Handing over a committee job: a checklist

Every club job lives somewhere. The treasurer’s in the bank’s app and a spreadsheet on one laptop. The secretary’s in an inbox and a folder of minutes. The competitions organiser’s in a group chat and their head. When that person stands down, the job goes with them unless somebody writes it down first.

Most handovers go wrong in the same three ways. A login nobody else has. A deadline nobody else knew about. And an old officer who still holds the keys a year later. This checklist stops all three.

A handover in three steps#

1. Before the AGMWrite the packEvery login, date, contact and document the job runs on.
2. The week afterSit down togetherAn hour, the pack open, every account moved there and then.
3. The first monthStay on the end of a phoneThen close your own access to everything.

Before the AGM, the outgoing officer writes the pack. Not after. Once somebody has stood down, the job stops being theirs and the details start to fade. The pack is the template below, filled in for their job.

In the week after the AGM, sit down together. An hour, both of you, the pack open and a laptop each. Move every account while you are in the room. A handover meeting that ends with “I’ll send you the logins” is the one that is still going on in March.

For the first month, the outgoing officer stays on the end of a phone. Then they close their own access to everything, and say so.

The accounts and logins#

Most clubs have more accounts than anybody realises. Make a list, and for each one write down who can get into it now, and who should be able to after the handover.

• The bank, including the app and any card. See the next section.
• The governing body’s portal: the venue or club registration with the LTA, England Squash, Badminton England, Pickleball England or whoever your club is affiliated to.
• The county or local league’s system, where teams are entered and results go in.
• The court booking system and whoever administers it.
• The club’s email address, the website, and the domain the website sits on, with the date it renews.
• Social media accounts and the club’s group chats, where the officer is an admin.
• Whatever the club collects subs or court fees through, and any card reader.
• The club’s accounts software or spreadsheet, and where its files are kept.

Never pass a password by email or in a group chat. Change it as you hand it over, so the old one stops working. A shared password manager that two committee members can open is the safest place for all of them, and it means the next handover is half done already.

The bank and the money#

Changing who can sign for the bank is the slowest part of any treasurer’s handover, so start it the day after the AGM. Most banks need a form signed by the existing signatories and a copy of the minutes showing who was elected.

Until it is done, the outgoing treasurer stays a signatory, and they pay bills only when the new treasurer asks. Hand over:

• The bank statements for the year, and the last reconciliation.
• Every standing order and Direct Debit the club pays, with what each is for.
• Every regular payment the club receives: subs, court hire, coaching, sponsors.
• Any cash, the float, and who else holds any.
• The budget for this year and the accounts for last year.
• Anything the club owes, and anything owed to it.

The calendar#

Every job has dates that come round once a year, and missing one can cost the club a season. Write down each one, with what has to be done and how long it takes:

• League entry deadlines, for every team, in every league.
• The governing body’s registration or affiliation, and its renewal date.
• Insurance renewal, if the club insures separately from its governing body.
• The subs renewal date, and when the first notice goes out.
• The lease, the licence and any council agreement, with their review dates.
• Contractors: when the courts are cleaned, the floodlights tested, the hedges cut.
• The AGM, and the notice period your constitution sets.

Put them in a shared calendar the whole committee can see, not in the outgoing officer’s diary.

The contacts#

The people the job deals with, by name, with a number or an email and one line on what they are for. The landlord or council officer. The county league’s fixtures secretary. The governing body’s club support contact. The court contractor and the floodlight engineer. The head coach. The bank’s business team.

A name with no context is not much use. “Sarah at the council, who signs off anything we change on the courts” is.

The physical things#

Keys, gate codes, padlock combinations, floodlight tokens, the ball machine, the first aid kit and the defibrillator. Write down where each one is and who holds a copy. Then change any code that has been shared too widely, which after a few years is most of them.

The documents#

Where to find each of these, and who else holds a copy:

• The constitution and the club rules.
• The minutes of the last two years’ committee meetings and AGMs.
• The club’s policies: safeguarding, data protection, complaints, court booking, codes of conduct.
• The lease or licence, the insurance schedule and any loan or grant agreement, including the conditions attached.
• Anything the club has promised in writing to a member, a sponsor or a funder.

A shared folder the committee can all open beats the same documents on six laptops.

What not to hand over#

Some things go to one person and nobody else. The welfare officer’s records of concerns stay confidential and go only to the next welfare officer, in person, following the governing body’s guidance. A member’s medical or financial details go only to whoever needs them for the job.

Once the handover is done, the outgoing officer deletes the club’s member lists, contact numbers and payment records from their own computer and phone. Keeping them is a data protection risk for the club, however well meant.

A handover meeting that ends with “I’ll send you the logins” is the one that is still going on in March.

The handover pack#

Fill this in for each job, keep it in the shared folder, and update it every year. The second time round, a handover takes an hour.

The last line is the one new officers read first. If you are asking someone to take a job on, give them the one-page description in club committee roles: what each job involves before they say yes.