In accordance with Articles 18, 19 and 20 of the Statutes and the I.R, management of the resources of the Association is governed by the following provisions:
Article 1
Competences of the General Assembly (GA))
The areas of competences of the GA are:
- fixing of the amount of the members’contributions, as proposed by the Management Board (MB) ;
- approval of the accounting report presented by the Treasurer ;
- approuvai of the annuel budget and the accounts presented by the President ;
- appointment and dismissal of two auditors, proposed by the Board;
- discharge to directors and auditors;
- designation of representatives for the signing of the accounts
Article 1.bis
A financial group, under the ex officio chairmanship of the Treasurer and composed of several other administrators, will be formed. The members will be chosen by the Board.
Article 2
Revenues
The yearly revenues of the Association are made of :
- contributions and donations from its members;
- subsidies which it may be granted to ensure the fulfillment of its mission and achievement of its goals;
- financial revenues from the organization of events ; carrying out of communication, publication /editing and training actions;
- in general, any resource that the Association may legally dispose of.
Article 3
Contributions
- The annual membership fee is set at € 30. It can be increased by decision of the GA without exceeding € 50.
- Contributions over € 30 are considered “donations” to the SEPS.
- The yearly subscription is renewed in January.
- The subscription for new members takes effect on the date of the 1st payment and is valid for the current year, until December 31 of the following year.
- Members who do not renew their subscription for two consecutive years are automatically considered to have definitively resigned and will be informed accordingly by the Secretariat.
Article 4
Accounting
Accounts record the annual results for the financial year and balance sheet, in accordance with the applicable simplified provisions of the annual accounts of associations and foundations, cf. appendix 8 of the Royal Decree of April 29, 2019 implementing the code of companies and associations.
Article 5
Expenses
- The Treasurer is in charge of current expenses (purchases, administrative expenses, missions and reimbursements) ; the President and DMG carry out the ad posteriori control and examination of the supporting financial documents.
- Significant expenses (over 500 €) are approved by the Board within the framework of the annual budget approved by the GA.
- Exceptional expenses that go beyond this framework are voted by the Board and approved a posteriori at the following GA.
- Any amount exceeding 50% of the amount of contributions received during the last twelve months is considered as an exceptional expense.
Article 6
Remuneration of members
- General principle
Members of the association work for free.
Where appropriate, they can only receive, for the purposes of the tasks entrusted to them, a reimbursement of actual costs incurred in the service of the Association. These expenses must have been the subject of the prior agreement of the Administrative Board and recorded in the report of one of its meetings.
Based on these principles:
- There is no payment of indemnity or service whatsoever to members.
There is only :
• reimbursement of expenses, provided that they are authorized in advance by the AB;
• monthly flat-rate volunteering allowances, justified and paid in accordance with Article 10 of the Belgian law of July 3, 2005 on the rights of volunteers.
The volunteer is entitled, upon request, to the following maximum amounts:
-maximum 34.71 euros per day and 1,388.40 euros per year (2020), indexed annually in January.
These ceilings are maximum amounts. Reimbursements may be lower depending on the work performed by the volunteer.
These amounts are valid for all volunteering activities performed by a person during a calendar year.
The volunteer should not report them in his tax return, if he does not exceed the limits.
For lump sum reimbursements it is not necessary to provide supporting documents. If the limit is exceeded, the reality of all of the costs needs to be provided, and not just costs that exceed the limit.
Only the reimbursement of actual travel expenses, up to a maximum of 2000 km per year, can be combined with the package.
- The Secretaries can each be granted a monthly “lump sum volunteering allowance”, representing 4 half-days, ie twice the amount per day of the daily limit, indexed as mentioned above.
This compensation covers the various costs incurred by their activities in Brussels and their participation in the Daily Management Group.
It should be noted that they each have an ING bank card for this purpose.
- Participation to meetings, conferences, seminars, congresses
All costs (registration, travel, etc.) incurred by participating in meetings, conferences, seminars, congresses to represent the SFPE, may be reimbursed provided that:
– The participation is made on the proposal or agreement of the Board or the President ;
– A documented report be provided to the Board or to the President with a copy to the Secretariat if it is a written report;
– A financial assessment be provided in advance to the Treasurer and endorsed by the latter.
In the event that the provisions available on the ad hoc budget line risks being exceeded, the Treasurer informs in writing (an email is sufficient) the President, who is responsible for taking the appropriate measures (total or partial refusal of the expenditure, modification budget to be presented to the Board and to be approved a posteriori by the General Assembly).
- Travel expenses
Any travel for participation in a duly authoroised activity provided for in point b) above, may give the right, for members whose main residence is located more than 50 km from the meeting place, to reimbursement of transport costs between the place of main residence and that of the meeting as follows:
– C.1: travel by car, at the legal rate defined by the law on non-profit organizations within the limit of 8,000 kms per year, on the basis of monthly or annual proof;
– C.2: all journeys other than by car, the equivalent of the 2nd class train fare (“senior” if the member is 65 years of age or over) within the same limit and according to the same conditions as C.1 above. Note: or equivalent, as sometimes the plane is cheaper than the train.
Exceptionally, subject to prior agreement of the Board and provided that the Treasurer gives his approval, the SFPE can cover, in whole or in part, the travel and subsistence expenses of an external participant, non-member of the Association, invited to a meeting of the SFPE provided that this participation is essential and in the express interest of the Association, with a maximum ceiling of € 500.
Small equipment and miscellaneous meeting/secretarial expenses are reimbursed to the board member on the basis of supporting documents. Refunds are made exclusively by bank transf.
Article 7
Control of accounts
The AG appoints two auditors from among its members.
The auditors examine and validate the accounts and present them to the General Assembly, which grants them discharge.