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Becoming a Treasurer — what it takes.
Treasurers hold trust in a Circle. The platform qualifies them on seven conditions per permission tier: identity, Standing, certification, prior tier, agreement, clean record, fee. All seven must be green for the gate to open. The gate is checked at every Treasurer action — not just at onboarding. This guide walks through what each condition means + the path from Member to qualified Treasurer.
The qualification gate engineering brief is at docs/architecture/treasurer-qualification-gate-implementation-brief-v1.md. The brief surfaces six reconciliation questions with the broader 2026-06-03 Treasurer architecture; this guide reflects the recommended reconciliation (brief §10 Option B + 1:1 cert mapping + 0–100 Standing scale).
Payment is necessary, never sufficient.
A £25 fee that alone unlocks Treasurer powers would be pay-to-play — and it would put Members’ money near someone who paid but isn’t trusted or competent. That is not what we do. The gate is on competence + trust + identity + fee, all of them, evaluated server-side at every Treasurer action. Paying alone never qualifies anyone. The Treasurer who reaches QUALIFIED has earned it.
The three permission tiers.
The platform uses three permission tiers — T1, T2, T3 — for the server-side qualification gate. Each tier is also represented by a friendly recognition-tier name on Member-facing surfaces (Community Builder, Community Organiser, etc.).
Permission tier T1
Circle Treasurer (Community Builder → Organiser)
Manage one Circle.
- Unlocks
- Create a Circle, manage one Circle (schedule, reconciliation, notices, Member enrollment), run CirclAI Assistant on that Circle (with subscription).
- Certification
- Foundation (free) + Intermediate Treasurer Certification (£25)
- Qualification fee
- £25
Permission tier T2
Coordinator (Community Leader → Architect)
Coordinate multiple Circles.
- Unlocks
- Manage multiple Circles, cross-Circle dashboard, affinity-federation coordination, multi-Circle Assist.
- Certification
- Advanced Treasurer Certification (£150)
- Qualification fee
- £150
Permission tier T3
Federation Coordinator (Circlworld Ambassador)
Regional / national federation coordination.
- Unlocks
- Regional / national federation coordination, propose a federation lending facility, Council delegation eligibility, Selection Committee independent Chair eligibility.
- Certification
- Multi-Jurisdictional Treasurer Certification (£400, 12-week live cohort)
- Qualification fee
- £400
The seven conditions.
All seven must be green at the moment of action for the gate to open. A single condition going amber suspends the gate immediately — no cached permission. The same seven conditions apply at every tier; the thresholds differ.
Identity verification (KYC)
The platform verifies who you are. T1 requires KYC Level 1 (government ID + selfie). T2 adds proof of address (Level 2). T3 may add an enhanced check (Level 2–3).
Standing threshold
Your Standing tier reflects your reliability in Circles you have already participated in. T1 requires the Building band (≥ 40 on the 0–100 composite). T2 requires the upper Building band (≥ 60). T3 requires the Established band (≥ 75). Standing is earned over time through consistent contribution and governance participation.
Treasurer Certification passed
Every Treasurer takes the certification ladder. Foundation Certification (free) is the universal prerequisite. Then: Intermediate (£25, T1 gate), Advanced (£150, T2 gate), Multi-Jurisdictional (£400, T3 gate — 12-week live cohort). All certifications are scholarship-eligible where the absolute fee meets the 5% jurisdictional disparity threshold.
Prior-tier qualified
T1 is the entry tier — no prior tier required. T2 requires you to be qualified at T1. T3 requires T2 + 24 months service + 2 Council Member recommendations. The qualification ladder is sequential.
Treasurer Agreement signed
The Treasurer Agreement is the contract you sign as an independent-contractor Treasurer. It cites the Custody Framework, the Code of Conduct, the TEP fee mechanism, and the constitutional bodies (Treasurer Council, Selection Committee). Currently live; counsel posture confirmed 2026-06-05.
Clean record
No active dispute, default, suspension proceeding, or upheld Selection Committee finding against you. A material Code of Conduct violation routes through the Selection Committee — only an upheld finding flips this condition.
Qualification fee paid
The tier qualification fee (T1 £25 / T2 £150 / T3 £400) — paid once per tier through Stripe. Scholarship-eligible in jurisdictions where the absolute fee creates a 5%+ proportional barrier. Currently waived for founding communities (every other condition still applies). Deductable from accrued Treasurer Partnership Programme fees through the Treasurer Partnership Programme-deduction option.
The boundary.
Qualification gates coordination and administration only. It never grants authority to make these decisions:
Move funds, disburse funds
Governed by the Custody Framework. Category A funds (regular contributions, single-jurisdiction) flow member-to-member or through a dedicated Circle account per Member vote — never the Treasurer's personal account. Category B (loans + CPR) and Category C (cross-border) are partner-institution escrow only. Moving funds requires the proper procedure for the category.
Approve or decline a loan
Loans are approved by the elected Lending Committee — never by a Treasurer alone. T3 Treasurers can propose a federation lending facility; the Committee decides.
Count, alter, or interpret a vote
Votes are mechanically counted by the platform per the Bylaws. A Treasurer cannot interpret a vote outcome.
Remove, suspend, or sanction a Member
Removal requires the proper Bylaws + Selection Committee procedure with full procedural protections for the affected Member.
Decide a dispute
Disputes route through the Dispute Settlement Centre. A Treasurer mediates as first response (Code of Conduct Pillar 5) but never decides.
Change a Member's Standing, tier, or certification
Standing is computed mechanically; the Treasurer cannot adjust. Tier promotion is by the Selection Committee. Certification is by Circl Academy + the Pedagogy Council.
From Member to qualified Treasurer.
A typical T1 path. Adjusted for Members already at higher Standing or with prior tier qualification.
Join a Circle
Become a Member of a Circle. Contribute consistently for a few cycles; your Standing builds.
Complete KYC L1
Verify your identity through the identity service. Government ID + selfie.
Pass Foundation Certification
Free, open to every Member. 30 MCQs, 80% pass mark, 60 minutes. Covers Circles, Custody Framework, Standing, disputes, CirclAI, what the platform does not do.
Reach Standing 40
The Building band entry. Consistent contribution + endorsements from circle-mates + governance participation get you here.
Enrol in Intermediate Treasurer Certification
The £25 (or scholarship) gating qualification for T1. Eight modules covering custody operations, code of conduct, TEP fee mechanism, handling difficult cycles, Member Activity Record, Council + Selection Committee, multi-Circle coordination, the constitutional architecture.
Pass Intermediate Certification
50 MCQs + 1 case-study, 84% MCQ pass mark + Satisfactory case-study, 90 minutes MCQ + 30 minutes case-study.
Sign the Treasurer Agreement
When counsel review completes and the Agreement is finalised, you sign as an independent-contractor Treasurer.
Pay the T1 qualification fee (currently waived)
The fee is currently waived for founding communities — every other condition still applies. Once general availability opens, the £25 fee is paid through Stripe — scholarship-eligible, Treasurer Partnership Programme-deductable.
Status: QUALIFIED
The gate opens. You can now create a Circle, manage a Circle, take on the role with full constitutional support.
What happens if something goes wrong.
A dispute against the Treasurer, a default, or a Selection Committee misconduct finding can flip the clean-record condition. When that happens, the status moves to SUSPENDED — the gate closes immediately. No cached permission, no grace period for Treasurer actions in flight.
Re-qualification may require re-certification (paying the certification fee again + passing the assessment), a cooldown period (typically 6 months minimum per Selection Committee Charter §13), and Standing recovery (returning to the threshold required for the tier). The Selection Committee Charter §13.2 requires a Selection Committee finding before this happens — not a single dispute, not a single complaint; the procedural finding is the trigger.
The procedural protections of the Selection Committee Charter (written notice, evidence access, response, in-person hearing, representation, witness rights, cross-examination, reasoned decision, DSC appeal route) apply throughout.
Check your qualification status
The Member surface showing where you stand on the seven conditions per tier.
Circl Academy Course Catalogue
Foundation + Intermediate + Advanced + Multi-Jurisdictional certifications.
Certification Scholarship Pool
Mission funding for certification fees in jurisdictions where the absolute fee would otherwise be a filter.
Treasurer Architecture Reading Guide
The seven constitutional documents the Treasurer profession rests on.