TENANTS & RESIDENT ASSOCIATION TREASURER’S ROLE
The Treasurer is responsible for the proper handling of the TRA’s finances and account books.
The Treasurer should open a Bank Account and get agreed signatories for the account. The committee MUST authorise at least two, preferably three people, one of whom MUST be the Treasurer. This must be shown in the minutes of the meeting when these are agreed. ALL cheques/withdrawals MUST be signed by 2 people.
The Treasurer is responsible to the main TRA committee and to its general membership. They should report to every meeting on the state of the TRA’s finances.
This means that they report on the TRA’s financial transactions to both the committee and to the Annual General Meeting, at which they will present the audited statement of accounts for the previous financial year.
At every meeting of the TRA’s committee the Treasurer will report all income and all expenditure and tell members what balance the TRA holds. The secretary should show this in the minutes.
The Treasurer will advise the committee as to economies or fund-raising required and ask for authority for the payment of the TRA’s expenses.
The Treasurer will keep the main account books of the Association.
A record must be kept of ALL transactions. The Treasurer MUST issues receipts for all income cash expenditure.
Some TRA’s may agree to hold a petty cash float. Records must be kept in a petty cash book and accounted to the TRA for amounts spent. Cash transactions should be avoided if possible as receipts/paper often go missing.
If possible avoid giving cash in advance to TRA members, unless the committee agrees AND records this in the minutes. A signed receipt for the cash advanced must be kept.
Bank Statements MUST be sent to the secretary who either makes a note of the amount or keeps copies of the statements before passing to the Treasurer.
The Treasurer should regularly check the bank statement with the cash book.
The Treasurer should receive all money that comes into the TRA and should then pay this into the TRA’s account as soon as possible.
When the TRA has adequate current funds for normal running expenses, the Treasurer can (having consulted the committee) transfer surplus money to a deposit account which pays interest.
For all items of expenditure the cash book should show:
- Date
- Receipt/Invoice number
- Amount
- Cheque number
- Description of payment
About two months prior to the AGM the Treasurer should make sure the books are up to date and in order, to have them audited.
At least a month prior to the AGM pass the books over to the auditor informing them of the date of the AGM.
Approved auditors who will charge between £30 and £100 depending on the size of the TRA and work involved are shown at the end of the leaflet. You may use one of these or another auditor but they must sign the accounts and provide contact details.
Chase up the auditor about two weeks prior to AGM if the auditor has not completed the audit.
Obtain a signed statement of the accounts and photocopy enough for everyone likely to attend the AGM.
Keep copies safe you will need them for future use.
A COPY OF THE AUDITED ACCOUNTS MUST BE SENT TO LEWISHAM TENANTS FUND TOGETHER WITH ANY CORRESPONDENCE FROM YOUR AUDITOR REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU INTEND TO MAKE A CLAIM OR NOT IN THE CURRENT YEAR.
Recommended Auditors
June Mowat
020 8691 9912
Caroline Dyer
020 8726 8705
Cindi Smart
020 8518 6960