The new treasurer sits down at the kitchen table with a bank card in an envelope, a spreadsheet called "accounts FINAL 2" and a note that says Charities Online, with no password written down. The outgoing treasurer has moved on to a new job and is not answering the phone. The Scout group's AGM is in six weeks.
This is the handover problem that rarely gets written up. Most guides about treasurer handover are about the books: the cash book, the receipts and the Gift Aid declarations. Those matter. But a new treasurer cannot reconcile a bank account they cannot log into, and they cannot file a Gift Aid claim through a Charities Online account nobody can open. This piece is a practical list of the access and accounts to pass on, and who should hold each one.
What to hand over beyond the books
Start with a plain list, written on paper or in a shared document that the committee can see. It should cover:
- Bank mandate and signatories. Who is named on each account, who can sign cheques or authorise payments, and what the bank's form says. Keep a copy of the signed mandate. Check the current rules with your bank, because online and card arrangements vary.
- Government Gateway access for Charities Online. The user ID, the organisation's registration details and which named person holds the login. If the account was set up under a former treasurer's name, the chair may need to arrange access through HMRC's own process. Check current HMRC guidance for this.
- Email addresses tied to the accounts. Bank alerts, Charities Online notifications and any online banking all tend to send to one address. If that address belongs to a former volunteer's personal inbox, you have a problem before you have started.
- Payment provider and card reader logins. If the Scout group takes card payments at camp or on a bottle stall, the payment provider account and any card reader will have their own login and their own registered phone number.
- Where the Gift Aid declarations are kept. Paper forms in a lever arch file, scanned copies on a laptop, or both. Name the place and the person who knows it. HMRC expects Gift Aid records to be kept for at least six years, so the location matters for years, not weeks.
None of this needs to be complicated. It needs to be written down, dated and kept somewhere the next committee member can find it.
Who should hold what
The most common mistake is letting the account sit in one person's personal email. It feels convenient at the time. Then the person moves away, changes their number or simply stops answering, and the organisation loses the ability to reset anything.
A better arrangement is for the organisation to own every account. The bank account is in the group's name. The email address used for alerts is a group address, such as treasurer@ or accounts@, set up by the chair and passed on at handover. The Charities Online login belongs to the organisation, and the chair knows how to recover it.
Two committee members should know where things are. That usually means the treasurer and the chair, or the treasurer and one other trustee or committee member. They do not need to hold the same passwords, but each should know:
- which accounts exist
- who the signatories are
- where the written list is kept
- how to get back in if the treasurer is ill, away or no longer available
If you are the only person who knows where the Gift Aid declarations are, you are the single point of failure. Fix that before the next committee meeting, not during the next year-end.
Two-factor authentication without the lockout
Two-factor authentication is worth having on every account that matters. It is also the thing most likely to lock everyone out at handover. A code is sent to a phone that belongs to someone who has left, or a recovery email goes to an address nobody reads.
For each account, note three things by role rather than by name:
- The phone number or app that receives the second factor, and whose role it sits with. For example: "Treasurer's mobile (current holder) and backup number held by the chair."
- The recovery route. Most banks, email providers and online services have a recovery email, a backup code or a call-back process. Write down which one applies and where the backup codes are stored.
- The named role that can authorise a reset. Often that is the chair, but check it. Some organisations need two people to confirm a change, which is sensible for money.
Store backup codes in the same secure place as the written list, not stuck to the bottom of the card reader. Review the list once a year, and whenever the committee changes.
How Vasker fits in
Vasker is bookkeeping and Gift Aid software for unpaid treasurers of clubs, charities, PTAs, Scout groups and community amateur sports clubs. The organisation owns its Vasker account. Every account uses two-factor authentication. The treasurer handover ZIP packs the records the next person needs, so the books and the reasoning behind them travel together.
Vasker does not store Government Gateway passwords. The chair or treasurer keeps those with the organisation, in the same place as the rest of the access list. When a claim is sent to HMRC, the sender's Government Gateway ID and password are typed at submission and are not kept by Vasker.
Vasker is listed by HMRC as commercial software for filing Gift Aid and charity repayment claims online through Charities Online. HMRC does not endorse or approve any software supplier.
The cash book needs a live connection to work. It is not an offline tool, so plan the handover on the assumption that someone can get online. The Free plan covers a starter cash book with one fund. Fuller handover tooling sits on higher plans, and you only need to look at those if your organisation has outgrown the starter book.
Handover checklist for the outgoing and incoming treasurer
Both treasurers should sit down together and tick through this list. Sign and date it, and give a copy to the chair.
- [ ] Bank accounts listed, with signatories and the current mandate copy
- [ ] Charities Online access confirmed for the named holder, and the recovery route noted
- [ ] Organisation email addresses for alerts changed to group addresses, not personal ones
- [ ] Payment provider and card reader logins listed, with the registered phone number and its role
- [ ] Two-factor methods checked on each account, with backup codes stored securely
- [ ] Location of Gift Aid declarations confirmed, with at least six years of records
- [ ] Chair and one other committee member know where the written list is kept
- [ ] Vasker account owned by the organisation, with the handover ZIP saved
- [ ] Outgoing treasurer has removed their own access where it is no longer needed
Check the current guidance first
This is general information for volunteer treasurers, not tax, legal or accounting advice. Before you finalise any handover, check current guidance from your bank, HMRC (including Charities Online and Gift Aid), and the Charity Commission, OSCR or CCNI, depending on where your organisation is registered.
If you are taking on the role this year and the login has never been written down, start with the list above. You can start free by creating your organisation's account in a few minutes, with no sales call and no setup fee, so the next treasurer inherits one tidy place.