Association – check these five things about managing matters smoothly in the authorities’ digital services!

Does your association deal with the Tax Administration? Do you submit applications for grants and subsidies to municipalities and other authorities? A registered association should know these five things about Suomi.fi e-Authorizations and how matters can be managed smoothly on behalf of the association.

1. If the chair of the association has the right to represent the association alone, the chair can manage matters in digital services and authorise others.

If the chair has the right to represent the association according to the association's authority to sign rule, the chair may act on behalf of the association in the digital services without a separate mandate. The chair may also authorise another person or, for example, an accounting agency to act on behalf of the association.

Suomi.fi e-Authorizations verifies the chair's mandate for transactions automatically from the Register of Associations. If the information in the register is in order, managing the association's matters is easy.

2. Mandates can now also be granted jointly by two members of the association who have the right to sign on behalf of the association.

If two members of the association can jointly represent the association according to the authority to sign rule, they can also grant mandates themselves in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations. The mandates enter into force immediately when both members with the right to sign on behalf of the association have validated them.

This means that, as from the beginning of August, it is no longer necessary to send a signed mandate application for validation to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. In practice, this will make easier for tens of thousands of associations to manage matters digitally.

• Instructions for associations: suomi.fi/en/association-grants-mandates

Suomi.fi e-Authorizations verifies the right to manage matters automatically from the Register of Associations. Independent authorisation therefore requires that the information on the association and the roles authorising to sign on behalf of the association are up to date in the Register of Associations and have been registered unambiguously. If independent authorisation does not succeed, the association’s details should be checked from the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.

The association can also continue to send a signed mandate application for validation to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

• Instructions for a mandate application

3. Clear instructions on how to use Suomi.fi e-Authorizations for associations

Clearer instructions for associations can now also be found in Suomi.fi. The instructions explain in what situations the members of the association can themselves grant mandates in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations and when a signed mandate application is still needed.

• Suomi.fi instructions for associations: suomi.fi/en/association-grants-mandates

We would like to thank everyone who has given customer feedback! The Digital and Population Data Services Agency has developed its instructions on the basis of your proposals and ideas.

4. An association should always know who has been granted mandates to act on its behalf

Suomi.fi e-Authorizations gives the person full rights to submit, for example, salary notifications, grant applications or tax returns on behalf of the association and authorise others to do this. The association must therefore ensure that its practices for granting, maintaining and invalidating mandates are in order.

The association’s own practices should be recorded and information on who mandates have been granted to should be kept up to date. This will also make it easier to run the activities when the association's executive committee changes.

5. When does a registered association still need to submit a mandate application for Suomi.fi e-Authorizations?

• The validator of the mandate does not have a Finnish personal identity code
• The validator of the mandate does not have online banking codes or a mobile certificate
• The Register of Associations cannot automatically supply the information to Suomi.fi e-Authorizations because the information on the rights to sign and the roles is outdated, incomplete or unclear.

Note that an unregistered association cannot authorise with Suomi.fi e-Authorizations. To use Suomi.fi e-Authorizations, the association must have a business ID.