Terms of Reference for

Finance Committee

1. Constitution

The Board hereby resolves to establish a Board committee to be known as the Finance Committee.

2. Objective

The purpose of this Committee is to oversee and give guidance to the finance & corporate planning affairs of the Jamaica Urban Transit Company Limited (JUTC) in keeping with all regulatory framework namely: legislations, policies and standards, in order to secure the interest and financial health of the organisation.

3. Membership

The committee shall be appointed by the Board.  All committee members shall be independent non-executive directors of the company.  The committee shall consist of not less than three (3) members.

The quorum of the Committee shall be two members.

4. Attendance at Meetings

The Committee shall meet monthly.  Management invitees shall be the Deputy Managing Director – Finance and Corporate Planning and or the Financial Controller and any other Department Head which may be required by the Committee when necessary.

The secretary of the company shall be the secretary of the Committee.

5. Duties and Responsibilities

  1. Ascertain and/or set the financial planning and reporting requirements and deadlines. These include corporate plans and budgets, accounts, audits, taxation and annual reports.  (See Appendix A)
  2. Ensure that reporting requirements and deadlines are met.
  3. Set and review financial targets, plans and budgets.
  4. Monitor actual financial performance against the set plans, targets and budgets and revise as deemed necessary.
  5. Recommend banking mandates, financial institutions and limits.
  6. Ensure that the JUTC is in full compliance in terms of income tax, general consumption tax (GCT) when applicable, statutory deductions and payments. (See Appendix B).
  7. Review and recommend finance and accounting policies including those in Appendix C among others.

Appendix A

  • Corporate Plans are prepared annually and reviewed/reported quarterly to the Ministry of Transport & Mining (MTM). The draft is to be submitted by January 1 and the approved by January 31.  The corporate plan covers three years with the first year representing the operation plan, which is broken out into quarterly targets.  The Corporate Plan must be copied to the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service (MOFPS).
  • Budgets are prepared annually based on the operational plan (first year of the three-year corporate plan) and submitted to MTM and MOFPS.
  • Accounts are prepared monthly and quarterly and circulated by the 15th internally and externally to MTM and MOFPS.
  • External Audits must be completed after the year-end in time for the annual report to be prepared and submitted within 120 days after the end of the financial year, as per the Public Bodies Management and Accountability (PBMA) requirements.

 

Appendix B

  • Annual Income Tax returns are to be filed by March 31 following the accounting year-end.
  • Quarterly estimated income tax is to be paid by the 15th of each quarter month end.
  • Monthly statutory deductions are to be paid to the respective institutions by the 14th of the following month.
  • Annual statutory returns (for the calendar year) are to be filed by January 31 each year.

Appendix C

  • Limits for Purchase Order and Cheque Signing