Information about legal compliance Societies Act for non-profits in British Columbia.
A contract for services is when there is an oral or written agreement for your non-profit to pay a person or company for performing a service (e.g. employment agreements, professional services, cleaning contractors, etc).
Remuneration is when a non-profit gives money to its directors for being a director (e.g. wages, honoraria).
Remuneration does not include gifts (i.e. small, irregular tokens of appreciation).
Remuneration does not include reimbursing a director for expenses caused by being a director (e.g. travel to a meeting).
Accounting records is a broad category which includes details on individual financial transactions such as the date and amount of deposits or withdrawals, cheque numbers, bank account numbers, daily balances, etc. Normally it is called the general ledger.
Accounting records and financial statements are not the same thing.
Financial Statements are a broad overview of the non-profit’s financial position, presented for member approval at each AGM.
Financial statements generally include four documents:
Officers (also known as board roles or portfolio positions) are directors who have special tasks or responsibilities.
The board roles are usually President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
If your non-profit adopted model bylaws, you will have these positions in your non-profit's bylaws.
Model bylaws are example rules for governing the internal affairs of a non-profit. A non-profit can either adopt model bylaws as is or modify them to fit its needs. Model bylaws allow a non-profit to avoid having to create bylaws from scratch.
Section 20 records are the official records a non-profit must keep, either in digital or paper format, under sections 20(1) and 20(2) of the Societies Act.
The section 20(1) records a non-profit must keep are:
A member class is a group that shares the same rights and benefits once admitted as members.
An example of different classes of membership are voting members and non-voting members. Classes are not the same as categories such as 'platinum' or 'silver' with different benefits such as discount tickets. Rather, it relates specifically to the rights and benefits involved in the operation and governance of the non-profit.
A special resolution is a vote that requires a super majority (usually 2/3) in favour of the vote for it to succeed.
A non-profit can amend its bylaws to raise the threshold for a special resolution up to 100%. However, one exception is that the threshold to remove a director must remain 2/3.
An ordinary resolution is a vote that requires a simple majority (50%+) in favour of the vote for it to succeed.
This usually happens when members vote at a general meeting. A simple majority of the voting members present must vote in favour of the motion for it to succeed. In addition, an ordinary resolution may be passed if agreed to in writing by 2/3 of the total voting members in the non-profit.
Most non-profit business that requires voting at a general meeting will be done through an ordinary resolution.