How to present the treasurer's report at an AGM

Before the meeting

• Finish the cash book for the year and check that it adds up: opening balance + receipts - payments = closing balance, for cash and for bank.
• Count the cash tin and compare the bank figure with the bank statement. The guide Bank reconciliation steps for a club shows how.
• If your rules ask for an independent examiner or auditor, give that person the books in good time.
• Print enough copies of the report for the members.
• Bring the cash book, the receipts and the bank statements to the meeting in case a question needs them.

What to read out, in order

Members follow a report most easily when it runs from the start of the year to the end. Keep to this order:

1. The year the report covers, with its first and last day.
2. What the club had at the start: cash, bank and the two together.
3. Money in: the total, then the two or three largest categories.
4. Money out: the total, then the two or three largest categories.
5. The difference: whether more came in than went out, and by how much.
6. What the club has at the end: cash, bank and the two together.
7. How the figures were checked, in one sentence.

Do not read out every entry: the detail is in the cash book if anyone asks.

A short script, with a sample club's figures

The figures below belong to the invented Riverside Gardening Club on the page A worked example of a treasurer's annual report. They are a sample, not a real organisation's accounts. Put your own figures in their place.

• "This is the report for our financial year, 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. It shows money that actually came in and went out."
• "We started the year with 1,250.00: 50.00 in cash and 1,200.00 in the bank."
• "During the year we received 1,255.60. The largest amounts were the council grant of 500.00 and subscriptions of 420.00. Fundraising brought in 310.10 and donations 25.50."
• "We paid out 484.94. Insurance cost 135.00, events 120.45, hall hire 120.00 and equipment 89.99. Bank charges were 4.20 and other costs 15.30."
• "So we received 770.66 more than we paid out."
• "We ended the year with 2,020.66: 249.85 in cash and 1,770.81 in the bank."
• "I counted the cash on 31 December and compared the bank figure with the statement of the same date."

Say the last sentence only if it is true for you. If an examiner has looked at the books, say who, and read out what that person wrote.

Questions members usually ask

• "What is in Other?" Have the entries behind that category ready. In the sample it is one payment of 15.30 for stamps and envelopes.
• "Why is there so much cash?" The sample club ends the year holding 249.85 in the tin. Be ready to say when it will be paid into the bank.
• "Are any bills still to pay?" A receipts and payments account leaves these out, so mention any you know about.

If you do not know an answer, say so and promise to report back to the committee. A wrong figure given from memory is worse than a short delay.

After you have spoken

• The chair normally asks the meeting to accept or adopt the report. Your rules say how that vote works.
• Make sure the minutes record the closing balances and the result of the vote.
• Keep a signed copy of the report with the year's records.
• If a new treasurer is elected, the handover checklist lists what to pass on.