Every governing council has to have a finance advisory committee. They are central to how a council deals with the site’s finance and budgets. Even if you aren’t on the finance advisory committee, this page will help you to know what happens and how they work with you and your site’s council.

Who meets and when

Meetings must be held:

• at least once a term, but usually before a council meeting
• whenever finance needs to be talked in about in some detail.

The membership can be different at each site (preschool/school), but must at least include:

• the principal/director (site leader)
• the council’s treasurer, who chairs the meeting and can’t be an employee of the site.

It can also be helpful to include:

• the site business manager/finance officer
• representatives of any affiliated committees. 

What happens

At every meeting, members of the finance advisory committee:

• analyse the progress of the budget
• do the detailed work before presenting to the council, for example, review any reports prepared by the by the site leader and finance officer
• prepare a report of any anomalies for the council.

To find out what information to expect and when, see the financial management checklist (PDF 505KB).

Who does what

To understand who does what on a finance advisory committee, see finance roles.