At the AGM the treasurer presents the accounts to those present and answers questions raised. The chair then asks for a proposition that the accounts be approved and adopted.
- This is the correct procedure, it is a function of the AGM to receive and adopt the annual financial accounts
- This is the incorrect procedure, the trustees own the accounts and should approve them at a meeting prior to the AGM. The AGM has no input to the accounts approval process
- This is the incorrect procedure; the trustees should approve the accounts first before the AGM is asked to adopt them
UNLESS YOUR TRUST DEED SAYS OTHERWISE then the correct answer is option 2.
All to common is the practice of presenting accounts to the AGM for approval. This may be correct in the case of a members club where members have voting rights and an interest in the management process but, in general, in charities it is the trustees who have the responsibility for finances and the accounts are a statement of how the trustees have run the charities financial affairs and they should approve and adopt the accounts. It is in order to present them to the AGM for discussion but not for approval and adoption.
Option 3 is better than option 1 but it is still not correct. The AGM has no say in the accounts other than to comment on the way the trustees have run the charity (and therefore the hall). If the members at the AGM don't like the accounts the trustees have presented then they should seek to replace the trustees at the appropriate elections to the board.