The Treasurer Transition Checklist
Every chapter re-learns the treasurer handoff the hard way. This is the complete checklist for outgoing and incoming treasurers — bank access, records, tax deadlines, and first-semester setup. No signup required.
Phase 1 — Before the handoff (outgoing treasurer)
The best transitions start before election results are announced. Everything on this list is dramatically easier to do while you still remember why each number is what it is.
Reconcile the bank account
Match every transaction from the semester against your records. Unexplained transactions are your problem to solve — not your successor's mystery to inherit.
Close out or document every open reimbursement
Pay what can be paid, and write down who is still owed what (with receipts attached) for anything that must carry over.
Export a full financial report for your term
Income, spending by category, and outstanding balances. This becomes the baseline your successor budgets against.
List every recurring obligation
Rent, insurance premiums, nationals fees, subscriptions, and their due dates. Missed recurring bills are the most common first-semester surprise.
Collect the chapter's tax documents
The EIN letter, the most recent Form 990 filing (or confirmation the 990-N was submitted), and your fiscal-year end date. Chapters lose tax-exempt status because these live in a graduated member's inbox.
Inventory logins and access
Bank portal, payment platform, email lists, storage drives. Note which accounts are tied to your personal email or phone number — those need real migration, not just a password handoff.
Phase 2 — The handoff meeting
Do the handoff in one sitting, in person or on a call — not as a semester-long drip of "oh, one more thing" texts.
Change the bank signers
Most banks require both officers (and sometimes an advisor) to visit a branch or submit signed paperwork. Start this early — it routinely takes weeks.
Transfer platform ownership
Add the incoming treasurer as an admin on your payment and finance tools, then downgrade or remove the outgoing account. Verify they can actually log in before you leave the meeting.
Walk through the budget line by line
Not just the numbers — the judgment. Which lines always run over? Which vendors negotiate? What did you budget wrong a year ago?
Review every unpaid member balance
Who owes what, what's on a payment plan, what's realistically collectible, and any balances with history the new treasurer should know before sending a reminder.
Hand over the tax folder
EIN letter, past filings, and the next Form 990 deadline, written down. If the chapter has missed a filing, say so now — it's fixable with two years of runway and a crisis with none.
Phase 3 — First two weeks (incoming treasurer)
Your first two weeks set the tone for the semester. The goal is simple: verify you have real access to everything, then get billing out early.
Verify bank access independently
Log in yourself, from your own device, and confirm you can see statements and (if applicable) move money. Discovering broken access during an emergency is the worst-case version of this task.
Confirm the Form 990 deadline
It's due the 15th day of the 5th month after your fiscal year ends. Put it in the chapter calendar, not your personal one.
Set the semester budget with exec
Use last semester's actuals — not last semester's budget — as the starting point.
Bill dues in the first two weeks
Collection rates fall the longer you wait. Send dues invoices with a clear deadline, payment plan options, and automated reminders configured from day one.
Announce how money works this term
One message to the chapter: how to pay, how to get reimbursed, who to ask. It prevents a semester of one-off questions.
Phase 4 — Through the semester
The habits that make the next transition easy are the same ones that make your term easy.
Reconcile monthly, not at finals
Thirty minutes a month keeps the books honest. Five hours during finals week doesn't.
Report to exec on a schedule
A short monthly financial update builds trust and surfaces problems while they're small.
Escalate overdue balances deliberately
Reminder → payment plan → conversation, on a written timeline. Consistency is what makes it fair.
Keep the transition doc alive
Every time you learn something the hard way, add it to the doc you'll hand your successor. The checklist you're reading exists because most chapters don't.
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Make the next handoff a permissions change
When your chapter runs on Dueflow, the incoming treasurer inherits complete records, running reminders, and a working system — most of this checklist becomes automatic.