Your Treasurer Resigned and No One Can Access the Bank or Find the Records

It usually surfaces with a single unpaid invoice. The insurance renewal lands, someone goes to pay it, and discovers that nobody on the committee can actually see the bank account — the treasurer who quietly ran everything has resigned, or sold their lot and moved on, and left behind no ledger, no login, and no clear picture of who has paid their levies and who hasn't. If that's where you are right now, take a breath. This is recoverable, and the law is largely on your side: the money and the records belong to the scheme, not to the person who left. This guide walks you through stabilising the situation, getting back into the bank, rebuilding the books, and setting things up so that one person can never again be a single point of failure.

What happens when a treasurer leaves

A strata treasurer — whether your scheme uses that title, or the financial role sits with the council or committee as a whole — is a custodian, not an owner. They hold the keys to the scheme's money and records on behalf of every lot owner. When they resign or sell, three things are true at once:

• The role becomes vacant, but the scheme's obligations — paying bills, issuing levies, keeping proper books — don't pause.
• The money still belongs to the owners corporation, body corporate or strata company, not to the former treasurer, even if it's sitting in an account they personally opened.
• The records belong to the scheme too, and the former treasurer is obliged to return them.

So the problem you're facing is almost always one of access and knowledge, not ownership. That distinction matters, because it's the basis on which you'll get the bank to change its signatories and the former treasurer to hand things over.

Why it matters

• Bills and the insurance premium can lapse — and an uninsured strata building is a serious exposure for every single owner.
• Levies can't be issued or banked, so the scheme's cash dries up at exactly the moment you need it.
• Arrears become invisible: owners who owe money stop being chased, and debts age past the point where they're easy to recover.
• The scheme can breach its statutory duty to keep proper accounts and records.
• The longer it runs, the harder the books are to reconstruct.

Understanding the requirements

Strata is state-legislated, so the section numbers and the exact mechanics differ. But four principles hold everywhere in Australia, and they're the foundation of everything below:

1. The records and money are the scheme's property, not the individual's. A departing treasurer (or manager) is required to return them.
2. Office holders are replaceable. A resignation creates a vacancy that the committee — or a general meeting — can fill, usually quite quickly.
3. Scheme funds must be held in an account in the scheme's name at a recognised financial institution. This is what makes a signatory change possible without the former treasurer's cooperation.
4. Proper accounting records and financial statements must be kept, and retained for a set number of years.

Check the specifics for your state below, then work through the steps.

Before you start

• Identify which legislation — and in Queensland, which regulation module — applies to your scheme.
• Confirm how a vacant office is filled in your scheme: by the committee, or only at a general meeting.
• Locate any evidence of the bank account: a statement, a levy notice showing payment details, an old email, or the scheme's name on file with the bank.
• Find whatever records already exist — even a messy spreadsheet, a shoebox of receipts, or read-only bank statements are a head start.
• Make sure the rest of the committee is in the loop; you'll need a quorum to pass the resolutions that follow.

Step 1: Stabilise the situation and take stock

Before you can rebuild anything, stop the bleeding and find out exactly what you're dealing with. The goal of this phase is to protect the urgent things — insurance above all — and to gather every scrap of financial information that still exists.

Documents and information required

• Any bank statement or screenshot showing the scheme's account name, BSB and account number.
• The scheme's registration details — plan number or scheme number and registered name — from a levy notice, the certificate of title, or your state register.
• The most recent financial records in any form: the old treasurer's spreadsheet, exported transactions, a cashbook, or a folder of invoices and receipts.
• The last set of adopted accounts and the most recent AGM minutes, which tell you the last known balances and the levies that were set.
• The insurance certificate of currency and its renewal date.
• A list of regular payments — strata insurance, water, common-area electricity, gardening, cleaning, lift servicing — and when each falls due.

Things to verify

• Is the insurance current, and when does it renew? If a premium is about to lapse, this is your first phone call. Ask the insurer or broker whether they can take payment or hold cover while you sort out access.
• Whose name is the bank account actually in? An account in the scheme's name is straightforward to regain control of. An account in the former treasurer's personal name is a bigger problem — flag it now (there's guidance in the FAQ below).
• What's the current balance, and what's in flight? Identify any cheques written but not yet cleared, direct debits still running, and levies that may still be arriving.
• Who actually owes levies? Even a rough arrears position — which lots are behind, and roughly how much — helps you prioritise.
• Are there deadlines you're about to miss? Insurance, a BAS or tax lodgement, a contractor's payment terms, or a statutory lodgement in your state.

Step 2: Appoint a new treasurer and regain bank access

With the picture clearer, formally fill the gap and get the bank to recognise new signatories. This is the part people dread, but it's procedural — banks change strata signatories all the time, and the resolution your committee passes is what authorises it.

Checklist

1. Call a committee meeting (or use your scheme's written or electronic resolution process) and formally appoint a new treasurer and any new signatories. Record it clearly in the minutes — the bank will want to see exactly who was appointed and by what authority.
2. Pass a resolution to change the bank signatories, naming the people to be added and the former treasurer to be removed. Keep the wording precise; this minute is the document the bank will rely on.
3. Contact the bank that holds the scheme's account and ask for its process to change the authorised signatories on an owners corporation, body corporate or strata company account. Every bank differs, so ask specifically what it needs.
4. Provide what the bank asks for. Typically that's the minutes or resolution appointing the new signatories, the bank's own change-of-signatory form, certified copies of ID for each new signatory, and the scheme's registration details. Some banks require the removed signatory to authorise their own removal — if the former treasurer won't cooperate or has gone, show the bank the formal resolution removing them and ask about its dispute or authority-change process.
5. If you genuinely cannot identify or access the existing account, ask the bank to locate it using the scheme's registered name and plan number. If that fails, open a new account in the scheme's name, redirect levies to it, and deal with recovering the old balance separately (see the FAQ on missing money).
6. Re-establish the essentials: update the payee details with your insurer and key suppliers, set up the new levy payment details, and make sure at least two people now have visibility of the account.
7. Formally request the records from the former treasurer in writing — the ledger, bank logins or statements, levy history, contracts and any passwords. In WA you can point to the strata company's statutory right to recover its records and property; elsewhere, rest the request on the fact that the records are the scheme's property and must be returned.

Step 3: Rebuild the books and lock things down

Once you can see the account, you can reconstruct the financial position — and then make sure the scheme is never again one resignation away from chaos. Work in this order:

1. Find the last reliable starting point. Your most recently adopted accounts give you opening balances you can trust.
2. Pull the full transaction history from the bank. Most banks let you export transactions to a spreadsheet (CSV) or download statements as PDFs; for a self-managed scheme, that export is the backbone of the rebuild.
3. Rebuild the ledger transaction by transaction. Match each deposit to a lot's levy payment, and each withdrawal to an invoice or expense. Where a payment is a mystery, note it and move on — patterns usually emerge.
4. Reconstruct the levy position per lot. From the deposits, work out who has paid, who is behind, and by how much. This becomes your new arrears list.
5. Reconcile to the current bank balance. When your rebuilt ledger matches what's actually in the account, you have a defensible set of books again.

Re-keying years of transactions into a blank spreadsheet is slow and error-prone. A system that lets you import the bank's CSV and match payments against a levy register turns most of this into a reconciliation exercise rather than a typing exercise — and, more importantly, keeps the records in one shared place instead of on a single person's laptop.

Records to keep

• The rebuilt ledger and a clear reconciliation back to the bank balance.
• An up-to-date levy register and arrears list showing each lot's position.
• The resolutions appointing the new treasurer and changing the signatories.
• The bank statements and exports you used to rebuild the books.
• The insurance certificate, supplier contracts, and a list of recurring payments.
• Copies of your written request to the former treasurer and anything they return.

Retention periods vary by state — generally around seven years for financial records, with some documents kept for the life of the building — so check the requirements in the callouts above.

Common mistakes

1. Letting the bank account sit in one person's personal name

The single most damaging setup in a small self-managed scheme is an account opened in the treasurer's own name "for convenience." When they leave, the scheme's money is legally entangled with an individual, and regaining it can mean involving the bank's dispute process or even a tribunal. The scheme's funds should always sit in an account in the scheme's registered name, with at least two signatories from the committee.

2. Keeping the only copy of the books in one person's head (or laptop)

If the ledger lives in a spreadsheet only the old treasurer understood — or a cashbook in their bottom drawer — their resignation takes the scheme's entire financial memory with them. Records that are shared, role-based and stored centrally survive a change of treasurer. A handover should be a five-minute permission change, not an archaeology project.

3. Waiting, and letting obligations lapse

The instinct is to wait for the former treasurer to come back and explain everything. Don't. Insurance can lapse, suppliers can suspend service, and arrears age out of easy recovery while you wait. Act on the urgent items immediately — insurance first — appoint a replacement, and reconstruct the books in parallel.

Frequently asked questions

Do we have to wait for the former treasurer to hand everything over before we act?

No. The records and money belong to the scheme, and your committee can appoint a new treasurer and instruct the bank to change signatories on its own authority. Pursue the handover in parallel, but don't let it block you from securing insurance and regaining access.

What if the bank account is in the former treasurer's personal name?

This is the hardest version of the problem, because the money is mixed up with an individual rather than held cleanly in the scheme's name. Speak to the bank about its process — you'll likely need to show that the account was operated for the scheme and that the funds are the scheme's. If that stalls, the practical move is to open a new account in the scheme's name, redirect all levies to it, and pursue the old balance separately, including through your state tribunal if the former treasurer won't release it.

Can the committee force the former treasurer to return the records?

The records are the scheme's property, so yes — the former treasurer is obliged to return them. In Western Australia the Strata Titles Act gives the strata company a specific right to recover its records, keys and property; in NSW, Queensland and Victoria the same principle applies and can be enforced through the relevant tribunal or commissioner if a written demand is ignored. Put the request in writing first; it often resolves things without escalation.

What happens if money is missing or we suspect it's been misused?

If your reconstruction shows funds that can't be accounted for, treat it seriously. Document exactly what you can and can't trace, have the books reviewed or audited, and consider reporting suspected misappropriation to police and to your state regulator or tribunal. Keep the rebuilt records and your correspondence — they're the evidence base for any recovery.

Quick checklist

• [ ] Confirmed whether the scheme's insurance is current and paid
• [ ] Located evidence of the bank account (name, BSB, account number)
• [ ] Gathered all existing records — spreadsheets, statements, invoices, last accounts
• [ ] Held a meeting and appointed a new treasurer and signatories
• [ ] Passed a resolution and started the bank signatory change
• [ ] Made a written request to the former treasurer for all records and access
• [ ] Rebuilt the ledger from the bank history and reconciled it to the balance
• [ ] Set up at least two people with ongoing visibility of the account and records

Related resources

• How to Prepare for Your First AGM as Strata Treasurer — once you're stable again, this walks through presenting the accounts and setting levies properly.
• Your state regulator's strata pages — NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Protection WA and Landgate, the Queensland Body Corporate Commissioner, and Consumer Affairs Victoria — for record-keeping and dispute-resolution detail specific to your scheme.
• Your bank's business or association banking team — for its exact change-of-signatory requirements on a strata account.

This guide is general information for self-managed strata schemes in Australia. It is not legal advice. Always check the legislation that applies to your scheme and seek professional advice where required.