Director's Fees Process (Fees, Dividends, and Interest) SOP

Version 1.0
Prepared by: @Lorraine Sebata
Approved by: @Simon Cooper @Marcia Wilkinson
Reviewed date: 2025-12-19
Next review date: 2026-12-18

1. Purpose

To standardize the process for calculating, documenting, and processing recurring treasury payments, including Director Fees, Dividends, and Preference Shareholder Interest, ensuring timely disbursement, accurate reconciliation, and compliance with corporate finance schedules.

2. Scope

This SOP applies to the Financial Department (CFO and Accountant) and is executed at or before the end of the month for final disbursement via the E-Payment system.

3. Related Policies

Corporate Governance Guidelines

4. Roles and Responsibilities

Chief Financial Officer (CFO): Responsible for verifying payment values, authorizing final batch files, and ensuring regulatory compliance.
Accountant / Treasury Staff: Responsible for executing all steps, preparing files, making necessary adjustments, and uploading batches for disbursement.
E-Payment System: Responsible for processing the final uploaded batch files for funds transfer.

5. Procedure: Monthly Disbursement Processes

All payments must be completed and uploaded to the E-Payment system for disbursement before the last business day of the month.

5.1. Director Fees Processing

This procedure ensures the timely payment of fixed fees to all non-executive directors (currently 4 people @ $500.00 each).

Step	Action	Responsible Party	Documentation / Notes
5.1.1	Create Monthly Folder	Treasury Staff	Navigate to the central directory: `CFO Folder -> Dividends & Interest Payables`. Create a new folder for the current month (e.g., "Month Name 2025").
5.1.2	Copy & Adjust File	Treasury Staff	Copy the Director Fees file from the previous month's folder. Adjust details including: Banking details (if required), and setting the Value Date to the month-end date.
5.1.3	Generate Batch File	Treasury Staff	Execute the "Process" function within the Director Fees file. This action automatically generates and saves the final payment batch file to the designated upload folder.
5.1.4	Verify Batch	CFO	The CFO reviews the batch file to confirm the total amount ($2,000.00) and the four beneficiaries.

5.2. Interest Payments to Preference Shareholders

This procedure is for generating the batch file for interest payments to all preference shareholders.

Step	Action	Responsible Party	Documentation / Notes
5.2.1	Access Investor Portal	Treasury Staff	Log into the Investor Portal and navigate to the Disbursements tab.
5.2.2	Generate Batch File	Treasury Staff	Initiate the batch generation function. The file must be configured for direct export to the Xero accounting system for general ledger reconciliation.
5.2.3	Set Value Date	Treasury Staff	Confirm the Value Date is set to the last business date of the current month.
5.2.4	File Transfer	Treasury Staff	Copy and paste the final disbursement file into the central, up-to-date folder created in Step 5.1.1.

5.3. Dividends from Easy Holdings (Shareholders)

This procedure is for recurring dividends received from Easy Holdings.

Step	Action	Responsible Party	Documentation / Notes
5.3.1	Retrieve Template	Treasury Staff	Get the Dividends Template file from the previous month's folder.
5.3.2	Update Date	Treasury Staff	Ensure all details remain the same as the prior month, except for the Value Date, which must be set to the end of the current month.
5.3.3	Generate Batch File	Treasury Staff	Execute the "Process" function within the template. The resulting file will automatically be uploaded to the central folder.

5.4. Dividends from Easyterms to Easy Holdings (Corporate Transfer)

This procedure covers the corporate, inter-company dividend payment.

Step	Action	Responsible Party	Documentation / Notes
5.4.1	Confirm Amount	CFO / Treasury Staff	Verify the dividend amount by checking previous bank transactions (standard amount is currently $320,000).
5.4.2	Initiate Transfer	Treasury Staff	Process a One-Time Payment made through the corporate banking platform.
5.4.3	Timing and Date	Treasury Staff	The transfer must be made before the end of the month. The transaction date should align with the original transfer date when the transfer was made for reconciliation purposes.

6. Procedure: Final Disbursement Upload

Step	Action	Responsible Party	Documentation / Notes
6.1.1	Assemble Documents	Treasury Staff	Gather all completed batch files for Director Fees (5.1), Interest Payments (5.2), and Dividends (5.3/5.4).
6.1.2	E-Payment Upload	Treasury Staff	Upload all finalized batch files to the E-Payment system for secure disbursement processing.
6.1.3	Final Authorization	CFO	Provides final security authorization within the E-Payment system to initiate the funds transfer.

7. Review and Revision

This SOP will be reviewed annually by the Financial Department to ensure all procedures, amounts, and system paths remain current.