What this is and who it is for
This page is a guide to handing over a club committee at the annual general meeting, followed by a checklist you can print or download. It is for outgoing and incoming committee members of a motor vehicle club, particularly a club recognised for the Conditional Registration Scheme, where some handover jobs have deadlines set by the Code of Practice.
Most of a handover is common sense: pass on the records, the bank details and the open jobs. The Scheme adds a few items that are easy to miss because they only come up when people change roles. This guide covers both.
Why the handover matters
When a long-serving secretary, treasurer or registrar steps down, much of what they know leaves with them: where the spreadsheet lives, which members pay by cheque, where the MR334 booklets are kept. A new committee that inherits a folder and a few passwords spends its first months rebuilding what the last one knew.
For a recognised club, a poor handover can also mean a missed deadline. The Code gives clubs 14 days to tell the Registrar when an authorised person leaves the club or resigns from the role. The yearly Scheme reports fall due two and three months after the financial year ends, which for many clubs is close to the AGM.
Before the AGM: what the outgoing committee prepares
The outgoing committee gathers everything into one place before the meeting. A few weeks’ notice is enough for most clubs.
Membership and money records
Hand over the current member list with each member’s membership type and whether they are financial, the payment records for the year, and the list of who is outstanding. Include any membership decisions made during the year that are only recorded in the minutes, such as a change of fees.
Scheme records
The Code asks a recognised club to keep records of all MR334 forms it has issued and of all financial members and their Scheme vehicles (clause 2.1(g)). It also asks clubs to keep certain documents for five years from the date of each one: the vehicles for which an MR334 was issued, the duplicate MR334s, the log books issued to financial members, and other Scheme documents, including membership records and minutes (clause 2.39). The Department may audit these records (clause 2.40).
In practice, that means handing over:
- The MR334 booklets, used and unused, with a note of the stock received and the form numbers used. The booklets remain the Registrar’s property and must be stored securely (clauses 2.24 and 2.25).
- The supply of unissued log books, which must be kept somewhere secure. Any loss is reported to the Issuing Body immediately (clause 4.3).
- The log book register: each book’s number, holder, vehicle, issue date and status. If you do not have one, our log book register template is a place to start.
- Five years of minutes and Scheme correspondence.
Where the yearly reports are up to
Write down the status of each yearly Scheme report: sent, and when, or still to do. For a 30 June year end, the report to the Registrar of members with Scheme vehicles who are no longer financial and the Logbook Declaration are due by 31 August. The report of log books issued is due by 30 September. Our guide to the yearly Scheme reports has the detail.
Open matters
List anything in progress: a member’s log book waiting for cancellation, an MR334 query with the Registrar, an unpaid invoice, correspondence awaiting a reply. A short written list saves the new committee from discovering these one at a time.
Authorised persons: the 14-day rule
If an authorised person is stepping away, the Registrar must be told within 14 days. Authorised persons are the members the Registrar has approved to complete MR334 forms for the club.
The detail matters here, because leaving the committee is not the same as leaving the role:
- An authorised person’s appointment lasts while they remain a member of the club (clause 2.12). Stepping down as registrar does not end it automatically.
- The appointment ends if they leave the club or resign as authorised person (clause 2.17).
- When that happens, an elected official must notify the Registrar in writing within 14 days (clause 2.13), and the club must return the person’s Certificate of Authorisation within 14 days (clause 2.14).
- The Code defines an elected official as the president or secretary elected by a vote of the financial members. After the AGM, that is the newly elected president or secretary.
If the club needs a new authorised person, an elected official nominates them in writing. The nomination includes the club’s full name, the nominee’s full name, address and SA client or licence number, and the name and position of the person nominating (clauses 2.9 and 2.15). Allow for the time the Registrar takes to approve the nomination, and make sure the club is not left without anyone who can complete an MR334.
Our page for registrars covers the authorised person’s job in more detail.
Handing over the registrar’s job
The registrar’s job changes hands less often than most, so the new person may never have issued a log book. Sit down together before the outgoing registrar steps away, and walk through the job with the real records in front of you.
Cover the checks made before issuing a log book: that the applicant is a financial member and owns an eligible vehicle (clause 2.27), and that they do not already hold an uncancelled log book from another club for the same vehicle (clause 2.31). Show where the register records each book’s issue date, because a book covers up to three years from first issue, after which the owner applies to the club for a new one (clause 2.28).
Then go through anything half done. Members who have resigned but not yet returned their log book need following up, because the club must cancel a resigning member’s book (clause 2.29). Members who have sold a vehicle, or cancelled its registration, also need their book cancelled (clauses 4.9 and 4.10). A list of these, with what has been done so far, is worth more to the new registrar than a box of papers.
Access and passwords
List every account the club uses and change who can get into each one. This is the part of a handover most often skipped and the one most likely to cause trouble later.
The list usually includes the bank (signatories and online banking), the club’s payment account if it takes cards online, the club email addresses, the website, social media, any software holding member records, post office box keys and the storage space for records. For each one, note who has access now, who should have it after the AGM, and who will make the change.
Avoid one password shared by the whole committee. When each person has their own login, removing access for someone who has left is simple, and you can see who changed what.
After the AGM: the new committee’s first meeting
Go through the checklist at the first committee meeting. Tick off what has been received, note what is missing and give each gap an owner. Send any notice to the Registrar inside the 14 days, and diarise the next yearly reports. The president’s page and the secretary’s page cover the ongoing parts of each role.
The checklist
Records
- Current member list, with membership types and financial status
- Payment records for the year and the list of members outstanding
- Minutes for the last five years
- Correspondence with the Registrar and the Issuing Body
Scheme items
- MR334 booklets, used and unused, with a record of stock and form numbers used (clauses 2.24, 2.25)
- Unissued log books, stored securely (clause 4.3)
- Log book register with each book’s status
- Five years of Scheme records (clause 2.39)
- Status of the three yearly reports (clauses 2.30, 2.32, 2.33)
- List of authorised persons, and whether each is staying in the role
- Notice to the Registrar within 14 days for any authorised person leaving the club or the role (clause 2.13)
- Certificate of Authorisation returned within 14 days (clause 2.14)
- Nomination of any new authorised person (clauses 2.9, 2.15)
Access
- Bank signatories and online banking
- Payment account, email, website and social media logins
- Software holding member records: remove outgoing access, add incoming
- Keys: post office box, storage, club rooms
Open matters
- Log books waiting for cancellation
- Queries with the Registrar or the Issuing Body
- Unpaid invoices and outstanding renewals
- Correspondence awaiting a reply
How to use it
Download the PDF, give a copy to each outgoing and incoming office bearer, and work through it together. Ask the outgoing person to fill in the “where it is” column before the AGM, and the incoming person to sign off each item at the first meeting. For the wider set of Scheme duties, keep the Scheme compliance checklist alongside it.
Where MemberCrew fits
With MemberCrew, the member, payment, vehicle and log book records stay in one place when the committee changes, so there is no folder or spreadsheet to pass on. Each committee member sees only what their role allows, and the activity log shows who did what and when, so the new committee can see the history. See roles, access and the activity log.