Role of treasurer
The treasurer works closely with the management committee to safeguard the organisation’s finances, with a watchdog role over all aspects of financial management.
The final responsibility for the financial management of the group always rests with the management committee as a whole. Remember all members of the management committee are accountable.
Main duties of the treasurer
This basically means knowing how much money the group has in the account(s), what is owed to the group and what money the group owes.
You need to ensure that committee members know enough about the organisation’s finances to make educated decisions. The treasurer will make day to day financial decisions and report these to the committee, liaise with the bank and prepare accounts.
A clear method for claiming expenses must be set up and all committee members must know what they can claim and how they claim. All claims must be supported by receipts.
Financial responsibilities can be divided into seven broad categories:
- Keeping a general overview on financial matters;
- Managing income from fundraising and sales;
- Paying cheques and banking cash and cheques;
- Financial planning and budgeting;
- Financial reporting to the committee and/or funding providers;
- Banking, book-keeping and record-keeping;
- Preparing report of finances for meetings.
Reproduced with permission of North West Parks Friends Forum
