Every year, plenty of new charities get started in Aotearoa New Zealand. Most start small, and many stay that way. There are already some excellent detailed guides to registering a charity. This isn't intended to replace them. Instead, this guide will walk you through some of the big decisions you'll need to make, point you […]
Treasurers can sometimes be hard to recruit. The role can be seen as undesirable, time-consuming, or something that requires a particular set of financial skills that are hard to find. We don’t necessarily agree with all of that. A good treasurer doesn’t need to be an accountant, and the role shouldn’t have to become a […]
Someone asked this exact question in one of our Being a Good Treasurer webinars recently: What’s the difference between a bookkeeper, an accountant, and a treasurer? It’s a good question, because the three often get bundled together. Small charities sometimes hire an accountant when what they really need is bookkeeping help, or expect their volunteer […]
Receiving a warning that your charity’s annual return is overdue can feel alarming - particularly if you are a volunteer who has inherited the treasurer role or discovered that something was missed before you arrived. Don't panic! An overdue notice does mean your charity has fallen behind on one of its legal obligations. But it […]
Lots of small charities and non-profits use Xero - and for good reason. It is one of the best-known accounting systems in Aotearoa New Zealand, and plenty of treasurers, bookkeepers and accountants already know how to use it. But Xero is mainly built for businesses. Unless it has been set up carefully for your organisation, […]
A simple treasurer report helps your board or committee understand what is happening with the money, what decisions are needed, and what financial or reporting tasks are coming up. Example: Open simple board and committee finance report example > Templates: Open a Google Drive template (File -> Make a Copy to edit it) Download a […]
A cash book is a simple way of keeping track of the money your organisation receives and spends. At its most basic, a cash book is a record of the transactions in your bank account. If your organisation uses petty cash, it can also record the cash you receive and spend outside your bank account. […]
Fundholding is when one organisation holds money on behalf of another group, project, or kaupapa. It is also sometimes called fiscal sponsorship, auspicing, umbrella-ing, or being under an umbrella organisation. The terms are used slightly differently in different places, but the basic idea is usually the same: an established organisation receives and manages funds for […]
Learn what counts as an asset for a small non-profit, when purchases should be recorded as significant assets, and how Tier 4 charities should think about vehicles, equipment, shares and term deposits.
If your organisation has a credit card or debit card, accidental personal purchases can happen surprisingly easily. Maybe Paywave was enabled and the wrong card tapped before you realised.Maybe your personal and organisation cards look almost identical.Maybe your browser or Shopify saved the organisation’s card online and you clicked through too quickly. These mistakes are […]
