Australian Board Portal for NFP Treasurers
You are responsible for the financial oversight of your organisation, usually on top of a day job. Our Cat Herder keeps the financial reports, board packs, and governance documents organised so you spend less time on admin and more time on the numbers that matter.
Board packs and financial reporting
Your financial report, budget papers, and audit findings go into the board pack alongside every other agenda item. No more emailing spreadsheets around and hoping everyone opens the right version.
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Financial papers attached to the agenda item
Your treasurer's report sits next to the finance agenda item. The budget paper sits next to the budget item. Board members open the pack and the numbers are where they expect them, not buried in a separate email.
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One-click consolidated PDF
One click produces a single PDF with every paper in agenda order. Board members who want to read the whole pack in one go get a document with a clickable table of contents. No more assembling board packs by hand in Word.
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Background papers that explain the numbers
Attach a background paper to each financial agenda item explaining the numbers and your recommendation. Board members arrive having read the context, not just the spreadsheet.
Meeting preparation
Building the agenda, uploading the financial statements, writing the commentary — it all happens in one place. You stop shuffling between Word, email, and a shared drive, and the secretary stops chasing you for your papers.
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Agenda templates with your standing items
Set up a template with your regular financial items — treasurer's report, budget review, audit update — and reuse it for every meeting. You add what is new, and the template handles the rest.
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Time allocations on the agenda
Each agenda item shows how long the chair expects to spend on it. If the budget discussion gets 20 minutes but the financial report gets 5, everyone knows where the real conversation is. Useful for deciding how much detail to put in your papers.
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Board pack notifications
When you publish the board pack, members get a link straight to the portal. No attachments to download. They click the link and read it before the meeting. You can see who has opened the pack and who has not.
Actions and accountability
When the board asks you to get a quote for the audit, or to draft a revised investment policy, it goes on the action register. Your dashboard shows what you owe and when it is due.
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Personal action dashboard
Log in and see your open actions front and centre. Each one shows the due date, which meeting it came from, and any notes. You know what you owe without waiting for the secretary to send a reminder.
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Outstanding actions carry forward
Anything not marked done rolls onto the next meeting's agenda under Matters Arising. If the board asked for an audit quote two meetings ago and nobody followed up, it stays visible until it is closed off.
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Status updates between meetings
Update the status of your actions and add a comment if something is delayed. The chair can see progress without having to email you asking where things are at.
Governance and document management
Financial policies, past budgets, audit reports, and your constitution all live in one document library. When someone asks "what was the investment policy we agreed in 2023?", you find it in seconds instead of digging through email.
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Document library with folder permissions
Organise financial documents into folders with access controls. Past budgets, investment policies, and audit reports are accessible to the people who need them, without sharing everything with everyone.
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Decision audit trail
Every resolution and vote is recorded with timestamps. Minutes are locked after sign-off. If the ACNC or an auditor asks how a financial decision was made, you point them to the exact minute and who was in the room.
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Treasurer handover without losing history
When you hand over to the next treasurer, everything is already in the portal — past budgets, financial reports, meeting minutes, and the rationale behind decisions. They start with the full picture instead of a USB stick and a box of printouts.
“Our Cat Herder has had the single biggest impact on our organisation's efficiency. Even ahead of digital accounting software like Xero.”
Everything else a treasurer needs
Voting, discussions, and security
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- Circular resolutions between meetings
- Need to approve a budget amendment before the next meeting? The secretary sends a circular resolution through the portal. Board members vote with one click, and the result is recorded.
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- Discussion threads for financial matters
- Flag a question about the budget or raise an issue with the audit findings between meetings. Discussion threads keep financial conversations visible to the right people and searchable later.
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- Private notes on financial papers
- Jot down questions while reviewing the budget or flag a line item you want to raise at the meeting. Your notes are private, saved against the paper, and still there when you open it again.
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- Finance committee and main board in one portal
- If you sit on both the finance committee and the main board, both run from the same portal. Each has its own meetings, papers, and access controls.
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- Works on phones and tablets
- Review financial papers on your phone during the commute, or pull up a budget on a tablet mid-meeting. It works in any modern browser with no app to install.
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- Security and Australian data hosting
- Financial reports and board papers contain sensitive information. All data is hosted on AWS in Sydney, penetration tested annually. Your organisation owns its data and can export it at any time.
Action register
Agenda builder
Discussion groups
Australian-built for Australian boards
Why Australian NFP treasurers choose Our Cat Herder
- Financial data stays in Australia. Hosted on AWS in Sydney. Board papers with sensitive financial information never leave the country.
- Built around Australian governance. Minutes sign-off and decision audit trails follow the Corporations Act and ACNC standards. Conflict of interest tracking is built in for organisations that need it.
- No per-user fees. Boards grow and shrink. Committee members rotate. You should not pay more because you added two people to a finance subcommittee. Unlimited users, unlimited meetings.
- 45-day free trial, no credit card. Set up a portal in under five minutes and try it with your actual board. Full access to every feature during the trial.
- Simple enough for volunteer treasurers. Most of our customers are NFPs where the treasurer is a volunteer. The portal is designed to be picked up without training.
Spend less time on board admin. Start your free 45-day trial.
Full access to all features. No credit card required. Set up in under 5 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
- How does a board portal help an NFP treasurer?
- It puts your financial reports, board packs, and governance documents in one place that every board member can access. You upload your treasurer's report to the agenda, the secretary distributes the pack, and members come to the meeting having already read your numbers. Between meetings, your action dashboard tracks what you owe and when it is due.
- Can I distribute financial reports through the portal?
- Yes. You upload your financial statements, budget papers, or audit findings to the relevant agenda item. When the board pack is published, everyone gets a link to the portal where the documents are waiting. No more emailing spreadsheets as attachments.
- What happens when the treasurer role changes hands?
- Everything stays in the portal. Past budgets, financial reports, meeting minutes, and the discussion threads around major decisions are all there for the incoming treasurer. They get the full history instead of starting from scratch.
- Is the portal secure enough for financial data?
- All data is hosted on AWS in Sydney, penetration tested annually. Access is controlled by permissions — board members only see the boards and committees they belong to. Your organisation owns its data and can export it at any time.
- Is Our Cat Herder suitable for small NFPs with volunteer treasurers?
- That is who we built it for. Most of our customers are NFPs, incorporated associations, and registered charities where the treasurer volunteers their time. There are no per-user fees, so adding committee members costs nothing extra. You get a 45-day free trial with full access to every feature.
Resources for treasurers
Guides and templates to help you manage board finances and governance.
Guide
Effective Board Packs: The Complete Guide
What should be in a board pack, how to structure it, and how to make sure members actually read it before the meeting.
Guide
Managing Conflicts of Interest in Non-Profits
How to identify, declare, and manage conflicts of interest on your board. Covers actual, potential, and perceived conflicts.
Template
Free Consent Agenda Template
Bundle routine items into one motion so the board can spend its time on the decisions that actually need discussion.
Template
Free Action Register Template
Track every action item from every meeting with columns for assignee, due date, status, and notes. Word format.