Masonic Lodge Treasurer duties: a practical guide to the office

The Treasurer’s chair asks for no ritual work and very little floor time. What it asks for is trust of a very concrete kind: every brother’s money passes through it. The office does not need an accountant, but it does need a method — because the question the Treasurer must be able to answer at any stated meeting is short and unforgiving: how much does the Lodge have, where did it come from and where did it go?

This guide covers the duties as most English-speaking jurisdictions describe them, the routine that keeps them under control and what to hand over at installation. The details — amounts, deadlines, who signs what — come from your Grand Lodge’s code or constitutions and from your Lodge’s by-laws.

What the charge says

The charge read to the Treasurer at installation in many American monitors sums up the office in one sentence: he is to receive all moneys from the hands of the Secretary, keep just and regular accounts of them, and pay them out at the Worshipful Master’s will and pleasure, with the consent of the Lodge.

Three ideas are packed in there. The Treasurer holds the money but does not decide how it is spent; the Lodge does. He accounts for every dollar. And he works hand in hand with the Secretary, who in many jurisdictions receives the dues and passes them over. In many English Lodges the Treasurer collects the subscriptions himself, but the principle is the same: the money belongs to the Lodge, and the Treasurer answers for it.

The duties, one by one

• Receiving funds: dues, fees for the degrees, affiliation fees, donations and any other income the Lodge approves — each with a record of who paid and when.
• Paying bills: only what the Lodge has authorized, usually by an order signed by the Worshipful Master and attested by the Secretary, or as your by-laws require.
• Keeping the books: income and expenses recorded and classified, the balance matched against the bank statement.
• Dues and arrears: knowing who is paid up, sending notices and following the code’s procedure for brethren who fall behind.
• Per capita and assessments: paying the Grand Lodge on time for every member on the roll.
• Charity and relief funds: kept apart from the general fund, with their own balance.
• Reports: a Treasurer’s report at stated meetings and the annual report, with the books opened to the audit.

Dues and the dues card

In most American Lodges dues are annual: the notice goes out in the autumn for the following year, and each brother who pays receives his dues card — the proof, when he visits another Lodge, that he is a member in good standing. In England and Wales subscriptions are usually annual as well, due at the start of the Lodge’s financial year. Either way, the Treasurer’s job is the same: bill everyone on the roll who owes dues, record every payment, and know at any moment who is still outstanding.

Honorary and life members are the classic trap. They are on the roll but usually not billed, and in some jurisdictions the Lodge still owes per capita for them. Keep their status on record rather than in the Treasurer’s head.

Per capita and Grand Lodge assessments

Each year the Lodge pays its Grand Lodge an amount for every member on its roll — the per capita — and, in many jurisdictions, further assessments per member. The Lodge owes it whether or not each brother has paid his own dues, which is why the dues rate has to cover it with room to spare. The guide to per capita and annual returns shows how to calculate it and keep the count right.

The monthly routine

Every month

• Deposit what was received, with a record of each payment by brother.
• Pay the bills the Lodge approved, keeping every invoice and receipt.
• Reconcile the books with the bank statement — the difference should be zero, or explained.
• Prepare the Treasurer’s report for the stated meeting: opening balance, receipts, payments, closing balance.

Every year

• Propose the budget, so the dues rate is set on numbers rather than habit.
• Send the dues notices and follow up on arrears before the code’s deadlines.
• Pay the per capita and assessments to the Grand Lodge by its due date.
• Close the year and open the books to the audit before the annual report.

Controls that protect the Treasurer

Good controls are not a sign of distrust: they protect the brother who holds the money as much as the Lodge.

• Two signatures on payments above an agreed amount, or dual approval in online banking.
• No cash kept at home. Money received at a meeting is counted by two brethren and deposited promptly.
• A receipt for every payment going out, and a record for every payment coming in.
• Separate funds, so charity money is never used to pay the light bill.
• An annual audit by brethren who do not sign checks. Many Grand Lodge codes require one; some also require the Treasurer to be bonded.

Taxes and filings

In the United States most Lodges are tax-exempt organizations, many of them under their Grand Lodge’s group exemption, and they still have to file a return with the IRS every year — for small organizations, usually the Form 990-N e-Postcard. An organization that misses three years in a row loses its exemption automatically. Which form applies depends on the Lodge’s receipts and structure, so confirm it with your Grand Lodge and a tax professional. Elsewhere, the rules depend on how the Lodge is constituted; when in doubt, ask before the deadline rather than after.

The handover at installation

The change of Treasurer is the moment of greatest risk for the Lodge’s money. A handover that works leaves the incoming brother with:

1. the balance on the day, matched with the bank statement and signed by both Treasurers;
2. the year’s records and receipts, in order;
3. a list of what is outstanding: dues receivable, bills to pay, per capita still owed;
4. the charity fund’s balance, separately;
5. the bank signatories changed, with the documents the bank asks for;
6. every access transferred — online banking, payment accounts, the Lodge’s software — with no shared passwords.

Where software helps

• Annual dues billed to the whole roll in one step, with honorary and life members left out of billing.
• Card payments made by each brother from his phone, straight into the Lodge’s own Stripe account, and recorded automatically.
• Dues cards issued as soon as a brother pays.
• The Grand Lodge per capita calculated from the active members on the roll.
• A history that stays with the Lodge, so the next Treasurer inherits the books instead of rebuilding them.

The page on Masonic treasury software shows each feature. For the wider routine, see how to organize the Lodge treasury, and for brethren who fall behind, the guide to managing dues delinquency.

In short

A good Treasurer is not the brother who knows the most accounting. He is the one who can show any member, at any meeting, where each dollar came from and where it went. A monthly routine, separate charity funds, a balance that matches the bank and a clean handover — the rest follows.