Course description

You've said yes to being treasurer, or you've joined the trustees, and now you're responsible for someone else's money. This course explains the whole job in plain English: banking and controls, funds, budgets and reports, reserves, accounts and independent examination, the annual return, Gift Aid, paying people and volunteers, and keeping fraud out. It's written for volunteer treasurers and trustees of small UK charities, clubs and community groups, with no accounting background needed.

It's a full, practical course. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, each with a worked example and a Try it task using your own organisation. You follow three fictional organisations through 2026: Gertrude, the new treasurer of a community food larder in Doncaster registered in England; Anwar, the treasurer of an amateur drama club in Kidderminster that isn't a charity; and Ealasaid, the treasurer of a riverside trust near Stirling registered in Scotland. Every section has a practice pack with checklists, templates and spreadsheets, including a bank reconciliation, a fund ledger, a budget and monitoring report, a free reserves calculator, a grant tracker, a Gift Aid schedule and a year planner.

What you'll learn

• The treasurer's role: what kind of organisation yours is and which regulator it answers to, trustees' duties from CC3, what a treasurer does and doesn't do, and taking over from the previous treasurer.
• Banking and controls: accounts in the charity's name, the bank mandate, dual authorisation and online banking roles, internal financial controls from CC8, paying for things and the monthly bank reconciliation.
• Money coming in: cash and collections counted by two people, card readers and online giving recorded gross, income categories, events, raffles, subscriptions and thanking donors.
• Funds: restricted, unrestricted and designated funds in plain English, spotting a restriction, a fund ledger, sharing costs fairly and what to do when restricted money goes wrong.
• Budgets and reporting: an annual budget, budgeting by fund, one-page monitoring reports, cash flow forecasting and presenting money to trustees so they can decide.
• Reserves, risk and insurance: what reserves are, working out free reserves, writing a reserves policy using CC19, a financial risk register and insurance basics.
• Accounts and examination: the income thresholds for accounts and independent examination, including the changes for years ending on or after 30 September 2026, receipts and payments accounts, accruals accounts and SORP 2026, the year end and working with your examiner.
• Reporting to the regulator and funders: the trustees' annual report, the annual return, Scotland, Northern Ireland and clubs, grant reporting and serious incident reporting.
• Gift Aid, people and fraud: Gift Aid and valid declarations, making claims and the small donations scheme, paying people, volunteers' expenses and preventing and handling fraud.
• Your year and final project: a treasurer's year planner, a final project building a charity's accounts and half-year report, a case review of a club's AGM report and your own handover file.

Who it's for

New volunteer treasurers and trustees of small UK charities, clubs and community groups, and anyone thinking of taking on the role. The course follows the rules for England and Wales, with the main differences for Scotland, Northern Ireland and clubs that aren't charities. It doesn't re-teach general bookkeeping or grant writing: Rootlet's Bookkeeping for Beginners and Writing Funding Applications courses cover those. The course gives general information, not legal, tax, accounting or financial advice, and shows you where to check. Every person, charity, club and funder in the course is fictional.

What will I learn?

• Understand trustees’ duties for money, what a treasurer does, and take over the role with a proper handover
• Set up bank accounts, dual authorisation, payment routines and monthly reconciliations that follow the Charity Commission’s CC8 guidance
• Handle cash, card takings and online giving safely, and record income correctly
• Tell restricted, unrestricted and designated funds apart and keep a fund ledger
• Build a budget, write one-page monitoring reports, forecast cash flow and present figures to trustees
• Work out free reserves, write a reserves policy using CC19 and keep a financial risk register
• Know which accounts and external checks your charity needs, including the thresholds for years ending on or after 30 September 2026, and prepare receipts and payments accounts
• Meet annual return, grant and serious incident reporting duties, claim Gift Aid correctly, pay volunteers’ expenses properly and protect your organisation from fraud

Frequently asked questions