Club Treasurers


Key responsibilities for a Club Treasurer normally included:

See also Guidelines, Policies and Processes for guidelines and processes and Forms.

Managing Club Finances

All clubs must maintain a bank account.  All income and payments should go through the bank apart from small items of petty cash.  Apart from keeping a small cash float, all petty cash should generally be banked, .  Treasurers should keep a record of cash transactions – ideally at the time as it may be very difficult to remember later.  On-line banking may be used if agreed by the committee

Barclays, Lloyds and Nat West currently offer community accounts free of charge.  Club committees may authorise the use of online banking. Barclays currently offer 2-factor authentication but Nat West does not.  Any of this may change as banks change their practises.

Treasurers must keep a full record of income and expenditure.  This could be done in any way which maintains clear accounts.  It could be a manual ledger, a spreadsheet or accounting software. Free accounting software is available online for not-for-profit organisations, or may be available from your bank. If you need further help on keeping financial records please click on Area Treasurer to generate an email.

Invoices and receipts should be retained for checking by the auditor

Financial records must be maintained for 7 years after which they can be destroyed.

When paying NAFAS judges, demonstrators, speakers or teachers the programme secretary should have a record of the contract on Part B of the Blue Form.  This should be passed to the treasurer at the time of payment.  For more information see Blue Forms Process.  Reference should be made to NAFAS-Recommended-Mileage-Rates when paying judges, demonstrators, speakers and teachers.  If the cost of fuel should fall below £1.31p per litre, NAFAS recommends that the HMRC approved rate of 45p per mile, is the minimum offered to and claimed by presenters.  See also Travel and Expense Policy Update, April 2022

Ensuring Club Financial Viability

Treasurers are responsible for ensuring the club maintains sufficient reserves to keep going for one year.  This should take into account expected outgoings for venue hire, demonstrator/teacher fees, travel and flower allowances, and any other expected expenditure.  It is particularly important to liaise with the Programme Secretary to ensure the club does not overcommit expenditure on demonstrations – particularly when flower and travel costs are increasing rapidly.

Treasurers, along with the Club Chairman or management team, should manage the expectations of members in terms of what can be provided for the level of subscriptions being charged.  Explain what the membership fee and affiliation fees provide.

Paying Affiliation Fees

Affiliation fees are payable annually by end of June.  The fees are based on the number of club members just before the last AGM.  Payment may be made  via cheque or direct bank transfer. For more information and details of the form please see Affiliation Fees
Fees payable for 2023 include:
NAFAS fee = £7.50 (or 10p for juniors)
BB&O fee = £2 (free for juniors)
Total fee: £9.50 (including Honorary Members

Insurance

The Area now has in place an umbrella policy that provides Employer’s liability cover and Public Liability cover for all affiliated clubs.  Copies of the insurance certificates were sent to all clubs in January 2022.  If you need a copy please click on Area Treasurer to generate an email.

Clubs’ stock and trophies are NOT covered by this area policy.  If you require further information on this aspect please click on Area Treasurer to generate an email.

Encouraging Fund-Raising and Cost-Cutting

To boost financial reserves clubs should consider one or more of the following:

  • Set membership and visitor fees at realistic levels, and manage member expectations in terms of what can be provided for the level of subscriptions being charged.  Explain to members what their fee and affiliation fees provide.
  • Demonstrator fees, flower and travel costs are expensive so encourage cheaper activities in the programme, such as in-house workshops
  • Consider coffee mornings, tea parties, garden parties etc as fund-raisers
  • Open meetings with a national demonstrator can be good fund-raisers if well advertised and the venue can take a large number of visitors.  However they can also be loss makers if you don’t get the expected numbers.  Consider joining forces with a neighbouring club to boost numbers and income.
  • Run raffles at club meetings. Tthe following legal requirements from the Gambling Commission website which specifically refers to raffles or ‘incidental lotteries’ for fundraising at small clubs & organisations:
    • You must provide physical tickets to those taking part.  There are no set requirements for what must be printed on the tickets, as long as you can identify which ones are the winning tickets.  For example, you can use cloakroom tickets.
    • There is no limit on how much you can charge for a ticket, and you can apply discount tickets for multiple purchases, such as buy one get one free.
    • You can sell tickets for an incidental lottery to children.
    •  Tickets can only be sold at the location of the event and whilst the event is taking place. You can’t sell tickets online (which includes social media) or in advance of the event.
    • Different rules apply if you are selling to the general public or online.

Recording Charitable Donations

A number of clubs raise money for charity.  This is entirely optional, but donations are made the Treasurer must keep an appropriate record, and inform the Area of such donations annually by 30th September.  The information should be submitted via the Charity Donations form.