For community transport schemes
Keep the drivers checked, the minibus legal and the fund on track
Driver DBS checks, motor insurance and every vehicle date in one list with reminders, the replacement fund counted across the years it takes, and a cashflow that shows whether fares and grants will cover the running costs.
Free for 30 days, no card needed. Then £5 a month or £50 a year, everything included.
What makes a transport scheme's paperwork different
Few small charities have so many dates that matter, or one asset that costs so much to replace.
- Every driver needs checking, and rechecking. Volunteer drivers carrying older and disabled passengers need a DBS check, and your policy says when to look again. With twenty drivers, those dates are never all in one place.
- The vehicles come with a calendar of their own. Motor insurance, the MOT, the service, the tail lift inspection, the permit. Miss one and the minibus is off the road, or on it when it should not be.
- The replacement fund spans years. Saving for a new minibus, or spending a capital grant on one, crosses several financial years. A budget that resets every April can never say how much of it is left.
- Volunteer drivers are paid back for their miles. Lots of small payments to lots of people, each with a claim form, and the examiner will want to see them.
What The Charity Office does for a transport scheme
Driver DBS checks with reminders
Each driver's check with its level and the date to look again. An email goes out before a check falls due, and the list shows at a glance who is out of date.
Vehicle dates on the compliance list
The MOT, the servicing, the inspection and the permit, each as an item with its own date and its own warning - a fortnight for one, two months for another.
Motor insurance, policy by policy
Each policy with what it covers, the insurer, the premium and the renewal date. The treasurer is emailed before it renews, and recording the premium each year shows when a quote has jumped.
A vehicle fund that does not reset
Set up the minibus as a project and it counts from the day it started, across as many financial years as it takes, showing what has been spent, what is owed on bills not yet paid, and what is left.
Mileage claims kept with their forms
Each payment back to a driver is a payment out under your own heading, with the claim form attached. A list of payments with no paperwork against them is the list to chase before the examiner does.
Fares, grants and running costs side by side
Passenger fares and contributions as income, fuel and servicing as spending, and a cashflow that shows whether the year's money covers the year's costs - and which month it might not.
What it costs
£5 a month, or £50 a year
One price with everything in it: the money, the forecast, the trustees, the meetings, the compliance records, the grants and the GDPR records. No charge per trustee, and the charity is billed rather than whoever signed up, so the subscription stays put when the committee changes.
Questions people ask
Does it schedule journeys or keep passenger records?
No. It does not plan trips, allocate drivers or hold passenger details. It keeps the charity's money, trustees, volunteers' checks and compliance paperwork.
Can it work out mileage payments for us?
No. You work out what each driver is owed as you do now and record it as a payment, with their claim form attached. The point is that every payment and its paperwork end up in one place.
Can we record DBS checks for drivers who are not trustees?
Yes. A check can belong to anybody you name, with their role, as well as to a trustee.
Where do the vehicle documents go?
The insurance schedule, the V5C, the permit and the service history go in Documents, kept privately and opened only by signed-in people from your charity.
We have a capital grant for a new vehicle. How do we track it?
Record the grant as restricted income when it reaches the bank, set the vehicle up as a project with the amount of the grant, and put each payment towards it against the project. The project then shows what has been spent, what is owed and what is left. Any report the funder wants goes on the reporting list with a reminder.
Put your drivers and vehicles in
Start free, add your drivers' checks and the vehicle dates, and see what is due in the next three months.