Associations use Suomi.fi e-Authorizations to enable their representatives to act on behalf of the association in different digital services. For example, associations grant mandates for applying different kinds of subsidies and grants and for managing tax matters.
This page contains information about different ways for an association to grant mandates, who in the association is allowed to grant mandates alone and when more than one validator is required for a mandate.
For example, the MyTax service allows the chairs of associations to act on behalf of their association. Others need a mandate granted by the association in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations.
Two ways to grant mandates: independent authorisation in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations and a mandate application
The easiest and quickest way to grant mandates is in the Suomi.fi e-Authorizations service, at https://www.suomi.fi/e-authorizationsOpens in a new window.. Mandates are granted either alone or jointly. Mandates of behalf of the association can typically be given either by the chair alone or jointly by the signatories of the association. The granted mandates enter into force immediately or at the desired point in time.
However, it is not always possible to grant mandates independently in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations. This may be because of the association’s authority to sign rule or because the person representing the association does not have a means of strong identification, such as online banking codes. If the association is not able to grant mandates in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations, it may complete and send a mandate application to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. The mandates will then enter into force at the earliest when the Digital and Population Data Services Agency has processed the application.
To find out who in your association may grant mandates in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations, check your association’s authority to sign rule and whether any rights to grant mandates have been given to anyone in the association.
The association’s authority to sign rule determines whether someone can represent the association alone or whether more than one person are required to sign on behalf of the association.
If someone has the right to represent the association alone, the person may also grant mandates on behalf of the association alone.
If several persons are required to jointly sign on behalf of the association, these persons may also grant mandates jointly on behalf of the association.
If the authority to sign rule is not known in the association, it can be ordered from the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.
The authority to sign rule also determines whether the association can grant mandates independently in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations or whether it must submit a mandate application.
The persons who were previously in charge of the association may also have given rights to create a mandate to one or several persons. The person who has been granted the right to create a mandate may alone grant and invalidate mandates on behalf of the association. If the association is not sure whether rights to create a mandate have ever been given and whether they are still valid, there are two ways to check this:
If the association has a person with the right to represent the association alone, the person can see in the Suomi.fi e-Authorizations service what mandates the association has granted and to whom.
If no one in the association has the right to represent the association alone, the association must grant a mandate that gives someone the right to view the association's mandates.
Start by finding out in which e-services the persons representing the association must be able to act on its behalf. Services, such as MyTax, explain in their instructions if managing matters in the service requires a specific Suomi.fi e-Authorization, that is, a mandate for transactions.
For example, if your association wants to apply to the City of Vantaa for a grant for organising an event, you will need a mandate for transactions to be able to complete the application for the grant.
Associations often need mandates for transactions for submitting different applications, for managing tax matters, for employer responsibilities and for notifying events.
When you know what mandates for transactions are required for managing the matters of the association, you can start the authorisation in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations or submit a mandate application.
In an association, mandates can be granted alone by the following persons:
the association’s chairperson, a member of the board or other signatory for whom the right to represent the association alone has been recorded in the Finnish Register of Associations and who can manage matters electronically in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations.
a person, to whom the association has already given the right to create a mandate and who can manage matters electronically in Suomi.fi.
The mandates of an association can thus be granted and invalidated either by a person with a right to represent the association alone, such as the chair, or someone else from the association, to whom the association has first given the right to create a mandate in Suomi.fi. The right to create a mandate does not give a right to grant mandates for whatever the person wants to on behalf of the association. It is always granted for the desired mandate themes.
Example
The association agrees that its mandates in Suomi.fi will be granted and invalidated by the secretary. However, according to the association's authority to sign rule, only the chair has the right to represent the association alone. For this reason, the secretary cannot manage the association's mandates in Suomi.fi straight away. The association decides to grant the secretary a right to create a mandate for four of the mandates for transactions that are most often needed in the association. The chair of the association first logs in to Suomi.fi to grant the required rights for creating a mandate. The secretary can then independently grant and invalidate the mandates for transactions of the association’s other representatives. In addition, the chair also maintains the possibility to manage the association's mandates in Suomi.fi.
In associations, mandates can be granted jointly by those members of the association who have the right to sign on behalf of the association according to the association's authority to sign rule.
If the association’s authority to sign rule is “The following persons may sign on behalf of the association: the chair alone and the deputy chair, the secretary and the treasurer, two of them jointly”, mandates for transactions can be granted in two ways:
The chair of the association grants a mandate alone in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations.
The deputy chair, the secretary or the treasurer starts granting a mandate in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations and selects the other person who will validate the mandate in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations in addition to themselves.
To be able to independently authorise in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations together, all validators must be able to identify themselves with strong identification, such as online banking codes, in digital services. If strong identification is not possible, the remaining option for the association is to submit a mandate application, which is printed out to be signed by hand by the persons with the right to sign on behalf of the association.
If the association cannot grant mandates independently in Suomi.fi, it must submit a mandate application. The Digital and Population Data Services Agency will then register the mandates granted by the association on the basis of the application.
An association needs authorisation with an application if
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
Suomi.fi e-Authorizations cannot conclude from the information supplied by the Register of Associations which of the association’s signatories may authorise jointly and which may not.
If you do not see the details of the association you represent in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations
ensure that you are managing the mandates of the association and not your personal mandates
ensure that you either have the right to represent the association in the Register of Associations or that the association has granted you the right to create mandates
request an extract from the Finnish Patent and Registration Office’s Register of Associations to find out whether the register information is outdated or incorrect.
If your association has received a mandate request but you cannot find it in Suomi.fi e-Authorizations, make sure that
you are managing the mandates of the association and not your personal mandates
you have the right to represent alone based on the authority to sign rule, which gives you the right to grant the association's mandates alone, or
you have been given a right to create a mandate for those specific mandates for transactions for which the accounting agency has sent a mandate request to your association.