Association Committee Roles and Responsibilities: Who Does What

In many associations, the same two people end up doing everything: collecting money, paying bills, writing notices and answering every complaint. Everyone else on the committee is "helping" without a clear job. That is how work gets missed, how burnout happens and how suspicion grows when money is involved.

Writing down committee roles and responsibilities fixes most of this. It takes one meeting, and it makes the whole year easier.

Why written roles matter

When duties are only understood verbally, three problems appear quickly:

• Gaps: nobody follows up on the lift contract renewal because everyone assumed someone else would.
• Overlaps: two members give different instructions to the guards or the cleaning staff.
• Concentration: one person collects, records and spends money, with nobody checking.

A short written list of responsibilities, approved in a committee meeting and recorded in the minutes, prevents all three. Always check it against your constitution or by-laws, which may already assign some duties to specific posts.

Core committee roles and responsibilities

President

• Chairs committee meetings and the general meeting (AGM)
• Makes sure decisions are taken properly and recorded
• Represents the association to outside parties
• Settles disputes between committee members
• Does not handle day-to-day cash

General secretary

• Issues meeting notices and agendas
• Writes and keeps the minutes
• Handles official letters and the notice board
• Keeps the member register and association documents
• Follows up on decisions to see they are carried out

Treasurer

• Oversees collection of service charges and other dues
• Keeps the books, or supervises whoever does
• Prepares monthly and annual financial statements
• Reconciles cash and bank balances every month
• Presents the budget and accounts at the AGM

Other committee members

Give each one a specific portfolio rather than a general title. Common portfolios include security, maintenance and repairs, cleaning, utilities, community events, and complaints follow-up. A portfolio holder supervises that area and reports at each committee meeting.

Staff and collectors

Office staff and collectors should have written duties too: who collects from which roads or blocks, when cash is handed over, who issues receipts and who keeps the receipt books.

Separate the money tasks

The most important rule in any division of duties is that no single person should control a money transaction from start to finish. Split it into at least three steps:

1. Collecting or initiating — a collector receives the payment, or a member requests a purchase
2. Recording — an accountant or treasurer enters it in the books
3. Approving or checking — a different committee member approves spending and reviews the records

In a small association this may feel like extra effort. But it protects the honest people just as much as it catches mistakes. When questions are asked, nobody has to defend themselves alone.

A simple responsibility table

Say an association of 120 flats agrees the following. It is an example only; adapt it to your own constitution and committee size.

Tip: Put the table in the minutes of the meeting where it is approved, and pin a copy in the association office. When a new committee takes over, it becomes their starting point.

Set spending limits

Roles are incomplete without limits. Decide in a meeting how much each person can approve alone. For example, the treasurer might approve routine expenses up to a set amount, anything above that needs the president as well, and large one-off spending goes to the full committee. Write the figures down in the minutes and review them each year.

Review committee roles and responsibilities every year

People's availability changes. A member who had time last year may now travel for work. At the first meeting after each AGM, review the list:

• Is every task assigned to a named person?
• Does anyone hold too many tasks?
• Are money tasks still split between different people?
• Does the list still match the constitution?

From the same team: Somity Keeper, cooperative accounting software for Bangladesh, and Somity Keeper Lite, a savings-group app for smaller organisations.

How Society Keeper supports clear roles

Society Keeper has built-in roles and permissions — admin, manager, accountant, collector, committee, auditor and more — so each person sees and does only what their job requires. Waivers need a second person's approval, vouchers can go through maker-checker approval, and the daily collection report shows each collector's takings. You can see how it works in a free demo.