core Team member.
Mateusz studies Mechatronics. Like Deborah, he was also elected board member, but as Vice-President and in charge of Fundraising. He was also subcommissioner of Marta Wnuk dedicated to fundraising and he conducted some workshops as trainer in fourteen LTCs and many other AEGEE and non-AEGEE events.
Audit Commission’s main aims and tasks consist on checking the bookkeeping and approving the financial reports of AEGEE-Europe, AEGEE locals, AEGEE Working Groups and AEGEE-Europe events and presenting their results at each Agora. Although the AC deals with AEGEE-Europe and locals’ finances, “We would like to be treated by all of the AEGEEans as a supportive body in financial cases. AEGEE locals, do not hesitate to contact us!” says Deborah.
IIn order to become an AC member, every experience in the field of finances and budgeting is important and it would also be really helpful to know and understand what AEGEE-Europe’s budget and finances look like. Deborah explains us what the Financial Report is. First of all, for very young AEGEE members: “The Financial Report is the most basic document that every local should prepare after each financial year. However, if you are asking about the Financial Report that AEGEE locals have to send at the beginning of each year to AC, it is a structured form that presents the financial condition of the local”.
This year, the AC thought about being more helpful to locals, so it will try to have a direct communication with them and give them a thorough explanation to make the submission easier and understandable. Asking about how much time they devote to locals and working groups accounting checking, Mateusz says: “February and March will be a really tough moment for us. Even though you might think there is not a lot of effort behind the auditing of the locals, in fact it is actually the opposite. We do not know how much time it will take us exactly, but seeing that if every local submits it – and we definitely hope so – we will have to check around two-hundred financial reports. Luckily, we will have the job shadowers helping us out”.
Working with numbers and figures is a little boring according to many AEGEEans, but not for Mateusz; “To deal with finances, you need to be passionate about it because it is something really specific that also requires a lot of commitment and effort. We know that some people can find it boring or hard to understand, but we are happy we made this choice and we wouldn’t change it”.
Deborah reminds us what every antenna risks being downgraded if it does not work and its balance sheet is not approved, “You have certainly heard about the Antenna Criteria. The submission of the Financial Report is one of these criteria. When a local submits the Financial Report, we check it and see if everything is correct, and in case we find minor issues, we contact the local to solve this problem. If there are major issues, we have to go deeper to solve the problem, asking the local for a full audit, checking its bank account and all the incomes and expenses they had in the period concerned by the Financial Report”.
About an eventual planning to have more job shadowers, Mateusz says: “Arnau and Matthijs are now covering the position of subcommissioners and they will finish auditing the finances of the former Comité Directeur. Concerning the position of job shadowers, we will shortly issue an open call. We have lots of ideas about this position and we will try to get them more involved in the work of the AC”.
According to the CIA, the Audit Commission can have up to three financially competent members but in Agora Kyïv only two were elected. “We will most probably have the position opened for candidature in Agora Bergamo” Mateusz adds.
Written by Matteo Lai, AEGEE-Cagliari