Opening a Bank Account

At the start of forming a group and as your ideas and plans come together, the newly formed group or organisation will become more formal with a constitution or rules, and thoughts will turn to the ways in which you will need to handle money. This is most likely to mean opening a bank account in the name of the group. Few, if any funding bodies will give money to a group or organisation that doesn’t have a constitution and a bank account in that name.

Choosing a bank account

This involves thinking through what it is you need a bank account for. Will you have lots of cash (e.g. subs for meetings, or donations in buckets at supermarkets) and therefore an account with a branch nearby may be best. Or will you have a large turnover that will limit which accounts are available? Are you comfortable with an account that is online only, or would you prefer that branch connection?

Making payments - signatories

You will need to consider how and who will be signatories for your new bank account. Good practice, and most funders, require that any payment is only made after two separate independent (not related) people sign. A method for organising this with online purchases, online banking and even old-fashioned cheques will need to be created amongst the members of the committee who need to be authorised to act. Ideas and resources to help you think this through are at the bottom of this page.

Further resources and links

The UK finance industry has helpfully come together with voluntary sector umbrella bodies to provide impartial information on finding an account for community groups and charities:

UK Finance - Voluntary Organisations Banking Guide

Charity Finance Group - Communicating with your bank, Raising an issue or concern

Third Sector Dumfries and Galloway - What to think about when setting up a bank account for your organisation

SCVO - Bank Accounts Comparison Table

For further free, well-informed information, find your local Third Sector Interface (TSI) at the directory page here