Some friends groups find it difficult to recruit the post of treasurer because it can seem a bit daunting, so we wanted to share the experience of a treasurer who has been in the post for a few years and hopefully inspire more people to take on the role!

From Annabel, treasurer of a friends group in south London

Being treasurer of a Friends group is not as difficult a task as it might sound! I have a few roles that I do to manage the money which we raise and they are:

1. I keep an eye on our bank account and how much money there is in it. I do this online like I do with my personal account, and when we raise money or we want to spend some money I track those transactions and add them to my simple spreadsheet which records: money in, money out, and the balance. This means we as a group have a record of what is going in and out of our bank account separate to the online banking. If you get bank statements, which I would recommend, then I keep an eye to make sure they match my tally.

2, When we raise money I make sure I know if it is unrestricted (so we can spend it on anything) or if it is restricted (donated for a particular project or thing). If it is restricted I make sure I keep a separate record of how we spent that money so I can report back to the funder exactly what it was spent on if we need to.

3. Every year we have to produce accounts. Because we are very small and constituted as a community group we can produce these ourselves, but each organisation should check the requirements for their particular circumstances (see here if you're planning to set up as a charity). However if you are able to do this it is simply a summary of the money you had at the beginning of the year, how much you have had go in and out during the year and how much you have at the end of the year. These should be shared with your group at the AGM.