Expenses Policy

Our expenses policy is designed to ensure that any major outgoings are pre-approved by the trustees and officers of the charity, that anyone incurring expenses on behalf of the group is promptly repaid, and that all expenses are correctly documented and accurately represented in our financial reporting.

Incurring and Claiming Expenses

If you are a parent, and need to reclaim expenses incurred on behalf of the group, please fill out the Expenses Claim Form and submit it to the section leader on whose behalf you incurred expenses.  They will then confirm that the expenses are valid and send the claim on to the treasurer for payment.

If you are a leader or trustee, any expenses below £300, incurred in the normal running of the group’s activities, should be claimed by filling out the Expenses Claim Form and submitting it, with copies of receipts or other evidence, by email to the treasurer and chair.  Please ensure all expenses are claimed within three months.

If you plan to spend more than £300 on any single item, or group of related items, you should seek approval in advance from the executive committee.  Email the treasurer and chair, giving as much notice as possible of the planned expenditure.  In most such cases, the group will be able to make payment directly, and leaders should not need to pay for and then reclaim expenses.

Meeting and Event Expenses

For normal weekly meetings, held at the Church Hall, out on the Commons, at Polyapes or any other normal scouting venue, the Group will cover and reimburse expenses of up to £100 per meeting without prior notice or authorisation.  However, we would expect most meetings to cost far less than this.

For normal weekly meetings where costs exceed £100 (for example, an electronics evening for Scouts, or a visit from an external circus skills group), we should normally invite parents to pay, via OSM, a fee sufficient to cover these costs. For any meetings held at non-scouting venues such as bowling alleys, climbing walls, river boat trips, etc., especially those which charge a per-person fee, we should normally ask parents to pay a fee (via OSM) sufficient to cover the costs.

However, whenever we are asking parents to cover costs for a normal weekly meeting, or for an event that takes the place of a normal weekly meeting, we should ensure that payment is an optional, voluntary contribution, and make it clear that all section members will always be welcome at every weekly section meeting.  Events that are additional to the weekly meetings, such as weekend or summer camps, District and County events, would normally be offered on the basis of mandatory payments being required for attendance.  But we should ensure that parents know that grants can be made available if they are struggling to pay.

At the start of each term, when leaders plan their section’s programme, they should share this plan via OSM, so that Treasurer/Chair can review, and after discussion with the exec if necessary, approve the planned expenses, and agree which events parents will be asked to contribute towards.

Cash Payments

Payments in cash should be kept to a minimum.  If a third party will only accept payment in cash for services provided to the group, unless the amount is very small, the Charity Commission’s cash payments record form should be used (link below).

Expenses Documents

The full text of our expenses policy can be found here:  Expenses Policy

An Excel form for making expenses claims can be found here:  Expenses Claim Form

The Charity Commission’s cash payments record form can be found here: Cash Payment Form