Setting Up and Managing a Bank Account

Do you need to set up a bank account? 

Unless you are a brand new club or society, please exhaust all avenues to ensure that there is not an existing account for your group. There have been situations where bank accounts have been set up by past committees and then not handed over - and sometimes these abandoned accounts hold significant amounts of money! 

It may also be worth considering Money Hub, particularly if your club or society does not make frequent online transactions and if most of your transactions are with SUSU. 

• The key advantage of Money Hub is that the handover process from one committee to the next is much more straightforward, and funding from SUSU can be made directly into the account.
• The main disadvantage is the lack of a debit card, so a normal bank account might be more suitable if you make a lot of online purchases.

If you are considering Money Hub and would like to know more, please contact moneyhub@soton.ac.uk.

Setting up a bank account 

Please note that each club or society should only have a single account, either a bank account or a Money Hub account. Most banks will have a specific type of account for an affiliated club or society. 

A club or society bank account should be in the name of the club or society as it appears on Groups Hub. It should never be in the name of an individual. 

In many cases, banks will require an introductory letter from SUSU before they can set up the account. If this is required, please contact suactivities@soton.ac.uk. They may also require evidence such as a constitution or AGM minutes as proof of committee. 

An account must have a minimum of two signatories and these should always be current committee members. In most cases this would include the President and Treasurer. Clubs and societies must ensure that signatories are changed during the handover process. 

Both signatories should be setup to counter-sign every transaction that takes place, and in most situations transactions should have been agreed by the club or society committee. This is to protect individual students from any accusations of inappropriateness and ensure committees have oversight of account activity. 

When setting up the mailing address, please use the full society name as it appears on Groups Hub, and the following address: 

University of Southampton Students' Union 

Building 42 

University Road 

Southampton 

SO17 1BJ 

You must never use a home address for a club or society account. 

Once the bank account has been set up, account details must be registered on SUSU Groups Hub including the account name, sort code and account number. Please ensure these details are kept up to date as payments from SUSU will be made using these details. 

Rules for bank accounts 

• Any club or society bank account should be used solely for facilitating the club or society financial matters. Club or society funds should never be accessed for personal matters and personal money should never be deposited in a club or society account under any circumstances.
• Wherever possible, purchases made on behalf of a club or society should be made through the bank account through a signatory.
• If reimbursements are unavoidable, they should be arranged and agreed by the committee in advance.
• Club or society accounts must be presented to the committee and agreed upon at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
• If a club or society is going to disaffiliate from SUSU, we would expect the bank account to be closed and a discussion would need to take place within SUSU regarding the remaining funds. In most cases, these funds will be transferred to SUSU or via SUSU to a club or society with equivalent aims or objectives.
• If a club or society has a bank account and chooses to join Money Hub, we would expect the bank account to be closed and the remaining balance to be transferred to the Money Hub account.
• Clubs and societies should forecast their income and expenditure to ensure that the bank account never enters into a deficit or overdraft (you can find budgeting templates here).
• Clubs or societies should not have an overdraft facility and should not have a credit card linked to the account at all. The best financial practice is to plan ahead, and only spend what is available in line with your forecast for the year.
• Where possible, an outgoing committee should plan to provide a reasonable surplus to cover costs at the point of handover to a new committee, such as anticipated costs for Fresher’s Week.

If you have any questions or need any advice, please contact suactivities@soton.ac.uk.

Viewing your accounts on Groups Hub: 

Clubs and societies with a bank account (as opposed to Money Hub) will only be able to see transactions between SUSU and your club/society on your Groups Hub page. 

This means you can view invoices that have been raised against your club/society and whether or not they have been paid, as well as view the status of any payments to come from SUSU to your club/society (e.g. funding, memberships etc.).