ESSA Treasurer Vacancy
The Exhibiting Societies Of Scottish Artists (ESSA) acts as an umbrella organisation on behalf of the Society of Scottish Artists (SSA), the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) and Visual Arts Scotland (VAS) in connection with the three Societies’ Annual Exhibitions at the Royal Scottish Academy.
A vacancy has arisen for the post of Treasurer.
This is a voluntary position.
A member of one of the Societies is required to take over the responsibility from Susan Wilson, who has fulfilled this post for the last three and half years.
The main duties of the post are as follows:
• To manage the financial aspects of the annual RSA exhibition including arranging payment for the RSA rental to the National Galleries of Scotland, insurance charges for the duration of the exhibitions, the Societies’ share of the costs of repainting the galleries and certain other charges. In the first instance, ESSA pays the respective bills and the Treasurer invoices the 3 Society administrators for reimbursement of the costs, with the exception of the rental charge for the RSA galleries, which is an ESSA responsibility.
• To keep ESSA’s books, including the recording of all inward and outward payments and to retain copies of all invoices and associated documents.
• To manage ESSA’s accounts with the Royal Bank of Scotland and CCLA Investment Ltd.
• To liaise with ESSA’s accountants over the preparation of the annual accounts (ESSA’s financial year runs from 1st January to 31st December).
• To attend meetings of the ESSA Board (no more than six per year, normally in Edinburgh) at which the Treasurer reports on the position of ESSA’s finances and provides advice as required.
• The Treasurer works closely with the Chairman of ESSA.
The time commitment is fairly light and the bookkeeping responsibilities are straightforward. The outgoing Treasurer will provide a computer file of all templates and records to form the basis of future financial administration, as well as the archive of paper records. Additional work can arise from fundraising events organised by ESSA, when the Treasurer banks and accounts for all receipts and donations and administers payments to Artists, if applicable, and other expenses. The frequency and timing of these varies from year to year. Otherwise the commitment is concentrated during the period of the Annual Exhibitions.
The busiest time normally extends from January to March (although the timing will be somewhat different in 2014 because the annual exhibitions will exceptionally be held towards the end of 2014 and early 2015), beginning with the arrangement of insurance for the Societies’ Exhibitions (given that the same Broker would probably be used, this entails only a renewal); preparation of the financial spreadsheets (usually one A4 sheet for each) of Income and Expenditure to forward to our Accountant with the papers for the Financial Year; payment of any bills in connection with the Exhibitions; invoicing the 3 Societies as required; the collection and banking of all donations.
The Post does not require any accountancy or other financial qualifications, only an interest and aptitude for this kind of work and the time to attend to the above demands.
Any queries or points for clarification may be directed to Susan Wilson, email: susanwilsonprintmaker@gmail.com
Please also feel free to contact Howard Pearce, Chairman of ESSA, email: howardjspearce@btinternet.com