Section 12 of the current Governance Manual for Primary Schools outlines the role of Treasurer of the Board of Management as follows:
Each board of management shall, subject to section 6 of the Governance Manual for Primary Schools (the manual) elect a treasurer from amongst its members.
The chairperson, principal or the teacher nominee to the Board shall not be the treasurer.
The treasurer shall be fully familiar with the requirements of section 18 of the Education Act, 1998 and also with the requirements of sections 12 and 17 of the manual. The treasurer shall keep the school account(s). What constitutes an adequate accounting system will depend on the size of the school and the diversity of its activities.
The Financial Support Services Unit (FSSU) as set out in Circular 0060/2017 provides templates for use internally by schools for monitoring monthly income, expenditure, budget management cash flow etc. and are available on the FSSU website www.fssu.ie/primary. Boards of management are asked to consider utilising this facility.
The Board must satisfy itself that proper internal controls are in place for all financial transactions.
The Board shall ensure that appropriate controls are in place in relation to the use of any school credit card, online banking etc. These shall include appropriate protocols and procedures for the approval of user(s), custody of the card concerned, authorisation of payments, agreed payment limits and the supply of supporting documentation and records.
All monies received by the school shall be lodged in the school bank account(s) which shall be held by the school and registered in the name of the school. The school bank account(s) shall be used solely for the purposes of the school’s banking requirements. There are a range of payment methods available to Boards including cheque, direct debit, credit card, credit transfer etc. Boards should discuss the most cost effective payment methods with their bankers. The Board shall not use debit cards for school expenditure.
Cheque and online payments must be authorised by two of three nominated signatories of the Board, one being the chairperson and the other the treasurer in the first instance. However, the chairperson may nominate a Board member to act as signatory in his or her absence. Where possible, two signatories should be from different categories of Board members. In the case of a manager/managers appointed by the patron in accordance with section 14 of the Education Act, 1998 to manage the school the signatories of the school bank account(s) should be a manager along with a nominee of the patron.
A petty cash account may be operated. The Board shall make petty cash disbursements to its members in respect of costs incurred on Board business, e.g. postage, telephone charges and other minor items. It may impose such conditions as it thinks fit in the disbursement of this petty cash. All proper and usual accounts and records should be kept in accordance with best accounting practice, including requirements to vouch expenses with receipts, where appropriate.
All proper and usual records must be kept in respect of all financial transactions. The treasurer shall present at each meeting of the Board an up-to-date statement of the school accounts giving details of income and expenditure since the previous meeting. The treasurer shall retain vouchers of expenditure for inspection and audit by the school’s accountant and by officials of the Department. All financial documents shall be submitted to the board of management at the end of each financial year, and on request to the patron, the trustees (in schools where there are trustees), and to the Department. The financial year for schools is from 1 September to 31 August.