Volunteer-run structure
In a volunteer structure the committee and treasurer change regularly, work part-time alongside a job, and are not accountants; a solution therefore has to be understandable without training and survive handover to a successor.
Definition
That is a requirement on the software which appears in no feature list: the next treasurer has to understand in one evening what the previous one did. Programs with many settings and their own vocabulary fail at this, even if technically they can do more.
The second point is access: an installation on the treasurer’s private computer, or an account under their private address, is a risk at every handover. Access must belong to the association, not the person.
What the software must be able to do
Check: access in the association’s name rather than a person’s, several users with their own rights, a complete data export, and an interface a layperson operates without training. The export is the insurance against nobody knowing the password any more.
Checked Aug 2026
More terms under Bookkeeping and retention: Accrual principle Accrued liabilities Annual accounts Association accounting Balance sheet Balance sheet total Book value Break-even point Business assets Business expenses Cash book Cash flow statement Cash receipts Contribution margin Cost centre Current assets Debit and credit Depreciation Double-entry bookkeeping Duty to keep accounts EBIT EBITDA Equity Equity ratio Financial year Fixed assets Fixed costs Foreign currency General ledger Gross profit Hidden reserves Income statement Inventory count Journal Journal entry Liabilities Liquidity Loss carry-forward Membership dues Net profit Opening balance sheet Overheads Pass-through item Prepaid expenses Provision Record-keeping ordinance Reserves Retained profit Simple accounts Swiss SME chart of accounts Tamper resistance Turnover Value adjustment Variable costs Voucher Year-end closing modules