Chris Rayner 1 Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 I am treasurer of our rather modest little club in Surrey, Cranleigh and Dunsfold Model Flying Club. I inherited an account at Nationwide Building Society which was set up, probably in the 1950s or 60s. This style of account was established for small scale clubs, societies and charities. It has not been updated much since then. It does not allow payment in or out using BACS, and is not usable online. Earlier this year, before the Covid19 kerfuffle, I was informed that the account was to be transferred to a more modern style of account which would permit BACS and online use. Unsurprisingly this was postponed. However this morning I went in to pay in some subs and draw a cheque for payment of rental. I was informed that all such accounts will be closed in 3 months’ time. 🤨 A couple of years ago I enquired about opening an account with Santander, but the hurdles barring admission required to circumvent the use of model flying clubs as money laundering fronts for drug peddlers rather sapped my will to live. Now I fear I have to move. Any recommendations for suitable accounts from others here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Manuel Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Nothing wrong with Nationwide. I'm sure that they will have a suitable account you can easily switch to. Santander are ok too, though they have a habit of complicating things by charging monthly fees and offering cashback e.g. 123 account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis Watkins Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 Lloyds Treasurers Account No fees You choose to have 1 or 2 signatory For not profit clubs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted December 18, 2020 Share Posted December 18, 2020 We use Nationwide for our main accounts and find it very good. However, my wife has been the treasurer of the local quite big cycle club (200+ members) for about 30 years and used to have the club accounts in the Yorkshire Bank, which workd well until they changed the account that made it difficult and after some research selected Lloyds. It's a bit messy to set up but she has no complaints now except she would prefer it to be all on-line but the statements are regular. In normal times she gets a lot of cash from weekly club night catering and club time trial entry fees as well as cheques for bigger events. Most of the money is through buying and selling club clothing which amounts to £1000s every year so she's quite busy. Fortunately she's a dab hand on her PC and has it all set up to keep tabs on all the money - both ours and the club's Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Rayner 1 Posted December 19, 2020 Author Share Posted December 19, 2020 Posted by Gary Manuel on 18/12/2020 12:17:11: Nothing wrong with Nationwide. I'm sure that they will have a suitable account you can easily switch to. They have told me that there is no account they are willing to let us have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 Our club has an account with HSBC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Privett Posted December 19, 2020 Share Posted December 19, 2020 I'm a club treasurer, and we started with a Nationwide passbook-based account which increasingly over time failed to meet our (my!) needs; Having to queue in the branch to pay-in cheques (and later limited to only up to 10 at a time) was a pain. This was back in the days when the majority of members paid their subs by cheque, so I had about 200 to deposit over the course of late December to mid-January. Having to queue to get a 'bank cheque' to send to the BMFA, or anybody else we needed to pay was another pain. Finally, whilst the account could receive BACS payments there was no way of seeing either the source or the reference that somebody used, so all I knew was that somebody had paid us some money. Useless for getting payments from lots of people! We switched to an HSBC account - they do a Business account for charities and 'community-based' organisations - like clubs and societies. This addresses all the issues above - and recently added the ability to deposit cheques (I still get a few from the 'more traditional' members!) via the phone app. The vast majority of members, this year at least, are paying by bank transfer which I can see via internet banking or the phone app. Similarly I can make online payments direct to the BMFA etc. and we still have a cheque book for the rare occasions it's needed - the "deposit" for the AGM hall hire is about the only instance I can think of for that - and we didn't need that this year... The only issue however for any other club intending to open such an account is this notice currently displayed on the HSBC Business Banking internet pages; Due to unprecedented demand we are not currently accepting applications for new business bank accounts, except for Kinetic Accounts. You can register your interest for when they are open again. If you have a Relationship Manager talk to them to discuss your options. I have no idea what a "Kinetic Account" is, the account we have has no fees (unless I do something really stupid!) but I suspect the Kinetic account probably has. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maurice Dyer Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Can somebody tell me if my club has to pay income tax on things they sell to members ? Club transfers or donated model gear or whatever Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim C Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Income tax, no, but in some circumstances corporations tax. In general Clubs are unincorporated members associations a not for profit body, and do not have a requirement to register with HMRC unless they make a taxable profit, a surplus BTW is not a profit. Profits arise from trading activities, not donations or such like. The rules around trading are complex and often illogical! Small amounts of’ ‘profits’ are effectively not taxed as there is a lower limit on what needs to be reported, so unless your a large club running For example a public event which generates a profit over the limits your outside the tax regime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flight1 Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 I move accounts 5 years ago from a rather archaic natwest account to barclays very easy. you can set up your smart phone for online banking which work very well and qicker than using a Pc and it has the fuction of paying in cheques as well which requires taking a picture of each chequre . been happy so far Edited By flight1 on 20/12/2020 11:26:29 Edited By flight1 on 20/12/2020 11:27:08 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Christy Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 I'm following this with interest. Our club had a major re-organisation a few years ago, and it took nearly 6 months for Barclays to sort out the new signatories for the account! This was aggravated by the fact that they've closed down all the local branches, and moved "business" accounts - which includes clubs - to a town some distance away! At the last AGM, a couple of weeks ago, our treasurer stepped down and a new one was elected. Despite numerous 'phone calls and promises, we still haven't received the necessary forms to update the signatories! I'm now looking to move our account to a more friendly bank, but I'm struggling to find one. I'll give Lloyds a ring on Monday, as from the above, it looks as if they still handle "club" accounts. -- Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HairyHugh Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Lloyds are good and you can have multiple signatories, we have 5 in our club. Just a bit if faff to set up, mostly due to USA anti-laundering! When you set it up if you have multiple ways of describing the club just make sure to register them all. For example if you are known as 'This Radio Control Club' and TRCC then get both registered. It saves hassle when paying in cheques. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 That's what my wife found when she moved the Derby Mercury RC account to Lloyds earlier this year. There was a lot of irrelevant paperwork because the club, like most model clubs, is a non-profit organisation but she worked her way through it. It does handle a lot of money, though, because club racing clothing is quite expensive and it comes from Italy IIRC. Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Rayner 1 Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 Thanks all for the advice. I’m applying to HSBC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Rayner 1 Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 Oops, duplicate. Edited By Chris Rayner 1 on 20/12/2020 18:51:13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Christy Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Just rang Lloyds this morning, and they are not accepting new "Treasurers Accounts" at present. Grrr! Next stop HSBC... Neither are HSBC! -- Pete Edited By Peter Christy on 21/12/2020 10:44:37 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickw Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 I know others who are trying to open bank accounts for various reasons and it does seem to have been very difficult (i.e. almost impossible) to do that for a few month now. Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Privett Posted December 21, 2020 Share Posted December 21, 2020 Posted by Peter Christy on 21/12/2020 10:36:36: Just rang Lloyds this morning, and they are not accepting new "Treasurers Accounts" at present. Grrr! Next stop HSBC... Worth trying, but note that - as I mentioned earlier - the following message is currently displayed on the HSBC Business Accounts website; Due to unprecedented demand we are not currently accepting applications for new business bank accounts, except for Kinetic Accounts. You can register your interest for when they are open again. If you have a Relationship Manager talk to them to discuss your options. Chris mentioned he was trying them too - fingers crossed for both of you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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