Policy reviewed October 2025. Next review date October 2026
Applicability
This policy applies to all trustees, other volunteers and any third-party representatives of the charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) Bromsgrove & Redditch Welcome Refugees (BRWR). The requirements of this policy should be reflected in other policies and procedures, agreements and contracts, as necessary.
Separation of Duties
No one person may authorise any form of payment out of the BRWR bank account. All payments should be approved by the treasurer and the chair. If either of these persons is on holiday or otherwise absent, the vice-chair can stand in for one person, but not for both.
Budgeting
Annual accounts will be presented to the annual general meeting having previously been approved by the trustee board.
Regular reports from the treasurer will explain and compare income and expenditure and highlight any issues which may affect future funding, so that appropriate planning can take place.
Financial Reporting & Management
Up to date financial reports should be submitted to the trustee board meetings in written form. Reports should explain the charity’s current and likely future financial position. It should highlight key issues and any action being taken to address these and the expected outcome.
Cash
On the occasions where cash donations or payments are made to BRWR, those monies should be kept in a safe place before being transferred to BRWR’s bank account as soon as practicable.
If physical cash is being paid in, consideration should be given to the security issues of transporting large amounts of money to a bank. In such cases, the money should be transported in a vehicle and not on foot.
In the event of a robbery, the money is to be handed over without resistance.
Amounts of cash should not be allowed to build up unnecessarily.
Cash will not be sent through the post in any circumstances.
Cash payments should be avoided whenever possible.
BRWR cash must be kept separate from personal money and should never be used for personal expenditure.
Banking
Bank and savings accounts and any other form of investment are only to be opened with the express approval of the board. All accounts will be reported on, at each board meeting.
Income
Regular checks are to be carried out to ensure that records are being accurately maintained and that there are no discrepancies in the accounting records.
- Records of cash and cheques received should agree with amounts paid in by volunteers.
- All transfers or other direct payments into and out of the bank must be able to be identified and verified against paperwork.
These checks will be routinely carried out by the treasurer and evidence provided as appropriate in reports to the board.
If a donation is made or funding received with restrictions regarding how that money should be spent, the money will be ringfenced to secure compliance and evidence kept to prove correct expenditure.
Anonymous or suspicious donations should be subject to appropriate due diligence to prevent fraud or criminality.
Payments & Expenditure:
All expenses must follow the following payment policy. This has a scale of amounts and ways in which such expenditure must be approved.
All non-mileage expenses claims must be supported by receipts. Any exceptions to this rule must be approved by the chair and treasurer.
Expense claim forms must be filled in and signed by the claimant. He/she must then send the form by email to the chair and treasurer, who will co-sign it before payment. Expenses should be claimed within 3 months of expenditure.
Amounts up to and including a total of £50: volunteers are allowed to make such payments (generally expenses incurred providing items or services for refugees or asylum seekers) and subsequently claim those expenses.
Amounts up to and including a total of £100: volunteers can only make such payments and expect to subsequently claim those costs if they are first approved by the chair. If the chair is making the payment, it must be approved by the treasurer.
A total amount of more than £100: this expenditure must be approved by the board. This will usually be considered at a board meeting, but in urgent cases, an online voting system has been set up to obtain approval or otherwise.
The board reserves the right to withdraw the permissions detailed above for individuals if they deem that appropriate.
Cheque books must be kept in a secure location. Any payments by cheque need to be signed by an authorised signatory, usually the chair or treasurer. The bank keeps a list of authorised signatories.
If BRWR decides to have credit cards, related credit card limits should be kept as low as possible.
All expenditure must be properly authorised, represent good value for money and be on appropriate items or services. If any delegations are required that deviate from any of the above rules, these delegations must be approved by the board.
Authorising officers are to check invoices and other appropriate details before authorising payment.
Any expenditure that has not been appropriately authorised should be rejected and remain the personal responsibility of the individual who incurred the expenditure. The board can however give retrospective authorisation where appropriate.
To safeguard against AI deep fakes, any non-standard requests for payment, such as phone or video calls must be approved by the committee.
To avoid fraud, volunteers must be particularly aware of the risks especially with online scams. Unexpected requests for monies should be double-checked by calling the individual/organisation that is making that request on a known, existing number to confirm details. NEVER call a number/send an email using details provided in the request for payment. NEVER click on a link included in a request for payment as scams can appear genuine and can appear to be from known organisations.
In general, unusual situations should be avoided and a more standard payment made.
Payment Procedures.
Payment systems, such as cheque books, credit cards and on-line systems and passwords should be adequately safeguarded. Physical items, such as e banking encryption devices and cheque books should be kept under lock and key when not in use. Passwords should not be written down or shared and should be changed regularly and whenever compromised. Accounting IT systems should be routinely backed up and back-ups stored in alternative locations in case of fire or theft.
Assets:
Fixed Assets and Equipment.
Purchases of assets that have a life expectancy of, and will provide benefit for, more than one financial year may be treated as capital items and their value written down over the lifetime of the asset if their value is greater than or equal to £500.
The board, advised by the treasurer, will decide which items are considered to be assets of BRWR.
- A fixed asset register is maintained and reviewed annually.
- Staff do not remove assets or items of equipment without prior approval from the chair or treasurer.
Other Issues:
Fraud. If fraud is suspected, it must be brought to the attention of the chair or treasurer immediately who will inform the board and the police.
If there are reasons to deviate from the above, fraud can also be reported to the Charity Commission via (whistleblowing@charitycommission.gov.uk) or through the Action Fraud online reporting service.
Insurance. Insurance cover should be reviewed annually to prevent being under or over insured.
Records
- The Charities Act 2011 specifies that charities must keep their accounting records for at least six years from the end of the financial year in which they are made. If the charity ceases to exist within the six-year period, then the last trustees of the charity should continue to preserve the charity accounts.
- The treasurer or a designated trustee to be responsible for safeguarding the financial records in a suitable location.
- Archived documents should be organised to enable records to be easily identified and retrieved.
Experience.
- The appointed treasurer should have an adequate level of competence to carry out the role.
IT and Online Security
- Security software, such as anti-virus and firewalls, are to be kept up-to-date, preferably by automatic renewal. This applies to IT equipment used by officers who are dealing with financial matters, as appropriate.
- IT equipment detailed above should be suitably password protected and use suitable software which is kept up to date.
- Passwords are strong, not shared and changed regularly.
- Any data held by BRWR volunteers should be on devices with password protection. Online data should employ recognised platforms and be password protected.
- Data on personal devices should be regularly backed-up.
- Appropriate officers should be aware of what they need to do (and not do) to maintain online security.
Informing volunteers.
- Volunteers should be made aware of relevant financial policies once they are accepted into BRWR.
- The finance policy will be readily available on the website brwr.uk.