Financial Rules - Kernow Men's Society

Kernow Men’s Society Financial Rules:-

Kernow Men’s Society (KMS) aims to ensure the fullest possible control of the Society’s finances by the Management Committe (the Committee).

The Committee has agreed this set of policies and procedures to make sure that the group’s money is used and accounted for properly and efficiently, only to meet the group’s objectives in the area of benefit laid down in the constitution and as set out in any funding agreements or contracts to provide services/facilities.

In these Rules, references to ‘bank’ include any other financial institution (e.g. a building society) in which the organisation may have an account.
Only those Committee members authorised by the Committee, as recorded in the minutes, may authorise expenditure on behalf of the Organisation and then only to the levels specified in these Rules.
Only the Treasurer and other named Committee members authorised by the Committee, whose names are recorded in the minutes and reported to the bank, may sign cheques and other financial documents.
Before a cheque is written, bills should be checked to see that the payment has been properly authorised.
The Treasurer must make a financial report at regular Committee meetings or, if unavoidably absent, must submit a written report.

Accounts Records:-

The Treasurer (or other person acting under the Treasurer’s oversight) is responsible for keeping the accounts, in a manual or electronic form i.e. in actual books/paper or on a computer (spreadsheet or accounts package). In whatever form the accounts are kept, separate records are needed for:

Petty Cash; and
Bank Transactions

In each case income and expenditure will be recorded and analysed against budget headings. For each bank account, a separate bank reconciliation must be carried out. This should show the balance of each bank account plus any deposits and less any withdrawals shown in the accounts but not yet appearing on the statement. The totals should be reconciled and any discrepancies investigated. All income and expenditure must be recorded against budget regardless of which bank account is involved. Where major projects are involved separate income and expenditure should be analysed against each project.

The books may be inspected by any member of the Committee on request to the Treasurer with due regard to confidential information e.g. financial beneficiaries. The books, however, may only be taken away, or entries made, by the Treasurer, or an appointed person acting on the authority of the Treasurer or of the Committee.

The Treasurer (or other person acting under the Treasurer’s oversight) will also maintain files containing all bills, invoices, receipts, copies of order notes and such other documents as may reasonably be required at the time of the annual independent examination/audit of the accounts.

All records and other documents relating to the accounts, including copies of the Committee minutes, will be kept in a safe place for a period of not less than seven years, (or longer if the funding agreement requires it) from the end of the financial year to which they relate.

Preparation and presentation of Annual Accounts:-

The financial year for the Society will be as specified in the Constitution (or, if not so specified, as agreed by a General Meeting or as may be otherwise determined by any requirement of the Constitution).
The Treasurer will prepare (or oversee the preparation of) annual statements of the accounts and arrange for them to be available for examination by the Committee.
The Treasurer will present the annual accounts to the Annual General Meeting.
Following the Annual General Meeting, any required documents will be forwarded by the Secretary to appropriate funders and to others who may have a right to automatically receive them.

Bank Accounts:-

The Society will hold accounts in its own name with such financial institution(s) as the Committee may from time to time decide.
Bank statements are to be addressed to the Treasurer at his home address and passed to the Treasurer without delay.

Cheques:-

All cheques must be signed by any two of the authorised signatories approved by the Committee and recorded in the minutes:-
The Treasurer – unless specific circumstances favour another officer.
Other named Committee member(s).
A mandate form will be competed each time signatories are appointed or changed by the Committee and will be forwarded to the relevant bank(s).
Under no condition is any signatory to sign a blank cheque.
Under no circumstances will cheques be issued or utilised for the personal benefit of KMS members or Committee Members.
The cheque book(s) will normally be held by the Treasurer or, in her/his absence, by another signatory.

Bank Debit Card(s):-

Any and all bank debit cards may only be used by specifically authorised members previously approved by the Committee and recorded in the minutes.
All use of bank cards must only be for authorised (as deemed by the Committee) purchases and for the benefit of the group.
Under no circumstances will bank cards be used for the personal benefit of KMS members or Committee Members.
Dependent on the number of cards available, they will normally be held by The Treasurer, The Chair and The Secretary in that order.
PIN numbers for any bank debit cards must be kept secret by the card holder and under no circumstances be revealed to a third party.
Notwithstanding the above, a card may be used by a KMS member for strictly authorised purchases where the card holder is unable to be present at the point of purchase for a KMS authorised event or activity and where the card using member has been previously authorised by the Committee to use the card in such a manner.

Expenditure:-

Money to be spent by the Society may be authorised as follows:-

Up to £20.00 by the Treasurer or, in his absence, by another signatory.
Beyond £20.00 and up to £100.00 by the Treasurer plus another signatory.
Over £100.00 by the full Committee and recorded in the minutes.
Travelling expenses are normally to be authorised in advance as above. In unexpected circumstances, local journeys may be made, and the cost reimbursed, without prior authorisation.
Travel should normally be by the least expensive means of travel. Public transport journeys will be reimbursed at cost, car and cycle journeys at mileage rates agreed from time to time by the Committee. These should be in accordance with current HM Revenue & Customs rules, which specify tax free limits.
Non-travel expenses will normally be authorised in advance, in conformity with decisions of the Committee and otherwise according to the scale set out above.
Invoices and/or receipts in support of any expense claim will be submitted together with an expense claim form. Before it is submitted to the Treasurer, the person who authorised the expenditure will sign the claim form. When cash payment is made, a receipt will be signed by the claimant. The Treasurer will file receipts and all other documents submitted in support of claims.
No payment will be made to any member of the Committee, except for the reimbursement of legitimate out-of-pocket expenses and any other payment authorised in accordance with the Constitution Document and/or HM Revenue and Customs.

Petty Cash:-

The organisation will operate a petty cash system. The petty cash will be held by a person authorised by the Committee. Members needing to spend petty cash on behalf of the group should apply to the petty cash holder for an advance. The petty cash holder will record the nature of the expense on a duplicate petty cash voucher, a copy of which will be held by the applicant.
The petty cash balance may not exceed £50 at any time without express authorisation by the Committee or on the Committee’s authority.
The Treasurer, or petty cash holder if not the Treasurer, will balance the petty cash at least once a month and refund the cash to the level authorised above. A report will be presented to each regular Committee meeting.

Incoming Cash and Cheques:-

All cash received (e.g. subscriptions, income from fundraising events etc.) will be counted by at least two people (where possible), handed to the Treasurer and booked into the Treasurer’s records.
All cash and cheques received will be paid without delay into the bank. Cash received will not be used as petty cash, other than in exceptional circumstances authorised by the Committee on the advice of the Treasurer.

Paying Bills:-

The procedure for paying bills is as follows:

On receipt of a bill, it must be checked and signed by the person who ordered the purchase and/or authorised the expenditure.
The bill will then be passed to the Treasurer for payment. The Treasurer and other bank signatories will not sign cheques without assurance that the expenditure has been properly authorised. Any request for unauthorised payments will be reported to the Committee, who will determine the appropriate course of action.
All paid-up bills will be marked ‘paid’, with the cheque number and date of payment. The Treasurer will keep on file original bills, invoices, copies of orders, receipts and other documents related to payments. The Treasurer will not under normal circumstances accept photocopies.

With the increase in the use of electronic banking and in particular the authorisation of BACS payments – an electronic method (without using a cheque) of making payments direct to a creditor’s bank – the Treasurer will need to ensure that all electronic records are kept and recorded.

Reviewing and amending these Rules:-

These rules are to be reviewed regularly by the Committee.

All decisions to amend the rules are to be recorded in the minutes.

Date adopted: August 13th 2018

Date for review: July 31st 2020

Signed by Chair:

Mark Fanning

Kernow Men’s Society is recognised by HMRC as a Charity for tax purposes.