The next treasurer inherits whatever the last one left behind

A club that changes treasurers every few years is handing over a set of habits, and the habits only transfer if they were written down.

The new treasurer gets a spreadsheet, a box of statements, and a verbal tour of how things work. Then the previous treasurer moves, gets busy, or stops answering. It happens a lot in volunteer clubs, and the problems that follow are rarely dramatic. They’re quiet. A filing nobody knew was due. A bank login tied to a personal email address. A reserve account that no one remembers opening.

Start with where things live. The bank accounts, the credit card, the payment apps members use for dues, the online accounts for the club’s insurance and its registered address. If any of them are tied to one person’s phone number or personal email, the club doesn’t fully control its own access. Moving them to a club-owned address that the board can reach is a small job that saves a large headache.

Then the filings. A nonprofit club has an annual return to file with the IRS, and it should be easy to see which one, when it was last filed, and when the next one is due. A club that skips the annual return for three years in a row loses its tax-exempt status automatically under IRS rules, so a gap in the file is worth noticing early. Copies of past returns, filing confirmations, and any IRS letters belong in one place the next person can find.

Clubs with shared equipment have more to pass along. A flying club with an airplane or a yacht club with a boat carries insurance policies, maintenance records, hangar or slip agreements, a purchase or loan file, and a record of who has used the asset and what they paid. Someone has to know where the title is, when the insurance renews, and how hourly or daily charges to members get recorded. Those charges are club income, and how they’re booked can matter when the return is prepared.

The calendar matters as much as the files. Insurance renewals, the return due date, any state filings the club is responsible for, annual meeting dates, and dues cycles. State requirements differ, and each club should check what applies in its own state. Put the dates on a shared calendar that doesn’t disappear when one person’s email does.

There’s also whatever was agreed and never recorded. A member who was promised a credit. A vendor who is paid on a handshake. A loan from a past officer that the club still owes. Ask the outgoing treasurer directly about these before they leave, because the books may say nothing at all.

A good handoff takes an hour or two and a short written list. A bad one gets discovered on the day a deadline passes or a bill arrives. Many clubs find that having someone outside the rotation keep an eye on the books gives them continuity that volunteers can’t always provide on their own.

If you’re in the middle of a handoff and can’t tell what’s been filed or what’s owed, sort that out first. It’s a lot easier while the outgoing treasurer still answers the phone.

Taking over as treasurer, or about to hand the books to someone new? Let’s make sure nothing gets lost.

Everything here is general information, not tax or legal advice. Reading it doesn’t make you a client, and your facts will change the answer.