Finances

Manage your club's finances with Keele SU accounts. All funds transfer automatically. Adhere to finance policies to ensure compliance with GDPR, charity law, and tax regulations.

How Your Account Works

Image of Medical Society, Oncology Society and Cardiology Society at an event they organisedAs an affiliated Club/Society, you have an account with Keele SU to make managing your group's money easier. All money collected from membership fees, ticket sales, grants and more automatically transfers into this account, and the money can be used to purchase equipment and resources that will enable your group to run. Your Treasurer maintains this account, although the President/Captain also has access because all financial transactions require the approval of two committee members.

Your account isn't a 'bank account' in the traditional sense; it doesn't have a sort code and account number or a debit card to go with it. Instead, each group's account has a four digit 'nominal code', a number which your treasurer will need to keep record of.

Stay compliant. It is very important that groups adhere to our finance policies to ensure Keele SU remains compliant with GDPR, charity law and tax regulations. Groups must not hold any money outside of their Keele SU account, as this would be treated as theft/misappropriation of society funds, and is in direct breach of the Club & Society Agreement.

General FAQs

If a group is closed down or becomes inactive, the contents of the account would be re-absorbed into Keele SU and redistributed to students, likely in the form of grants for active clubs and societies.

Any cash taken at your events must be deposited into the Club/Society account immediately. To do this, bring it to the Keele SU building and go to the Finance Office to access the cash machine. You will need your group's 'nominal code' to deposit the cash into the correct account. After this, take a picture of your receipt and email it to su.activities@keele.ac.uk.

Unfortunately not. Clubs and Societies must not use personal bank accounts or personal card machines to collect payments.

Why is this not allowed? Using personal accounts or card readers breaches Charity Commission requirements around proper financial controls and accountability. It would also put Keele SU in serious breach of our existing contracts with card machine providers. In addition, unapproved card machines and payment handling can lead to serious PCI DSS and GDPR compliance breaches, which carry the risk of significant fines and legal action.

What happens if a Club or Society uses a card reader anyway? This is a direct breach of the Club & Society Agreement and the group may face disciplinary action.

How should we take payments instead? All income must be collected using the Students' Union's approved payment methods only.

What if we're not sure which payment method to use? Contact the SU team before taking any payments and they will advise you on the correct option.

You shouldn't need this in order to claim funds – this code is used internally to track funds in and out of your account, and is automatically added to any products and memberships you create on our systems. However, your nominal code is displayed on your Society account statement should you need it.

Since clubs and societies are democratic, your members have a right to know the state of your group's finances. You don't need to update them about every little change, but it's good practice to give them updates during all-member meetings (such as UGMs) so they know how things are going. Furthermore, if any member asks to see the society finances, the committee is obligated to share this information with them.

Of course! Just email su.activities@keele.ac.uk to request one and we'll send it back to you when we're next in the office. This is the only way to see a full and accurate breakdown of your society finances.