Thank you for serving as Commissioner of a CMSA sport.  There are some money-related duties that come with your role.  This page explains them in a question and answer format.

Questions:
Email treasurer@chicagomsa.org.

 

At the CMSA board level, who is responsible for overseeing the finances of leagues?

The CMSA Treasurer is responsible for all financial aspects of the organization, including overseeing the revenues and expenses of the leagues.  All leagues must operate within the existing financial structure of CMSA.  That means that all leagues must use LeagueApps for registration and must submit bills through a process authorized by the Treasurer for payment.  Leagues are not allowed to keep funds separate from the control of CMSA.  ]

 

What is the first task for a Commissioner when preparing for a new season?

The first task is to prepare a budget.  If you have not prepared a CMSA budget before, ask the Treasurer for a template.  The Treasurer can also provide activity (profit/loss) reports for past seasons for your sport.  

The budget should include all expenses you expect to incur during the season with the exception of insurance and off-season storage (CMSA pays for these at the corporate level).  

You should submit your budget to your sport liaison for initial approval, and then to the Treasurer for final approval.  If you are not sure of who your liaison is, you may submit the budget directly to the Treasurer.  

Your budget must be approved by the Treasurer before your league will be set up in LeagueApps and before any disbursements will be made for your league.

 

Do all leagues have to show a profit in their budgets?

No.  We expect that leagues will budget to break even.  But you should include a small amount in your budget for unforeseen miscellaneous expenses.   

 

May Commissioners pay themselves and other leaders of a league?

Most leagues pay people to do physical work, such as setting up and taking down fields or courts or refereeing games.  Any one doing such work, including Commissioners and other league leaders, may be paid for such work at the same rate as paid to others.  

Most of our permits and leases require that a responsible person be on-site at all game times.  Any person, including Commissioners and other leaders, who attends games to fulfill such a requirement may be paid up to $30 an hour (but not paid for time spent participating as a player in a game).  

Without written approval from the CMSA Board of Directors, Commissioners may not pay themselves for the general role of serving as Commissioner or for time spent on non-game days managing the league.     

 

If a league generated a surplus in one year, can it use that surplus the next year?  

A surplus from the prior year can be included as revenues in the budget for the current year to the extent necessary to cover an expected loss that results from nonrecurring expenditures. As an example, suppose your league uses nets that wear out every seven years.  You may cover the cost of replacing the nets with last year’s surplus.  This will prevent a one-year spike in the fees charged to players.  

You may also use a surplus to cover the cost of expanding your league.  For instance, you might offer a discounted fee to a group of people to bring them into the league.  The cost of the discount can be covered with a prior year surplus.  

The important thing is to identify in your budget how much of the prior year’s surplus you would like to use and what expenses it will cover. 

 

How can I learn during the season whether my sport has made or lost money?

Email the Treasurer to request an activity report.  It can be easily generated from QuickBooks.

 

How are leagues set up in LeagueApps?

CMSA’s Manager (managingdirector@chicagomsa.org) will set up your league in LeagueApps. Please contact that email address once your budget has been approved by the Treasurer.  

The Manager can also help you with any registration problems that arise during the season, including cancelling registrations and issuing refunds, and transferring players from wait lists to the main leagues.   

 

How are expenses paid?

All expenses must be paid through the disbursement process established by the board.  As of fall 2025, that process starts with the submission of an expense/reimbursement request through JotForm.  A link to the request form is in the Commissioners’ Corner section of the CMSA website.  Once submitted, payment is set up through BILL.COM.  We prefer to make payments electronically, and through BILL.COM we will request tax and bank account information for every new vendor.  Payments through BILL.COM generally come within two to four weeks of when submitted.  

Disbursement requests should be submitted by the Commissioner.  Occasionally we receive requests submitted by someone else in a league, such as a social chairman.  We will not pay such requests until the Commissioner has confirmed to us that the person who submitted the request had the authority to do so.  

Do not ask vendors to send invoices directly to CMSA.  We occasionally receive invoices “out of the blue” with no indication on them as to which Commissioner or sport ordered the goods/services.  We will not pay such invoices until a Commissioner has stepped forward to claim it.     

If you need something on a recurring basis, such as portable toilets, please contact the Treasurer who will see if an auto-pay arrangement can be set up with the vendor.  

There will be occasions when payment must be made immediately to obtain goods or a service.  Common examples include paying for a bar tab for a league-sponsored event or paying for awards.  In these situations, you may place the charge on your personal credit card and request reimbursement.  Or you may ask the Treasurer to place the charge on a CMSA card.  Whatever you do, it is important that you keep any receipts for what was purchased. Except in the case of an emergency, it is also required that the expense you are charging was included in the budget for your league.  

 

What is the Hardship Fund and how does it work?

We maintain a small pot of money to help pay the fees of players who show a financial need.  A person may apply to the fund through a form available on the website.  Up to $100 may be made available, by way of credit to that person’s LeagueApps account (the limit is $75 for a person who has already received Hardship Funds in the same year).  The person then registers for the league in the normal way and applies the credit when asked for payment.  The use of a credit will reduce your league’s revenues as reported by LeagueApps.  We will offset that reduction by adding to your revenues the amount of the credit.  The net effect is that the cost of the Hardship Fund is not charged to the leagues.      

When awarding trophies or medals to top finishers, please consider offering teams the option, in lieu of receiving an award, of contributing the cost of the award to the Hardship Fund.  Such contributions will be charged to your league as an expense for awards. 

 

How are travel expenses handled?

CMSA does not allow leagues to pay for expenses incurred in traveling to participate in games or tournaments.*  CMSA does facilitate travel teams in two ways:

• A league may ask the Treasurer to establish a travel account within the CMSA accounting system, into which sponsorships or donations can be received and used to cover travel expenses for the league.  We offer this service because prospective sponsors may be more willing to transfer money directly to CMSA, for which they will receive a receipt useful for tax purposes, than to the individual members of a travel team.  Travel team balances are carried over year-to-year.  
• CMSA may advance the cost of hotel accommodations or tournament registration fees for players that are on teams participating in an out-of-town event.  CMSA expects to be fully reimbursed for any advances it makes.   

If your league plans to sponsor a travel team and wishes to use one or both of the above CMSA resources, please let the Treasurer know well in advance.

CMSA allows a league to budget and pay for one person to attend an out-of-town conference relating to the sport of that league, provided that the amount budgeted/paid by CMSA shall not exceed the lesser of 5% of the league’s total revenues or $1,500 (the Treasurer may approve exceptions). 

 

What If I get sued?

In this litigious world, a lawsuit against CMSA by a disgruntled player that also names a Commissioner is a possibility.  In 2025 the CMSA membership ratified an amendment to the organization’s By Laws that provides indemnification to Commissioners and team captains.  Indemnification is coverage for the expenses of a lawsuit, including amounts paid for settlements and judgments.  Indemnification is not provided in cases where the commissioner/ captain acted with an intent to harm, was grossly negligent, or failed to cooperate in the defense of the action.  The CMSA organization has made arrangements, including purchasing insurance for the organization, officers, and directors, and maintaining a minimum cash balance, to support its potential indemnification obligations.