BSV USA Association: First-Year Budget and Finance Plan

The short version

The association asks nobody for money in year one.

• The only cash it needs is the filing fees. The organizers cover them.
• No dues until members vote for something dues would pay for.
• Donations are optional, small and capped.
• Every piece of technology is John's own work and his own cost. He gives it in kind and discloses it under the conflict-of-interest policy. It is never a line the association pays.

A CPA should change anything here that is wrong. The budget year is the first twelve months after formation, roughly November 2026 to October 2027. The CPA picks the real fiscal year (see section 5).

1Year one

All figures are US dollars. "Verified" means checked on an official or vendor page on 2026-10-12.

What is not in this budget, on purpose:

• No listing fees. The association pays none to anyone.
• No market maker, inventory loan, custodian sponsorship or paid promotion.
• No salaries. Everyone is unpaid.
• No paid legal opinion. If one is ever needed, that is a separate conversation, and nobody is being asked to fund it now.

2Money in

2.1 Dues

None. The association charges no dues until members vote for something dues would pay for. Appendix A sets out how dues could work if members ever want them.

2.2 Donations

Optional, small and capped. Nobody is asked.

• Per-donor cap. No donor gives more than $5,000 in a budget year. The board may lower this. Raising it needs a recorded board vote.
• Concentration limit. No single source, counting related people and companies as one, provides more than 20% of the adopted budget for the year.
• Public ledger. Every donation is listed: date, amount, form (USD or BSV), donor name, and any conditions. Gifts under $250 may be listed in one aggregate line, names withheld.
• No anonymous donation above $250. Anything larger with no verified donor is returned.
• No strings. No donation may be tied to a listing outcome, a vote, a board seat, a statement, or any litigation. Conditional gifts are returned.
• Who we do not take money from. Any exchange, market maker or listing service the association is asking for a decision. Anyone funding litigation against an exchange. Anyone who asks that their gift stay off the ledger.

2.3 In-kind gifts

John's technology, volunteers' time and any donated service are logged as in-kind contributions, so the statement shows the real cost of running the association. John discloses his interest under the conflict-of-interest policy. What the association adopts from his work is a board decision, and he steps out of that vote.

2.4 BSV

Until the board names a custodian or a lawful same-day conversion route in writing, the association accepts USD only. No officer may hold association BSV in a personal wallet. Fireblocks lists Bitcoin SV on its public supported-assets page, but no custodian has confirmed support to us in writing (to-do t14). The CPA should say how any BSV received is valued and booked (see section 5).

3Controls

The amounts are small. The controls still matter, because a published, checkable ledger is part of passing due diligence.

3.1 Treasurer

The Treasurer is named by the board and is not the Director. The Treasurer keeps the books, prepares the monthly statement, keeps the donation ledger, and is the second bank signer. The CPA reviewer is not the Treasurer, so that review stays independent.

3.2 Signatures

• Every payment needs approval from one officer who is not the payee.
• Any payment over $500, and any new recurring charge, needs two signatures: the Director and the Treasurer.
• Any single commitment over $5,000, or any contract longer than one year, needs a board vote first.
• An organizer who pays a filing fee personally and wants it back uses a reimbursement form with receipts, approved by a second officer. An organizer may also log it as an in-kind gift.

3.3 Monthly published statement

By the 15th of each month, the association publishes a statement for the prior month:

• opening balance, closing balance, and the bank statement it reconciles to;
• receipts, with the donation ledger attached;
• in-kind contributions, with who gave them;
• each payment: date, payee, amount, purpose, budget line, approvers;
• budget against actual, line by line.

A person who is not a signer reviews it before it goes out. Most months it will be short. The minutes, budget and ledger can be hashed to the BSV chain each month so anyone can check nothing changed later.

3.4 Separation of duties

• The person who approves a payment does not make it. The person who makes it does not reconcile the bank.
• No volunteer approves a payment to themself or to a business they are tied to.
• Bank and accounting logins are held by the Treasurer and the Director only. Volunteers get read-only access where the software allows.

3.5 The claims ledger and "funding secured"

Every public claim about money goes in the claims ledger (to-do t05): the words used, who said it, the date, the evidence, and its status.

"Funding secured" may be said in public only when all three are true:

1. the money is in the association's own bank account (or its named custodian);
2. it is recorded in the donation ledger with a named source; and
3. it appears in a published monthly statement.

It may never mean a pledge, a conversation, an intention, an offer of liquidity, a market-making arrangement, an organizer's personal holdings, or money held by anyone other than the association.

A September 29 post from the founder account said funding was secured. No amount, source or account has been shown. Under this rule that claim sits in the claims ledger as open until it is evidenced or withdrawn.

4Timeline

Target dates, not commitments. Each step depends on the one before.

Formation as a US entity does not need a beneficial ownership report to FinCEN under the March 2025 interim final rule, which exempts all US-formed entities [19]. The CPA or counsel should confirm this is still current at filing.

5Bookkeeping and reporting choices for the CPA

These are the CPA's calls. We list them so nothing is missed.

1. Fiscal year. Calendar year, or a year that starts at formation.
2. Basis. Cash or accrual.
3. Software. Whether a spreadsheet is enough until real money comes in.
4. Expense classes. Program, management, membership. A separate class to track any lobbying spend.
5. Lobbying. Whether a comment letter on a Treasury rulemaking (such as the GENIUS Act comment) counts as lobbying spend [17].
6. In-kind contributions. Which volunteer services and donated items, including John's technology, are booked, and at what value.
7. BSV. How any BSV received is valued at receipt and measured at period end.
8. Annual return. Form 990-N if gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less; 990-EZ under $200,000 receipts and $500,000 assets; full 990 above [20].
9. Donor reporting. How Schedule B is handled if any donor reaches the reporting threshold.
10. State filings. Any state registration for soliciting donations.
11. Reimbursements. The form, the receipt rule and the deadline.

App. AIf members ever want dues

Nothing here is proposed for year one. It is here so the question has a starting point if members ever vote for something dues would pay for.

Dues would buy membership, not votes. Voting stays one verified person, one vote, whatever anyone pays.

Flat, with a hard cap. A hardship waiver for individuals could be granted by the board and logged.

Dues paid to a 501(c)(6) are not charitable contributions. If the association lobbies, members must be told what share of dues is not deductible, or the association pays a 35% proxy tax on its lobbying spend [17].

Sources

All checked 2026-10-12.

1. Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, nonprofit filing instructions: https://dos.fl.gov/sunbiz/start-business/efile/fl-nonprofit-corporation/instructions/
2. Florida Trend, "What is an annual report?" (nonprofit annual report fee $61.25 if filed by May 1): https://www.floridatrend.com/small-business-florida/2025/12/23/annual-reports
3. Delaware Division of Corporations, exempt certificate of incorporation form and fees: https://corpfiles.delaware.gov/Corp_Forms/Incorporation%20-%20Exempt.pdf ; annual report and franchise tax FAQ: https://www.cogencyglobal.com/delaware-annual-report-filing-system/
4. Florida registered agent service pricing: https://www.incorp.com/registered-agent-services/Florida ; https://labyrinthinc.com/florida-registered-agent/
5. Missouri Secretary of State, nonprofit articles (Form 52): https://www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Business/corp52.pdf
6. IRS newsroom, Form 1024 electronic filing: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-revises-form-1024-used-by-most-types-of-organizations-to-apply-for-exempt-status-to-allow-electronic-filing
7. Baker Tilly, Form 1024 ($600 user fee via Pay.gov): https://www.bakertilly.com/insights/tax-exempt-organizations-via-irs-form-1024
8. IRS, user fees for TE/GE (Rev. Proc. 2026-5): https://www.irs.gov/Charities-Non-Profits/User-Fees-for-Tax-Exempt-and-Government-Entities-Division ; RSM on the 2026 revenue procedures: https://rsmus.com/insights/tax-alerts/2026/annual-revenue-procedures-exempt-organizations.html
9. Cloudflare Registrar, .org domains: https://www.cloudflare.com/application-services/products/registrar/buy-org-domains
10. Otter.ai pricing review, 2026: https://sonix.ai/resources/otter-ai-pricing/
11. BSV Blockchain docs, SV Node installation (pruned about 500 GB): https://docs.bsvblockchain.org/network-topology/nodes/sv-node/installation/sv-node
12. Hetzner dedicated server review and pricing: https://www.websnp.com/blog/hetzner-dedicated-server-review ; https://www.hetzner.com/
13. QuickBooks Online pricing after the August 2026 increase: https://auditfriendly.co/answers/quickbooks-online-price-increase-2026
14. Aplos pricing (Capterra): https://www.capterra.com/p/118759/Aplos-Accounting/
15. Insureon, nonprofit insurance cost: https://insureon.com/nonprofit-business-insurance/cost
16. PropertyCasualty360 on nonprofit D&O pricing: https://www.propertycasualty360.com/2012/02/02/the-line-on-pricing/
17. IRS, proxy tax and dues notice under section 6033(e): https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/proxy-tax-tax-exempt-organization-fails-to-notify-members-that-dues-are-non-deductible-lobbying-political-expenditures
18. IRS, apply for an EIN online: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/apply-for-an-employer-identification-number-ein-online
19. FinCEN, beneficial ownership information: https://www.fincen.gov/BOI ; Davis Polk summary of the March 2025 interim final rule: https://www.davispolk.com/insights/client-update/fincen-eliminates-beneficial-ownership-reporting-requirements-u-s-companies
20. IRS, Form 990 series overview: https://www.stayexempt.irs.gov/se/files/downloads/form_990_overview_print.pdf