Earmarked reserves

Earmarked Reserves in EasyPC Accounts

Many councils choose to hold earmarked reserves for specific purposes—such as saving for a future project or ring-fencing developer contributions (e.g. S106 or CIL funds). These reserves help demonstrate that money has been used appropriately, particularly when reporting to a district or unitary authority.

However, not all councils need earmarked reserves. EasyPC is designed so that this feature is entirely optional—adding reserves will only affect councils that choose to use them.

How Reserves Work

Think of reserves as columns in your chart of accounts, while account groups and account names or codes form the rows.

  • Every council has one default reserve: General Reserve
  • If no additional reserves are created, the system functions as though there is only one column—there are no visible or functional changes in the interface
  • If other reserves are added, each one will appear as a separate column in detailed reports

Creating and Managing Reserves

The Clerk or Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) can create new reserves at any time:

  • New reserves start with a zero balance
    • Funds can be added by recording income to that reserve or by transferring from another reserve (typically from the General Reserve)
  • You cannot set an opening balance for a reserve when setting up the system—any balances must be transferred from an existing reserve once it has been created

Every transaction must be assigned to a reserve:

  • A Reserve dropdown appears when entering receipts or payments
  • This dropdown only appears if more than one reserve exists
  • By default, transactions are assigned to General Reserve, minimising the need for additional input

Transferring Between Reserves

You can transfer money between reserves—this works similarly to the bank transfer function.

Reporting and Budgets

  • The Annual Return ignores the reserve structure entirely
  • The Detailed Accounts report can be configured to:
    • Show combined totals
    • Produce a separate report for each reserve
    • Display a column-based breakdown for selected reserves
  • You can also set budgets for individual reserves, allowing for more detailed financial planning
Reserves and VAT