A board year at Asset | Accounting & Finance – Shaiana Cripaul, Treasurer

My bachelor was coming to an end and I had to think about what I wanted to do for the upcoming year. I didn’t want to start my master yet but how would I fill a gap year? I was thinking about traveling or doing a board year. After I was asked for a board year at Asset | Accounting & Finance I decided that I wanted to do that.

In July the transitional period started. Unfortunately, I still had to do a resit that month but luckily for me the transitional period in the summer is longer than in the winter. One of the things I quickly learned was that Twinfield would be my best friend during my board year. Twinfield is the accounting program of our study association. As treasurer I’m responsible for all money matters. This means that I book and pay all the invoices and besides that I also sent all the invoices to the companies. It is also my job to run debt collections after events in order to collect the participants fee. In addition I am the treasurer of the Alumni Association Financials and the Financial Association Netherlands (FAN). The FAN is an association that consists of five financial study associations from five different cities. My tasks are the same for both, only for the FAN I have to declare taxes. 

Every board member coordinates a few committees. The committee that I coordinate are the Lustrum Committee, Investment Night Committee and the Promotional Committee. This year Asset | Accounting & Finance celebrates its 4th lustrum and it is my job, together with the committee, to make this lustrum a great succes. The committee already started in February and my predecessor Iris, was the coordinator of this committee back then. In the summer I became the coordinator of this committee. At first it was quite difficult to coordinate this committee because the committee was used to cooperate without me and because a lot of stuff about the lustrum was already decided. Despite that, still a lot of things had to be decided. Especially coming up with activities and decorations is what made this committee so much fun. As mentioned before, I also coordinate the Investment Night committee. This committee organizes a symposium for everyone who has affinity with investing. Every year it is a challenge to arrange speakers and partners for this event. That makes coordinating this committee enjoyable and it gives a huge boost when a partner or speaker is fixed. Lastly, I am the coordinator of the promotional committee. This committee is responsible for keeping track of the competition between the committees, organizing the dinners at the end of the semesters and also the CSR activity. Coordinating the committees is very diversified. Every committee is different and therefore needs different guidance. 

“In the past few months I have learned a lot, such as how to make balance sheets and profit and loss statements, but also how to cooperate, be critical and above all I have developed myself professionally.”

As treasurer you also attend the treasurers meeting of Asset every week. In this meeting all the treasurers from each Asset department take place. During these meetings we collectively decide about Asset’s money. For instance, we decide on whether to make new investments, such as the creation of a completely new website last year.

As is known about a board year, there are many evening activities. Before you even notice, three nights a week are fully planned. Of course this can be exhausting sometimes, but the activities are actually always fun. Therefore, the weekends are a moment of rest in which I can fully recover.

Last month we had the semi-annual general members meeting. This also meant that three board members had to make room for the new board members. At that moment, it feels weird that half of the board is switching. However, the advantage of this semi-annual switch is the new fresh energy that appears from the three new board members. While writing this article, I am just realising how fast the past couple of months have flown by. Soon, the board applications will open and then my successor will quickly be announced. Until this very day, I haven’t had a feeling of regret about my board year. In the past few months I have learned a lot, such as how to create balance sheets and profit and loss statements, but also how to cooperate, be critical and above all I have developed myself professionally.

If you want to know more about my board year after this article or if you are in doubt about doing a board year, visit room E107!