Policies and Procedures

LOUISIANA SOCIETY OF ENROLLED AGENTS
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
ADOPTED DECEMBER 7, 2014

Board:

  1. Attendance will be mandatory for all meetings of the LSEA Board of Directors (Board). A Board member will be automatically excused upon notice of the member’s illness or emergency, or emergency or notice of an illness, death or emergency situation relating to a family member. An excused absence will be allowed in the case of conflict arising from a change in original schedule of meetings. A Director or Officer will be removed from office as stipulated by the Bylaws for unexcused absences from two regularly scheduled meetings or informational calls of the Board (per governance year).
  1. The LSEA President will issue a call for agenda items to the Board and Committee Chairs, and will establish a deadline for agenda items prior to each scheduled Board meeting.
  1. All agenda, minutes, committee reports and other material relevant to the Board meeting will be distributed prior to the meeting for study by the Board members.
  1. Motions offered during a meeting of the Board will be in writing with a copy provided to the Secretary.
  1. Each member of the Board will be reimbursed for expenses to and from Board meetings and other meetings that require attendance in accordance with the volunteer reimbursement policies set forth in Section 3.06.
  1. A written report of Executive Committee decisions and actions will be made to the Board no later than the next scheduled meeting of the Board or within seven business days, whichever comes first.
  1. The Board will not allow audio or video taping of Board or Committee meetings unless specifically authorized by the Board for a given meeting.
  1. The hotel room for the President for any LSEA sponsored seminar will be paid by LSEA.
  1. LSEA will send a representative to NAEA’s Affiliate Presidents’ Exchange Meetings (APEX).

Conflict of Interest:

    1. The members of the LSEA Board, while acting in their capacity as members of the Board, must act at all times in the best interests of LSEA and not for personal or third-party gain or financial enrichment. A conflict of interest is a transaction or relationship which presents or may present a conflict between a Board member’s obligation to LSEA and the Board member’s personal, business or other interests.
      1. A Board member has a duty to disclose to the LSEA President any real or potential conflicts of interest. The President will request the disinterested members of the Executive Committee to make the determination if a conflict exists and the Board will be informed of such determination. If a conflict of interest is determined, the affected Board member is not precluded from making a presentation to the Board regarding the transaction or relationship. However, before the Board discusses and votes on this matter, the Board member will recuse him/herself from discussion and voting on the item. The Executive Committee may request that the member with the conflict leave the meeting during deliberations and/or vote of the issue related to the conflict of interest.
      1. This policy will apply not only to all members of the LSEA Board but also to all members of LSEA Committees, task forces and others in the LSEA governance structure. All references herein to the Board will be construed also to refer to these additional individuals.
      1. Specifically, members of the Board will:
      • Avoid placing (and avoid the appearance of placing) one’s own self-interest or any third-party interest above that of LSEA. While the receipt of incidental personal or third-party benefit may necessarily flow from certain LSEA activities, such benefit must be merely incidental to the primary benefit to LSEA and its purposes.
      • Not use their positions as Board members to obtain favors or services from LSEA that would not routinely be available to any or all members of the Society.
      • Not represent to third parties that their authority as a Board member extends any further than it actually extends.
      • Not engage in any outside business, professional or other activities that would directly or indirectly be materially adverse to LSEA.
      • Provide goods and services to LSEA as a paid vendor to LSEA only after full disclosure to, and advance approval by the Board of Directors, and pursuant to any related procedures adopted by the Board.

Education:

      1. CE – IRS confirmation sheets to be maintained by Education Chair
      2. Sign-in Sheets – sheets to be maintained with IRS confirmation sheets by Education Chair
      3. The following will be maintained on each LSEA sponsored seminar (information to be maintained for 7 years):
  • Sign-in Sheets per program presented
  • Copy of materials presented per program
  • Evaluations per program that have been returned by attendees
  • Copies of the registration of attendees
      1. New EAs receive voucher to a 50% discount to the following years’ annual meeting
      1. Whenever LSEA engages the services of any enrolled agent at any education event, that enrolled agent must be a member of NAEA/LSEA. Engagement contracts will include a provision requiring membership in NAEA
      1. Cancellation Policy – All cancellations must be made in writing two weeks prior to the seminar; in this instance, a full refund will be issued less an administrative charge of $50.00.

Requests received after this two-week period must be approved by the Board of Directors, and then, only circumstances concerning medical emergencies and/or death will be considered. If a request for a refund is approved by the Board, then the administrative fee, plus direct costs of the seminar, will be withheld from the full refund amount.

      1. The Chair of the Education Committee will not have to pay for seminars sponsored by LSEA, and the charge for their hotel room will be paid by LSEA.

Financial:

      1. Annual budget will be prepared
      1. Invoices and receipts will be retained for a period of four years
      1. Year-to-Date general ledger will be printed at the end of the fiscal year
      1. Year-to-Date journals will be printed at the end of the fiscal year
      1. Year-to-Date check register will be printed at the end of the fiscal year
      1. Copy of 990 (990-N) will be provided to all members of the Board (question on 990 asks if all members get a copy)

Membership:

      1. Membership Certificates will be issued to all members joining the Society
      1. The Chair of the Education Committee will provide a list of registrants of seminars to the Chair of the Membership Committee, who in turn, will confirm the membership status of those registering as members.

Document retention and destruction policy:

      1. Bylaws (including revisions) will be perpetually maintained.
      2. Minutes of Board meetings will be perpetually maintained.
      3. Obsolete and/or outdated information will be shredded by the then-chair of each respective committee.

Elections:

      1. The LSEA Board will remain neutral and will not encourage nor discourage voting for a specific candidate(s) running for a position on the NAEA Board of Directors.

These Policies & Procedures will be reviewed annually.