Just as you keep records of meetings and letters, you also need to keep the records of the organisation’s money. Bookkeeping means keeping records of all the money that you collect and all the money that you spend.

Always keep every piece of paper connected with money, such as invoices, receipts and cancelled cheques.

The books you keep must show:

• Income
  all the money that comes into the organisation (fundraising, donations, and so on)

• Expenditure
  all the money that is spent (for example on postage, petrol or stationery)

• Balance
  the money that is left over at the end of each month

You keep books so that members can always find out what happens to the money. You need to know how much money you have and how much you still need to collect.