[HCoop-Discuss] Getting rid of our balance discrepancy

[Adam Chlipala]

In September, I first wrote to this list to ask for donations to cover a 
discrepancy between our bank account balance and the amount of money 
that our bookkeeping says we should have on hand.  The executive summary 
is that, over the 7 years of HCoop's existence, my volunteered efforts 
as treasurer have led to some confusing results, and no one has been 
able to figure out the cause.  I asked for members who might be willing 
to donate parts of their balances towards covering the $1820.50 
discrepancy.  Today, I recalculated the relevant figures, and the 
deficit has shrunk to $1149.19.  I'm not sure why; I hope we can just 
reduce this number to zero, and then henceforth someone will check the 
numbers each month to make sure things don't go awry again.

I'm going to summarize the current situation and then include a copy of 
my original message on this subject.

HCOOP BALANCES:
Wells Fargo: $7306.22
PayPal: $50.00
Checkout (payments not yet transferred to our bank account): $58.20
SUM: $7414.42

PORTAL SAYS WE HAVE:
Co-op balance: $98.29
Active member balances: $8465.32
SUM: $8563.61

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE AMOUNTS:
Deficit: $1149.19
Negative balances of members who left without paying up: $314.31
Remaining (mystery amount!): $834.88
Number of pledges: 15 (out of 132 members)
Median: $25
Mean: $37.11
Min: $10
Max: $100
Total: $556.60
Adding sale of PowerEdge server: $591.60

Remaining deficit: $834.88

I'm going to end up paying the remaining deficit myself, so, as things 
stand, that's $834.88 paid by me and $100 paid by the next-highest 
contributor.  I have my records of pledges that members have already 
made, in response to earlier messages.  If you would like to make a new 
pledge, or to modify your old pledge (none of which have been debited 
yet), please e-mail me (adamc at hcoop.net) with your HCoop username and 
desired donation amount.

I'm thinking I'll wrap this up by charging all donations 2 weeks from 
today.  It would only take a donation of $8.27 per member to close this 
deficit, but I don't expect to get anywhere near that many 
participants.  Realistically, we'd probably need at least a few more 
donations in the $100 range to leave it so I'm not paying at least $100 
more than the next highest contributor.


Here's a copy of the message I sent in September:

HCoop has been around for a while, and our current financial records 
trail back to before we were even an official legal entity.  Somewhere 
along the line between then and now, our records on the HCoop portal 
have gotten out of sync with the balance of our bank account.  The 
difference between the two stands at $1820.50 now, when we consider 
negative balances of members who left while still owing money, before we 
instituted our current policy of freezing member accounts shortly before 
they reach the point where this could happen.

It seems prudent to get the two figures in line before proceeding much 
further.  We don't really have any methods available to us for finding 
the root reasons for the discrepancy, though, so I'm proposing that we 
find some subset of members who will voluntarily pledge extra amounts 
out of their balances to cover the difference.

Please remember that HCoop has never yet had a single paid staff member 
performing any service, including managing our financial records.  I've 
done this particular task without pay since 2002, and I'm kind of proud 
that the discrepancy isn't even worse, for 6 years of operation. ;-)  I 
can't think of any way in which a suspicious member could construe the 
situation as a crafty attempt by me to turn a personal profit, but let 
me know if you have an objection along those lines, and I can try to 
explain why there's nothing to worry about.

It's worth stating explicitly that our bookkeeping system has recently 
changed significantly, based on discussion on the hcoop-sysadmin list, 
so there is good reason to expect that, once we get things squared away 
now, we'll be in good shape from there on.

So, again, I am asking members for donations that will together cover 
the $1820.50.  Donations are purely voluntary.  People who make 
donations now will receive no preferential treatment or other benefits 
later, and no one is expected to donate.  There is no need to worry 
about not getting enough donations to cover the deficit, because I can 
make up the difference from my personal balance.  (Though it's kind of 
sad if I end up providing both my time and my money, to make up for 
other members' unwillingness to participate in keeping our finances in 
order over the years.)

As I write this message, we have 132 HCoop members.  That means that 
$13.80 from each member would cover the deficit.  Anyone considering 
donating should assume that nowhere near a majority of members will 
donate, so that the even contribution required to cover everything will 
be higher in reality.

If you are up for donating, please e-mail me (adamc at hcoop.net <https://lists.hcoop.net/listinfo/hcoop-discuss>) a short 
note giving your HCoop username and the amount you want to donate, to be 
deducted from your HCoop balance.  Thanks in advance to everyone who 
does this!

Below I've included a copy of a summary of the financial situation that 
I sent to the hcoop-sysadmin list on September 6th.

BALANCES:
Wells Fargo: 8067.20
PayPal: 37.98
Checkout (payments not yet transferred to our bank account): 38.60
SUM: 8143.78

PORTAL SAYS WE HAVE:
Co-op balance: 911.06
Active member balances: 9053.22
SUM: 9964.28

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE AMOUNTS:
Deficit: 1820.50
Negative balances of members who left without paying up: 314.31

Remaining: 1506.19