Tracking what a shared fund spends
Most community funds record what came in with care and what went out with a shrug. The second one is what members actually ask about.
Short answer. Every expense from a shared fund needs an amount, a date, a description, a category, the bill, and who approved it. Funds that publish contributions but not expenses answer the question nobody was asking.
What an expense entry needs
- Amount and date
- Description — specific enough to be understood later
- Category — so a year can be summarised
- The bill, photographed and attached
- Who approved it
A short category list
Five or six, no more. Long category lists stop being used.
- Salaries and wages
- Utilities
- Repairs and maintenance
- Supplies
- Events
- Other — with a description that does the work
The approval threshold
Pick a figure. Below it, one person can spend and record. Above it, two approve before the money moves. This single rule prevents the two failure modes at once: a treasurer who cannot buy a light bulb without a meeting, and a treasurer who can spend a month's collection alone.
Publishing
Monthly, alongside the income. The pair together is the whole account; either alone is half a story, and the half that is missing is always assumed to be the bad half.
Common questions
How detailed should a description be?
Enough that a member reading it in a year knows what happened. "Repairs 18,000" is not enough; "Generator alternator replaced, main lane, 18,000" is.
Who should approve spending?
Two named people above a small threshold, decided in advance. Below it, one, so that day-to-day costs do not need a meeting.
Read next
- Making a fund balance something members can check — What transparency does and does not mean
- Community fund management, done so people can check it — The general case: money a group collects and spends together
- What a community treasurer actually has to do — The job, and how to leave it cleanly