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63 discussions

Business travel coupon (and how to handle personal benefits from Wikimedia business)
by Pine W 20 Aug '16

20 Aug '16

Hi affiliate officers and board members, AirBNB offered me a $50 coupon to let them know my work email address. Since I travel with AirBNB for Wikimedia-related business, I used my Cascadia Wikimedians address. It's too late for me to get $50 coupon for my upcoming trip, but you might try taking advantage of this if you travel with AirBNB for Wikimedia business. Because this $50 coupon is due to my relationship with Cascadia Wikimedians, I plan to donate the coupon or the savings from it to Cascadia. You might encourage or require affiliate members who use their email address this way to do the same. Effectively, this will get your organization either a $50 coupon or $50 in cash for each person who does this. My personal opinion is that any financial benefit, such as a travel coupon or refund like this one, that someone gets because of their relationship with a Wikimedia affiliate, should be handled carefully because of the potential for someone to take personal advantage of the benefit without telling the affiliate. I would consider that to be an improper personal gain. You might check to see if your affiliate has policies that address situations like this, and make sure that anyone who might receive gifts or other benefits related to their Wikimedia work is aware of those policies. Please note that https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Conflict_of_interest_guide_for_Wikimedia_mo… says: "Implement a gift policy to avoid the appearance of bias. Consider prohibiting staff and board members from accepting gifts, money, or gratuities from: (1) anyone receiving benefits or services from the organization; (2) any person or business performing or looking to perform a service under contract with the organization; (3) any person who is otherwise in a position of receiving a benefit from the actions of an employee." While the COI policy appears to focus on the potential for improper influence on business decisions due to gifts, in this case the potential problem is someone receiving a personal financial benefit without informing the affiliate. In this case, I am treating the coupon as if it is the property of the affiliate rather than my personal coupon. So, I would encourage other affiliates to take advantage of this coupon, but make sure that the coupon is used for the benefit of the affiliate (or whichever organization is paying for travel) rather than for the personal gain of the person who receives the coupon. If any of the WMF Legal team want to comment on how to handle situations like this where a benefit (which should be encouraged for the good of the affiliate) might be converted to personal use, I would welcome hearing from them. Perhaps this is a situation that could be addressed more specifically in the COI policy than it currently is. Regards, Pine

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(no subject)
by mai-linh dean 20 Aug '16

20 Aug '16

Mai-linh P. Dean

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"Accounting 101" video
by Pine W 19 Aug '16

19 Aug '16

In case Wikimedia affiliate board members or officers are interested, here is a high-level overview of accounting. Although the software demonstrated here is Xero, the same terminology applies to other accounting software. To access the video, click "Pre-recorded video" on the lower left side of this page: https://www.xero.com/training/1844-small-businesses/1870-business-owners/26… Pine

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Upcoming Xero webinars on fundraising and Accounting 101
by Pine W 30 Mar '16

30 Mar '16

For those affiliates who use Xero, the company is starting to offer webinars. I'm planning to join the upcoming webinars on "Fundraising for Nonprofits" and "Accounting 101: What you need to know as a startup". Many of us who have regular responsibilities for handling movement funds might be familiar with at least some of the Accounting 101 content already, but you might consider inviting people like affiliate board members to attend if they're less familiar with accounting and would like to learn more about the subject. Regards, Pine

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Odoo and GNUCash for analytic accounting
by Federico Leva (Nemo) 21 Mar '16

21 Mar '16

Browsing https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Category/Business/accounting , I found https://www.odoo.com/documentation/user/9.0/accounting/others/analytic/usag… GNUcash is not especially easy when it comes to analytic/project-based/activity-based/reclassified accounting: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=113772#c6 / https://gnucash.uservoice.com/forums/101223-feature-request/suggestions/154… Other alternatives look less popular: * PBooks, * HomeBank https://answers.launchpad.net/homebank/+question/147356 . Did someone test Odoo, or did someone manage to integrate analytic accounting in their GNUcash usage? https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FLOSS-Exchange contains little information on accounting software used by the various entities. Nemo

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Re: [treasurers] [Affiliates] Presentation on accounting basics in Xero at WikiConference USA?
by Pine W 02 Jan '16

02 Jan '16

Hi all, If we have a tutorial at WikiConference USA, it will likely be recorded on video so that others can watch later. There is also the possibility that we might be able to live-stream the workshop. One of the reasons that we chose Xero is that it allows all of our board members to have read-only access via an Internet connection, meaning that any board member can look into the books at a time and place convenient to them. I feel that this is helpful in facilitating good governance. Pine On Sat, Jan 2, 2016 at 12:10 PM, Douglas Scott <douglas.i.scott(a)gmail.com> wrote: > I would also be very interested in learning more about accounting. I would > suspect that Berlin would be the best place to give a tutorial but as Pine > has pointed out not everyone will be there. I therefore think that such a > tutorial should be given at multiple places throughout the year so the > maximum number of people who need it or who want to do a refresher can sit > in and learn this basic but very important skill. > > Cheers, > > Douglas. > > > On Thursday, December 31, 2015, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> I was thinking of that, but unless something so wonderful happens that I >> can drop other commitments, I'll be staying home this year when so many >> others are having fun in Berlin. >> >> Pine >> >> On Wed, Dec 30, 2015 at 8:52 PM, Gnangarra <gnangarra(a)wikimedia.org.au> >> wrote: >> >>> may also be of interest in Berlin given may affiliates outside the US >>> also use it >>> >>> On 31 December 2015 at 12:40, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> Hi folks, >>>> >>>> I'm now reasonably comfortable with Xero for the purposes of affiliate >>>> internal accounting. I'm wondering, would anyone be interested in a >>>> tutorial about accounting basics in Xero at WikiConference USA 2016? If >>>> there's enough interest, I'm happy to lead a tutorial. We plan to have a >>>> lot of video recording equipment at the conference, so it's possible that >>>> we can facilitate live remote participation and/or recording for later >>>> viewing. I'm trying to get a feeling for whether this would be of interest >>>> to other Wikimedia affiliates, including those who would like to understand >>>> finance reports prepared by others. I'm not a CPA, but I know enough to >>>> feel comfortable with >>>> accounting for movement funds in Xero. (: Let me know if this would be >>>> of interest to you. >>>> >>>> Legal disclaimer: the focus will be how to use the software, not what >>>> the laws are in your particular jurisdiction. >>>> >>>> Possible topics: >>>> >>>> Reports >>>> Chart of accounts >>>> Bank feeds >>>> Reconciliation >>>> Expense claims >>>> Bills >>>> Accounts receivable >>>> Petty cash >>>> Sales tax >>>> Use tax >>>> >>>> Let me know (: >>>> >>>> Regards, >>>> >>>> Pine >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Affiliates mailing list >>>> Affiliates(a)lists.wikimedia.org >>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/affiliates >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Gideon Digby >>> President - Wikimedia Australia >>> P: + 61 3 9005 8535 >>> M: 0434 986 852 >>> gnangarra(a)wikimedia.org.au >>> http://wikimedia.org.au >>> >>> Wikimedia Australia Inc. is an independent charitable organisation which >>> supports the efforts of the Wikimedia Foundation in Australia. Your >>> donations keep the Wikimedia mission alive. >>> *http://wikimedia.org.au/Donate <https://wikimedia.org.au/Donate>* >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Affiliates mailing list >>> Affiliates(a)lists.wikimedia.org >>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/affiliates >>> >>> >> > > -- > Douglas Ian Scott > 司道格 > Skype: douglas0scott > South African mobile number: +27 (0)79 515 8727 > > > _______________________________________________ > Affiliates mailing list > Affiliates(a)lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/affiliates > >

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Re: [treasurers] [Affiliates] Presentation on accounting basics in Xero at WikiConference USA?
by Pine W 31 Dec '15

31 Dec '15

I was thinking of that, but unless something so wonderful happens that I can drop other commitments, I'll be staying home this year when so many others are having fun in Berlin. Pine On Wed, Dec 30, 2015 at 8:52 PM, Gnangarra <gnangarra(a)wikimedia.org.au> wrote: > may also be of interest in Berlin given may affiliates outside the US also > use it > > On 31 December 2015 at 12:40, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi folks, >> >> I'm now reasonably comfortable with Xero for the purposes of affiliate >> internal accounting. I'm wondering, would anyone be interested in a >> tutorial about accounting basics in Xero at WikiConference USA 2016? If >> there's enough interest, I'm happy to lead a tutorial. We plan to have a >> lot of video recording equipment at the conference, so it's possible that >> we can facilitate live remote participation and/or recording for later >> viewing. I'm trying to get a feeling for whether this would be of interest >> to other Wikimedia affiliates, including those who would like to understand >> finance reports prepared by others. I'm not a CPA, but I know enough to >> feel comfortable with >> accounting for movement funds in Xero. (: Let me know if this would be of >> interest to you. >> >> Legal disclaimer: the focus will be how to use the software, not what the >> laws are in your particular jurisdiction. >> >> Possible topics: >> >> Reports >> Chart of accounts >> Bank feeds >> Reconciliation >> Expense claims >> Bills >> Accounts receivable >> Petty cash >> Sales tax >> Use tax >> >> Let me know (: >> >> Regards, >> >> Pine >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Affiliates mailing list >> Affiliates(a)lists.wikimedia.org >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/affiliates >> >> > > > -- > Gideon Digby > President - Wikimedia Australia > P: + 61 3 9005 8535 > M: 0434 986 852 > gnangarra(a)wikimedia.org.au > http://wikimedia.org.au > > Wikimedia Australia Inc. is an independent charitable organisation which > supports the efforts of the Wikimedia Foundation in Australia. Your > donations keep the Wikimedia mission alive. > *http://wikimedia.org.au/Donate <https://wikimedia.org.au/Donate>* > > > _______________________________________________ > Affiliates mailing list > Affiliates(a)lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/affiliates > >

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Presentation on accounting basics in Xero at WikiConference USA?
by Pine W 30 Dec '15

30 Dec '15

Hi folks, I'm now reasonably comfortable with Xero for the purposes of affiliate internal accounting. I'm wondering, would anyone be interested in a tutorial about accounting basics in Xero at WikiConference USA 2016? If there's enough interest, I'm happy to lead a tutorial. We plan to have a lot of video recording equipment at the conference, so it's possible that we can facilitate live remote participation and/or recording for later viewing. I'm trying to get a feeling for whether this would be of interest to other Wikimedia affiliates, including those who would like to understand finance reports prepared by others. I'm not a CPA, but I know enough to feel comfortable with accounting for movement funds in Xero. (: Let me know if this would be of interest to you. Legal disclaimer: the focus will be how to use the software, not what the laws are in your particular jurisdiction. Possible topics: Reports Chart of accounts Bank feeds Reconciliation Expense claims Bills Accounts receivable Petty cash Sales tax Use tax Let me know (: Regards, Pine

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Comments about Xero accounting software
by Pine W 18 Dec '15

18 Dec '15

Hi all, Awhile back we discussed accounting software on this list. Cascadia Wikimedians decided to use Xero. I just want to post a note for the benefit of other affiliates that for the most part I like Xero and particularly appreciate that their end-user support seems good so far. The main downsides are that their visual design seems to be optimized for mobile and is less user-friendly for desktop, and it's especially mediocre for high-resolution displays. Also, Xero handles sales tax incorrectly for the way that state and local sales taxes work in the US; I believe that Xero is handling sales tax in a way that is intended to be compatible with VAT, which is quite different from how sales tax works in the US. If you're considering using Xero, I hope that this info will be helpful to you. Regards, Pine

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Equipment check-out for affiliate members
by Pine W 10 Dec '15

10 Dec '15

Hi all, Cascadia Wikimedians will soon have some camera equipment available for loan to members. I'm wondering if other affiliates have English-language forms already created that are designed for members to sign when they loan equipment from affiliates. If you have forms like that already created and licensed CC-BY-SA or something similar, please let me know so that I can take a look. Thanks, Pine

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