Responsibility 

• The OLA Board is responsible for approving the annual budget and for setting policy to guide the fiscal success of the Association. 

• The Treasurer responsibilities are defined in the OLA Treasurer G3.10 Job Description. 

• The OLA Finance & Audit Committee and the OLA Fund Development Committee responsibilities are defined in each of their Terms of Reference. 

• Staff have responsibilities to manage the day-to-day operations as outlined within the approved Annual Budget, Board policy, and internal controls. The Executive Director (ED) may further appoint members of staff to key functions delegated to the ED by the Board. 

Principles  

1. OLA will: 

a). Use an open, accountable, consistent, fair and efficient process for procurement. 

b). Procure goods and services from responsible suppliers who follow ethical standards and who supply “green” product options. 

c). Use GAAP Standards, NPOAS and the Broader Sector Accountabilities Standards. 

d). Balance the division of duties against the financial realities of an Association of our size. 

2. Board members and employees must declare pecuniary interest in any proposal, contract, tender, or quotation for the supply of goods and services, whenever there may be a direct or indirect interest in said work or projects. (See also G2.8 Code of Conflict, G2.2 Code of Conduct).  

Procurement 

1. Competitive Process  

a). All items over $25,000 are subject to a Competitive Process (e.g. bids, tenders, RFP, RFQs). At the discretion of the Executive Director, lower priced items may be directed at being put out for RFP as well. In the case of Sole Sourcing and/or Single Sourcing, the Executive Director shall bring proposals forward to the Board for consideration.  

b). An RFP should be utilized for all multi-year contracts of the association (e.g. IT provision, Auditor) and be repeated from time to time. 

i. An RFP shall include set criteria for the proponents to respond to and shall be publicized for no less than two (2) weeks via the OLA website.  

ii. The closed envelope evaluation process shall include a committee to screen, independently evaluate, and consensus to rank the proposals according to the criteria.  

iii. The lowest bidder need not be awarded. The proponent who scores the highest shall be awarded, based on the criteria set in the proposal.  

iv. The binding party shall be the Board, Executive Director or Deputy Director, depending on the Authority to Award. 

c). No approved vendor may subcontract to another party without prior approval, based on authority to bind. 

d). No contract or purchase may be divided into smaller payments to avoid any requirements of this procedure. 

e). OLA Operations Team may also select a vendor from pre-selected VoR lists provided by the Ontario Government or other library partner. 

Authority to Award and Bind 

1. Following the procurement process:  

a). The Deputy Director shall authorize payments for any item or expense within approved budget lines. 

b). The Deputy Director shall award and bind any contracts under $100,000 or any contracts selected through an RFP process up to $250,000 

c). The Treasurer shall authorize any payments above $100,000. Authorization may be given by email when required by expenditure timelines. 

d). The Board shall award and bind any contracts above $250,000. 

2. Staff and Committees of the Board which have been provided with a budget, may spend within the budgets allocated, unless the amount requires Treasurer approval. 

Receipts  

The Executive Director will ensure that the Finance Department meets all auditing requirements, including maintaining receipts for all revenues, expenses, and reimbursements. 

Authorized Signing Officer 

1. The following persons are the authorized signing officers for the Association, including banking and binding of the organization:  

a). OLA President 

b). OLA Board Treasurer 

c). Executive Director 

d). Deputy Director 

2. These signing officers are authorized to provide permissions for payments and to sign contracts. The Executive Director and Deputy Director are authorized to enter into contracts for activities that have been approved by the Board as part of budgets or plans, and in the aforementioned clauses.  

3. The Board of Directors must authorize any contracts outside of these parameters. 

4. Two additional staff managers will be assigned for banking authorization only.  

5. Two signing officers are required for each electronic payment and/or payable cheque over $750, with a single signer available for a cheque under this limit, which may include any of the outlined banking signers.  

6. No signer may sign their own cheque or reimbursement. 

GST/HST 

1. GST/HST is charged on all related business activity subject to the guidelines from Canada Revenue Agency. The Association receives an income tax credit on GST/HST spent by the Association in return for collecting this money for the federal government. 
2. No GST/HST is charged on membership fees.  
3. As a not-for-profit association, OLA is able to claim a rebate on the GST/HST spent by the Association on its general operations.

Refunds 

1. Membership fees are non-refundable, except as approved by the OLA Staff in special circumstances. 
2. Refunds will be considered as a special case if a request is made in writing to OLA staff no more than 2 weeks prior to the event. 

Bad Debts 

1. Persons or companies with outstanding debts from earlier transactions will not be processed until money owning is paid in full. 
2. Bank charges billed to the OLA for NSF cheques are billed back to the client. 
3. The Executive Director has the authority to bring any debt to collections. 

Meetings 

The Association provides compensation for travel, accommodation, and other sundry expenses to bona fide OLA members attending official meetings of the Association or its units if a budget has been approved. This is limited to Board, Council, or Committees who are required to attend a meeting in person by the OLA, and any Council or Board executive member required to attend Super Conference as part of their job description. (See GO6.1 President). 

The Executive Director will approve annually the travel rates, including the cost of supply teacher compensation, and travel guidelines. 

Donations of Expenses 

As a charitable organization, travelers may donate their claims if they prefer. An official tax receipt will be issued in lieu of payment. Proof of expense is required for audit purposes. 

Disposal of Assets 

1. Capital and minor capital assets expensed through the OLA budgets shall be held on the OLA Asset Management Ledger. 
2. In the event of dispossession, any funds from the sale of disposed assets shall be credited to the capital reserve of OLA. 
3. In the event where there are no sales of assets, this should be logged for tracking in the depreciation and amortization documentation of the Association. 
4. The Executive Director may determine, from time-to-time, what items will be considered surplus. 
5. All technology assets will follow the operational Asset Management Program. 

Whistleblower Statement 

Any Person having knowledge of deficiency in, or non-compliance with OLA policy shall report with impunity to the Executive Director or Board Chair. 

Related Documents 

GO6.1 President 

GO6.3 OLA Treasurer 

GO5.4 Code of Conflict 

GO2 Code of Conduct