Fellow Trustee — the short version
You are one of three Trustees on the council: a 1-year Trustee, a 2-year Trustee, and a 3-year Trustee. Together you form the council's financial oversight board.
Your one non-negotiable job: conducting the annual audit (Form #1295) with the Financial Secretary after the fraternal year ends. Due August 15. Everything else is secondary.
What Trustees actually are
Per the Charter, Constitution and Laws (Order L&R, §145):
- Independent financial oversight of the council, separate from the FS and Treasurer who handle day-to-day operations.
- Annual auditors — conduct the #1295 audit once a year, covering the full fraternal year (July 1 – June 30).
- Review body for unusual or large expenditures when brought to the council for vote.
- Three-year staggered terms — each year, one new Trustee is elected and the prior 1-year Trustee rotates off. This overlap is deliberate: there's always institutional knowledge carrying over.
The 1-year Trustee is the senior trustee and often chairs the board informally.
How the 3-Trustee structure works
3-Year Trustee (Junior): Newly elected. Learning the role. Shadow the senior Trustees through the first audit cycle.
2-Year Trustee: Middle year. Continuity — saw last year's audit, will lead next year's.
1-Year Trustee (Senior): In their final year. Most-involved during the July–August audit and year-end compliance push. Rotates off June 30.
Staggering this way means you always have 2 experienced Trustees and 1 learning. It's intentional — don't recruit all three at once.
What you own
The #1295 annual audit.
- Due August 15, covering the fraternal year just ended (July 1 – June 30).
- All three Trustees sign the completed audit report. GK signs also. FS provides the records; Trustees review.
What the audit actually looks like:
- Review all bank statements for the fraternal year. Match to the FS's ledger.
- Verify Supreme assessments (Per Capita Tax + Catholic Advertising + Culture of Life) and state Per Capita were remitted on both levy windows (Jan 1 / Jul 1).
- Review all expenses above a threshold (your bylaws may set one; if not, use common sense — anything material).
- Check for unusual transactions, missing documentation, or unexplained adjustments.
- Confirm the Treasurer's balances match the FS's ledger and the bank statement (the 3-way reconciliation).
- Complete the #1295 form, sign, submit to Supreme.
Flag anything unusual. An audit that always finds "no exceptions" is either a perfect council or an audit that isn't looking. Real audits find small things — a receipt missing, a transaction recorded in the wrong category, a timing difference at year-end. Document them, note resolution, move on.
Review of large expenditures.
Your council bylaws may require Trustee sign-off for purchases above a threshold (common thresholds: $500, $1,000, $2,500 — varies by council). Know your council's threshold. Sign what's reasonable; flag what isn't.
What you don't own
- Day-to-day financial transactions. That's the FS and Treasurer.
- Meeting minutes. That's the Recorder.
- Parliamentary rulings. That's the Advocate.
- Program budgeting. Programs report to the DGK; budget approval flows through the full council.
You are the independent check, not the operator.
Fraternal year rhythm
July: New Trustee elected. Senior Trustee rotates off. Re-orient the board — who chairs, how you split the audit work. Audit starts now.
July – early August: Audit window. Pull bank statements, reconcile, document findings, sign. Don't wait until the August 14.
August 15: Form #1295 audit due to Supreme. Council drops out of Good Standing if missed.
September – May: Quiet period for Trustees unless a large expenditure comes up for review, or a mid-year financial issue needs independent eyes. An informal mid-year check-in (around February) keeps year-end from being a surprise.
April – June: Officer election season. If you're the 1-Year Trustee (ending your term), think about who should replace you as the incoming 3-Year Trustee. Nominating committee will ask.
June: Year-end handoff. The 1-Year Trustee rotates off. Document open audit items, known issues, and any disputes that haven't resolved.
Common pitfalls
- Rubber-stamp audits. Signing without reviewing is the single worst thing a Trustee can do. If something's off later, your signature is on the line.
- Missing the audit deadline. Late #1295 puts the council out of Good Standing until filed. Star Council clock pauses during the gap.
- Skipping the bank reconciliation. If you don't match FS ledger to bank statement, you're not auditing — you're reviewing the FS's own work.
- Three-way tie on judgment calls. If the three Trustees disagree on whether something's a material finding, default to documenting it. Over-document; under-audit is a bigger risk than over-audit.
- Starting the audit in August. Fraternal year ends June 30; records are fresh then. Waiting until August means scrambling against a hard deadline. Start July 1.
- Not learning the role before year 1 of the term. The 3-Year Trustee has a full year to shadow the senior Trustees. Use it.
One more thing
A healthy council is not one where Trustees never find anything. It's one where Trustees find the small stuff early, document it, resolve it, and the FS/Treasurer take the feedback as partnership rather than threat.
When that dynamic is right, #1295 is a weekend's work once a year. When it's wrong, it's a source of council conflict that poisons everything else. Set the right tone your first year and the rest of your term runs smoothly.
Audit honestly. Sign only what you've checked. That's the whole job.
Source notes. Draws on Charter, Constitution and Laws (Order L&R, 2025 edition — §145 on Board of Trustees composition and duties, including the annual audit requirement), Form #1295 instructions, and standard audit practice. Send feedback if anything's off.
Last reviewed: April 21, 2026. Fraternal year 2025–26.
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