Treasurer
The person who knows if the club is alive
The treasurer keeps the money straight: subs in, bills paid, accounts that pass an AGM. It is the committee job with the most quiet power and the worst handovers. This page is the job as it actually is, not as the constitution describes it.
The honest hours. One to three hours a week in season for a mid-sized club, more in renewal month and before the AGM. Chasing unpaid subs is where the hidden hours hide.
What the job actually is
Collect the subs
Set the fees with the committee, invoice every member, track who has paid, chase who has not. In most clubs this single duty is half the role.
Pay the bills
Insurance, affiliation, utilities, coaches, kit. On time, from the right account, with a record.
Keep the books
Every pound in and out, categorised well enough that the year-end accounts assemble themselves instead of becoming an archaeology project.
Report to the committee
A short monthly figure: cash held, owed, owing, versus budget. Committees make bad decisions when the treasurer goes quiet.
Produce the annual accounts
The AGM pack: income, spend, balances, usually against last year. Independent examination where the constitution requires it.
Guard the reserves
Know the number below which the club cannot absorb a broken boiler or a lost season, and say so before spending decisions, not after.
The year, honestly
Renewal month
The heaviest weeks of the year. Fees confirmed, invoices out, payments reconciled, non-payers chased. A clean member list going in is the difference between a fortnight and a whole term of chasing.
In season
Steady state: pay what arrives, reconcile monthly, report monthly. An hour a week if the records are good.
Before the AGM
Close the year, build the accounts, get them examined if required, write the treasurer's report. Two or three evenings if the books were kept; two or three weekends if they were not.
Handover
Bank mandate changes, access to every account and record, and a walkthrough of the year ahead. The checklist below exists because most treasurers get none of this.
What the club is, in the United Kingdom
The treasurer's paperwork starts with what the club actually is. Here that usually means Community Amateur Sports Club status, dealt with through HM Revenue and Customs.
A club registered as a Community Amateur Sports Club with HMRC can claim Gift Aid on donations and gets business rates relief. It is a tax status rather than a legal structure, so a club still has to decide separately what it is: usually an unincorporated association, sometimes a company or a charitable incorporated organisation.
Checked against the official guidance on 28 August 2026. Structures and reliefs change, so confirm against that page before acting.
The handover checklist
What the outgoing treasurer hands to the incoming one. Most get none of this; be the club where they do.
Access
- Bank mandate updated and old signatories removed
- Online banking access working for the incoming treasurer
- Accounting records or spreadsheets handed over with edit access
- Membership system access at treasurer level
Knowledge
- Current fee structure and any member-specific arrangements
- List of every regular payment and its renewal date
- Insurance and affiliation renewal dates and costs
- Where last year's accounts and examination live
State of play
- Cash at bank confirmed and reconciled on handover day
- List of unpaid subs and where each chase has got to
- Any debts owed by or to the club
- Reserves policy, or the honest number the committee works to
Calendar
- Renewal month tasks written down with dates
- AGM date and what the treasurer must produce for it
- Grant reporting deadlines if the club holds any
The parts software takes off your plate
Subs collection stops being a chase
Invoicing, payment tracking and reminders run from the member records, so renewal month shrinks from a term of chasing to a checking job.
How it worksThe monthly figure builds itself
Who has paid and who owes is a report, not a reconciliation session.
How it worksHandover becomes access transfer
When the records live in the club's system instead of the treasurer's laptop, the next treasurer inherits everything on day one.
How it worksQuestions
What does a club treasurer actually do?
Collects membership subs, pays the club's bills, keeps the books, reports the position to the committee monthly, and produces the annual accounts for the AGM. In most volunteer clubs the subs collection is half the workload.
How many hours does being a club treasurer take?
One to three hours a week in season for a mid-sized club, with peaks in renewal month and before the AGM. Poor member records multiply the renewal-month peak.
Does a club treasurer need to be an accountant?
No. The job needs care and regularity, not a qualification. Clubs whose constitutions require an independent examination of accounts get the professional check there.