Your Coordinating Team is responsible for ensuring MS Society funds and assets under your group's control are administered effectively and used exclusively in pursuit of our charitable objects. Your Finance Volunteer leads on managing your finances appropriately.
See Group Handbook B4: Managing your finances
Finance Volunteer responsibilities
Your Finance Volunteer leads on financial administration and reporting. This includes:
- Reviewing group accounts
- Planning and budgeting
- Keeping accounting records
- Control of group funds
- Raising and holding funds
- Use of funds
- Banking and account administration
- Claiming VAT and Gift Aid
Reviewing group accounts
Ideally monthly and at least once a quarter, your Finance Volunteer must provide a report on group finances to enable them to be reviewed by your Coordinating Team during team meetings.
This report should include an assessment of how the group is doing against your plans and budgets, and details of money raised and costs incurred at each fundraising event.
- Find out more about Producing financial reports
Planning and budgeting
Each year, we expect your Coordinating Team to put together a plan of what your group will do, and a budget detailing how it will be paid for. We recommend that you hold an annual planning meeting and review your progress against budget at each team meeting throughout the year.
Planning and budgeting supports your Coordinating Team to:
- Identify your priorities and make sure they match our shared goals and what is needed locally.
- Work out what services and activities your group will deliver over the coming year.
- Consider who needs to be involved and the steps you need to take to start, improve or stop providing each service and activity.
- Identify potential problems with your finances, such as a shortfall in income or excess funds.
10 steps to effective planning and budgeting
Our planning and budgeting tool will support your Coordinating Team to prepare for and run your planning meeting, understand the financial implications of your decisions, and ensure your plans are sustainable.
Need support?
Finance Support Team
Our Finance Support Team is available to all group volunteers to answer questions about group finances.
- Get contact details for our Finance Support Team
Your Local Networks Officer
Your Local Networks Officer is available to support you to plan and budget for the services and activities your group delivers.
- Get contact details for your Local Networks Officer
Back to Managing your finances
