The AGM question is never really “where did the money go?”. It is “can you show me?”. Committees that can, answer in thirty seconds. Committees that cannot spend the next hour defending their integrity with a diary.
The four things you will be asked for
It is remarkably consistent, year after year, society after society.
- Total collected, and from how many units — with the pending list
- Total spent, itemised by head, with bills for anything significant
- The balance in hand, and where it is being carried
- Who authorised the large payments
Itemised beats summarised, every time
A summary invites questions; an itemisation answers them. Counter-intuitively, showing more detail ends the meeting faster. If every expense carries its category, its date, its vendor and its bill, there is simply nothing left to interrogate.
Reconstruction is the enemy
The reason AGM accounts are painful is almost never fraud — it is that the records were kept in three places, by four people, in two formats, and someone has to merge them in March. Nothing about that process is improved by better intentions. It is improved by recording in one place at the time.
Publish before you are asked
The most underrated move in committee politics: publish the accounts the week the festival ends, unprompted. Kosh produces the report from the records you already kept — income, itemised expenses, sponsors credited, balance carried forward — so publishing early costs you nothing and buys you the entire year’s goodwill.