Article 1
AMOUNT OF DUES
a) Each Ordinary Assembly shall, on the proposal of the Executive Committee, Treasurer and Budget Committee, set the amount of dues for active and associate members, to apply from the beginning of the triennial financial period following the Assembly. The amounts of the annual administrative and processing fees payable by candidates and pre-candidates shall be set by the Executive Committee, on the proposal of the Treasurer and of the Budget Committee. Candidates and pre-candidates shall be liable for their annual administrative fees as of the beginning of the financial year following the one in which they submitted their applications. Processing fees shall be payable at the time the application is submitted.
b) Should the Assembly adopt a system for calculating dues rather than fixing the actual amount, the Treasurer shall calculate the dues payable by members in accordance with that system, taking into account the Programme of Activities adopted by the Assembly.
c) The level of dues, as well as the penalties set by the Budget Committee for late payment of dues shall be published on the members-only AIIC website. An invoice shall be sent to all members, candidates and pre-candidates within thirty days following the Assembly, showing the amount due by them for the first year. In subsequent years, this invoice will be sent at the beginning of the financial year.
d) Administrative penalties shall be applied where dues or annual administrative fees are paid after the deadline. The amount of these penalties shall be set by the Budget Committee. Articles 10, 13 and 14 of the Statutes governing dues shall also apply to these administrative penalties.
e) The amount of additional fees for members or groups of members whose names appear in the online directory of consultant interpreters is set every year by the Executive Committee, based on a proposal made by the Consultant Interpreters' Standing Committee to the Treasurer and the Budget Committee at the time the annual budget is adopted. It comes into force at the beginning of the financial year.
f) Any amounts payable shall be expressed and paid in Swiss francs and members, candidates and pre-candidates must ensure that this net sum reaches the Treasurer, excluding exchange rate losses, transfer charges and commission.
g) Honorary members and honorary presidents are exempt from the payment of dues.
Article 2
RESPONSIBILITIES OF MEMBERS, CANDIDATES AND PRE-CANDIDATES
Members, candidates and pre-candidates are personally responsible for their financial liabilities towards the Association.
a) In accordance with the relevant provisions of the Statutes, members' dues become payable on 1 February of each year, at the rate set in Swiss francs by the last ordinary Assembly, unless otherwise decided by said Assembly.
The dues payable by individual members are those applicable in the region where they have their professional address on the first day of the financial year, irrespective of any changes they may make in this address in the course of the year.
New members shall pay the pro rata temporis dues payable in the region where they have their professional address on the day of their admission, after deduction of any administrative fees paid under Article 1 a) of the Financial Regulations.
Annual administrative fees for candidates and pre-candidates shall become payable on 1 February of each year, at the rate set in Swiss francs by the Executive Committee.
The additional fee for inclusion in the directory of consultant interpreters is due on the anniversary date of inclusion of the member or group of members in the directory. It is valid for one year. Application and payment terms are published on line.
b) In accordance with article 1 above, any member, candidate or pre-candidate who has not paid their dues or administrative fees for a given financial year within seven months from the start of that year, shall be charged an administrative penalty of an amount set by the Budget Committee and included in the notice of dues to be paid each year.
In accordance with article 13 of the Statutes, any member who has not paid their dues within eight months after the start of the financial year, shall be suspended and have their name deleted from the list of members of the Association. Moreover, in accordance with article 1 above, they shall be charged an additional administrative penalty of an amount set by the Budget Committee and included in the annual notice of dues. The period of suspension will cease and the member's name will once again be included on the list of members as soon as all arrears of dues, including penalties, have been paid. The same provision shall apply to candidates and pre-candidates who did not pay their administrative fees.
In cases of delayed payment of the additional fee for inclusion in the directory of consultant interpreters, the names of members or groups of members who are in arrears shall be immediately deleted from the directory of consultant interpreters. They shall be reinstated in the directory as soon as the additional fee has been paid. The annual validity of inclusion shall begin on the date that the member or group of members is reinstated in the directory.
c) A member who formally resigns from the Association remains liable for all sums due up to the end of the current financial year.
d) An active member who has not worked more than twenty days in one year may make a request to the Executive Committee, through the Treasurer, who shall consult the Bureau of the region concerned before submitting an opinion to the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee may, as an exception, allow the member concerned to pay a lower amount of dues, such as the dues set for Associate Members for that year, for example.
Article 3
REFUNDS TO THE REGIONS
a) Refund to regions of a share of dues
Each duly constituted region is entitled to 8% of the dues paid by members of the Association belonging to that region on 1 February of the financial year. Notwithstanding the above, the minimum amount of the regional refund shall be set at CHF 2000. The sums thus accruing, together with any further sums obtained for the region by means of special levies, voluntary donations, etc., remain the property of the region concerned and are administered autonomously by it for activities that meet the aims of the Association and do not jeopardise its interests. The amount of the refund shall be expressed in Swiss Francs.
b) Distant Region Subsidy
A distant region is one that is far from Headquarters, covers several countries or a very large country and has few members who are often widely dispersed. A subsidy of CHF 6000 is granted to distant regions to allow them to participate more actively in the life of the Association and to handle problems of communication both within the region and between the region and Headquarters.
c) Funding Regional Activities
Any region can submit a request to subsidize specific regional activities that cannot be funded within the framework of the Association programmes.
Interested regions shall send a duly costed and justified request to the Secretariat, at least 30 days before the start of the activity. The Treasurer shall consult the Budget Committee and transmit the request, with a recommendation, to the Executive Committee for decision. In assessing such requests, account shall be taken of the financial resources of the regions concerned and of funds available.
The region shall submit regular interim reports, as well as a final report at the end of the project. The Secretariat shall forward these reports to the Executive Committee and the Budget Committee.
Article 4
RESPONSIBILITIES OF ELECTED OFFICERS
a) Executive Committee
The Executive Committee shall ensure that the Association's programme of activities is implemented within the budgetary appropriations approved for this purpose.
The Executive Committee shall give due consideration to the financial implications of its decisions and issue instructions governing the allocation and utilisation of the funds concerned.
Individual appointments to the staff must be approved jointly by Executive Committee and the Chair of the Budget Committee if the cost to the Association is equal to or above 10% of the income of the Association for the financial year concerned, as estimated by the Budget Committee.
Purchase of goods and services valued at more than CHF 10'000 shall be based on 3 estimates, except where AIIC has signed a service contract. The purchase of goods and services valued at more than 4% of the Association’s budget shall be preceded by a call for tenders.
Unless otherwise stipulated, requests for authorisation for the purchase of goods and services using separate or segmented estimates, multiple orders, or terms of payment deferred over time, must be submitted as a single request, in accordance with existing rules. Any request for exemptions from this rule shall first be submitted in writing to the Treasurer who shall refer it to the Budget Commission for decision.
b) Treasurer
The Treasurer shall collect dues in accordance with decisions of the Assembly and the provisions of the Statutes of the Association and the present Financial Regulations.
The Treasurer shall be responsible for the financial administration of the budget and may authorise expenditure up to the levels provided for each item.
Should circumstances require additional expenditure in excess of 10% of a budget item or CHF 5000, the Treasurer must obtain prior authorisation in writing from the Budget Committee.
The Treasurer shall be responsible for keeping the accounts and shall submit a preliminary statement of accounts to the Budget Committee at the end of each financial year. For this purpose, the services of an external accountant may be used.
By decision of Executive Committee, notified in writing, regional treasurers may be authorised to collect the annual dues of the Association from members.
Such funds collected on behalf of the Treasurer may be transferred periodically to the account of the Association, and in any case on 31 March, 30 June and 30 September.
The Treasurer may request the assistance of regional treasurers to collect outstanding dues owed by members of the region.
c) Budget Committee
The Budget Committee shall at any time have the power to request any information required to verify that the Association's finances are being properly managed in accordance with these Financial Regulations.
It shall review the Treasurer's accounts at the end of each financial year together with the accountant and external auditors and, with them, shall report to the Assembly on the financial management of the Association during the period covered by the accounts.
It shall have statutory powers to examine any financial issue or carry out any financial audit at the request of the Assembly, the Executive Committee, or on its own initiative.
Members of the Budget Committee shall respect the confidentiality of all information that becomes available to them in carrying out their duties.
Article 5
BUDGET
a) Prior to each Assembly, the Treasurer shall consult the statutory bodies, delegations, committees, networks and working groups, to draw up a draft financial framework for submission to the Budget Committee. The Budget Committee shall examine and, if necessary, amend the budget before submitting it to the Executive Committee, which after consulting the Advisory Board, shall forward the final version to the Assembly for approval. The Treasurer shall also draw up an estimate of income.
b)In the light of the recommendations of the Executive Committee, the Assembly shall adopt the Association's three-year programme of activities and the corresponding financial framework. The overall cost of the programme must remain within foreseeable income, based on the estimated number of members, whilst providing for a reasonable safety margin and level of savings, as recommended by the Budget Committee.
c) The amount of the reserve fund shall be sufficient to cover 12 months of operations. Should the Executive Committee set a higher amount; the Treasurer shall provide for the necessary funds in the budget.
d) Once the triennial financial framework has been adopted by the Assembly, the Treasurer may make transfers within the budget, with the authorisation of the Budget Committee. The Executive Committee shall be informed of such transfers.
e) No activity may be authorised if it is not covered by an adequate line in the budget.
Article 6
REIMBURSEMENT OF EXPENSES
a) Travel
Unless tickets are provided by the Association, travel shall be reimbursed when duly authorised in advance in accordance with the provisions of these regulations or by special agreement with the Treasurer, at a rate not exceeding the cheapest economy-class air fare.
Travel expenses shall be covered for only 5 members of each committee, and of Executive Committee working groups, project teams and networks. This restriction does not apply to the agreement sector delegations or to the Staff Interpreters' Committee.
If it can be shown that the cheapest economy class airfare is not available, the Treasurer may, exceptionally, authorise the reimbursement of a higher air fare.
Taxi, bus or other fares to and from the airport shall not be reimbursed.
Travel cancellation insurance shall be reimbursed where appropriate.
Travel by rail shall be refunded at the rate of the first class fare including any supplement, provided this does not exceed the cheapest available air fare.
Travel by road shall be reimbursed on the same basis as travel by rail.
b) Subsistence
Members of the Executive Committee, Advisory Board, committees and working groups, project teams and negotiating delegations shall receive a subsistence allowance for each night spent away from their domicile, when attending duly convened meetings. The amount of this allowance is set in accordance with scales established by the Budget Committee.
Normally the number of allowances shall not exceed the number of meeting days. However, subject to prior authorisation by the Treasurer, an additional allowance may be granted if the member is obliged to travel on the eve of the first day or on the day following the last day of the meeting.
An allowance corresponding to 25% of the allowance mentioned above is granted to members who attend meetings held in places other than their domicile, when travel to and from said meeting takes place on the same day.
The same allowance is paid to members who attend meetings lasting more than a day, even if they take place where they have their domicile.
c) Incidentals
The President, the Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer, the chairpersons of committees, the convenors of working groups, delegation spokespersons and project leaders, or any other member empowered by the Executive Committee to act on behalf of the Association shall be reimbursed for expenses incurred in connection with the exercise of their duties, within the limits of the provisions made in the budget. In this context, the term "expenses" shall be taken to mean sundry items of expenditure, such as telephone and postal charges, but excluding subsistence expenses and travel costs.
d) Non-Members and Staff
Subject to authorisation by the Treasurer, non-members of the Association and Association staff members travelling at the Association's request shall be reimbursed their travel expenses and paid a subsistence allowance in accordance with scales established for this purpose by the Budget Committee.
e) Proof of expenditure
All requests for reimbursement must be accompanied by supporting documents proving the expenditure.
f) Budget Cover
No expense shall be reimbursed if it is not covered by a budgetary provision and authorised by the Treasurer.
The Treasurer may, however, make certain sums available in advance to cover foreseeable expenditure for specific activities, within the budgetary provisions.
Any unused balance at the end of the financial year shall remain the property of the Association.
Article 7
ACCOUNTS
a) Detailed accounts showing the income, expenditure and financial position of the Association shall be submitted to each ordinary Assembly for approval; the reports of the Treasurer, the external auditors and the Budget Committee shall be also be submitted.
b) The accounts shall be prepared under the responsibility of the Treasurer and the Budget Committee, who may seek professional assistance as required.
c) Accounts shall cover the period from the time of the closure of the accounts last approved by an Assembly to the end of the financial year preceding the first day of the next Assembly.
d) Once the accounts have been approved and the Assembly has given discharge to the Treasurer, it shall not be possible to reopen the debate on said accounts.
e) Any financial liabilities discovered subsequent to the approval of the accounts by the Assembly shall be the responsibility of the Association.
Article 8
ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES
Details regarding the application of the Financial Regulations are contained in the Accounting Procedures.
Article 9
AMENDMENT PROCEDURE
Proposed modifications to the present Financial Regulation shall be decided by the Executive Committee by a 2/3rds majority of votes cast, after consulting the Budget Committee and after seeking a legal opinion if appropriate.