On the Right Course
by WSBA Treasurer Ken Masters
In this, my inaugural article, I want to first thank my fellow governors for honoring me with their unanimous
support to serve as your treasurer. It has
been my pleasure to serve on the Budget and Audit Committee of the Board
of Governors for the past three years.
And I particularly thank my immediate
predecessor, Brian Kelly, for his outstanding leadership as your treasurer
last year. I look forward to serving you
for the remainder of the 2014–15 season.
During my term, the Board will
make important decisions about
WSBA facilities, CLE programming,
and the FY16 budget, among other
things. Throughout the year, I hope
to provide insight and solicit your
feedback on these and other fiscal issues that face the organization. This
column summarizes our most recent
annual audit results.
At the end of each year, the WSBA
engages an independent certified public accounting firm to audit our financial statements. In addition to verifying
financial statement accuracy, the auditors review, analyze, and test internal
controls over reporting, management
oversight, and various systems related
to the WSBA’s finances and overall operations of the organization.
The Budget and Audit Committee
reviewed the Fiscal Year 2014 year-end
financial results at its January 2015
meeting. As in prior years, the WSBA
received an “unmodified opinion” for
the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2014. No
adjustments were made, no material
weaknesses were noted, and no management letter was issued. The results
of this very positive audit indicate that
the WSBA’s finances are well managed
and accurate in all material aspects.
Our independent auditors wholeheartedly complimented our outstanding
staff for their professionalism and
excellence. For more information, the
audit report and audited financial statements can be viewed at www.wsba.org/
about-wsba/financial-info.
Notably, the audited financials show
that the WSBA used $842,787 fewer
SEATTLETACOMAPORTLAND
www.williamskastner.com
WE ARE PLEASED
TO ANNOUNCE
THE ELECTION OF
THE FOLLOWING
ATTORNEYS TO THE
FIRM’S MEMBERSHIP
MANISH BORDE
MICHELLE GARZON
JAMES ROBENALT
JAKE WINFREY
reserves than expected (as former Treasurer Kelly explained in several of his articles, in response to the reduced license
fees beginning in fiscal 2012–13, and
carrying through fiscal 2014–15, we budgeted to a net loss of $2,000,489 for the
General Fund last year; the actual loss
was $1,157,702). This result reflects high-er-than-anticipated revenues, as well as
direct cost savings. This savings is particularly helpful as we continue to look
into the future and consider budgeting
needs for Fiscal Year 2016 and beyond.
Ken
Masters
is the
WSBA
governor
from the
1st District and
the WSBA
treasurer.
The founder of Masters Law
Group, he has been litigating civil
appeals for about 23 years. He
can be contacted at ken@appeal-law.com.
As you can see from the above audit and budget results, we have outstanding staff support at the Washington State Bar. Under the leadership
of WSBA Executive Director Paula
Littlewood and Chief Operations Officer Ann Holmes, and with frankly
amazing support from our controller,
Tiffany Lynch, and the rest of our staff,
the Bar has weathered some difficult
times and made fiscally responsible
cuts to ensure our continued financial
stability. We are not completely out
of the woods — and we know that our
members continue to struggle into full
recovery in an ever-changing environment — but we are on the right course.
Thank you for reading this. I look
forward to any questions or feedback
that you may have. NWL
The results of this very positive audit indicate that the
WSBA’s finances are well
managed and accurate in all
material aspects.