Ready to step up as your Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) or Parent Teacher Association (PTA) school parent group Treasurer, but wondering what’s involved and wishing you could find a Treasurer job description?
Taking on the role of PTO Treasurer is an important role for the school parent group itself.
And the volunteers who take on this role want to be sure they know how to be a good Treasurer and fulfill all of the role’s responsibilities and duties.
This post will lay out the specific PTO Treasurer duties and responsibilities so there will be no surprises for new school parent group leaders taking on this volunteer role.
Knowledge and Experience Needed to be a PTO Treasurer
Just like with other PTO roles, no prior accounting experience or knowledge is needed.
Having good math skills will be helpful, but by no means is an accounting degree or prior bookkeeping experience necessary.
Being interested in holding the executive board level positioning the PTO is a primary qualification.
This role is great for organized, detail oriented volunteers who enjoy working independently.
Although there will be many opportunities to work with others, generally, the specific duties of the Treasurer role can be done at any time.
This means you can work at 2 am updating the transaction register in your PTO accounting software.
Good school parent group treasurers have a bunch of skills that make them well suited for the essential position, including:
- Fantastic communication skills
- Understand numbers and basic accounting concepts
- Is a team player
- Pays attention to detail
- Has or develops organized systems
These skills are the same ones that PTO Treasurers can share on their resumes since all of these skills directly transfer to the business world.
PTO Treasurer Duties
The duties of PTO Treasurers is very much similar to that of any club treasurer or other group organization and extends far beyond just signing checks and being on the group’s bank account.
Treasurers are tasked with keeping a close eye on money on at least a weekly basis, tracking every penny of income and expenses.
They should also make sure that money is being spent appropriately, with receipts to back up purchases made by fellow PTO members documenting that the money being spent was for a PTO event or program.
Basically, Treasurers should cross every T and dot every I to make sure everything is on the up and up, with money being spent as it was intended.
Treasurers also sit on the Executive Board of the PTO, and should feel free to actively contribute to the discussions of all PTO matters, not just things that are money related.
Given their position, Treasurers have a say about the direction of the PTO, just like any other Executive Board member.
The specific duties of parent group Treasurers, outside of attendance of and participation in Executive Board meetings and General Membership meetings, include:
- Being a signatory on the group’s bank account
- Develop annual budget
- Issue checks for PTO expenses
- Reimburse PTO members for purchases made on behalf of the PTO
- Order checks to replenish supply
- Purchase stamps and envelopes for remitting payments
- Monitor cashflow, income and expenses
- Deposit checks and cash
- Withdraw cash for Cash Start Up Boxes in advance of events
- Prepare monthly Treasurer’s Reports
- Prepare for the Annual Audit
- Keep committee chairs informed of pertinent line item balances
- Follow Bylaws and Standing Rules
- Comply with state and federal requirements
Notice that not included in the list is being an accountant!
It is probably really helpful for both the individual volunteer serving as Treasurers, as well as the larger PTO to have such a knowledgable volunteer heading up that role, but it totally isn’t necessary.
Someone with a comfortable sense of working with numbers, and putting together reports is enough.
Comply with State and Federal Reporting Requirements
If your PTO is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization as recognized by the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS), you’ll need to file a financial report each year.
The annual deadline for filing form 990-N or 990 EZ is November 15th.
The specific form you’ll need to file will depend on how much income your PTO generated.
The 990-N form is for organizations that generated less than $50,000.
The 990-EZ is for groups that generated more than $50,000 but less than $200,000.
Groups bringing in more than $200,000 will need to file form 990, which requires more information.
Both forms 990-N and 990-EZ require less information and can be filed in about 15 minutes, give or take.
State Filing Requirements
Some states, such as Ohio, require an annual registration for charitable organizations.
Check with your state’s Secretary of State or Attorney General to see if your state has similar filing requirements and be sure to comply with them!
Keep Accurate Books
First and foremost, keeping accurate financial books is the primary responsibility for all Treasurers.
The books should be maintained in a way that makes it easy to see where the PTO sits financially, showing exactly how much money has been received and how much has been spent.
Deposit Right Away
Part of keeping the finances accurate is to stay on top of making regular deposits.
Smart Treasurers deposit funds into the PTO bank account as soon as possible, whether the funds are cash, checks or digital payments from PayPal, Venmo, etc.
Money in the bank means checks don’t bounce and there’s no chance of the money going missing or otherwise misappropriated.
Write Checks Regularly
Make sure to pay PTO bills and write reimbursement checks regularly, about every week or two.
A lot of Treasurers make sure to bring the PTO checkbook to PTO meetings so they can reimburse members quickly.
Paying bills regularly avoids late fees and service interruption or cancellations.
Reconcile Transactions
At least monthly, review all transactions to ensure that checks have cleared and that digital payments are proper.
For outstanding checks that have yet to be cashed, contact the payee to remind them to deposit the checks.
You’ll get yourself into a pickle financially if an outstanding check catches you by surprise!
Be aware of scams
There are also scams targeting PTOs where the fraudster impersonates a PTO officer and asks for a check or electronic payment to be sent for supposed payment for a service or item.
Reviewing the PTO bank account regularly can help keep on top of potential issues and avoid fraud and scams.
Keep Clean Books
The next thing PTO Treasurers should be mindful about is keeping clean financial books and an accurate picture of PTO funds.
Maintain a Clear Paper Trail
Part of keeping clean books is to make itemized deposits and keep a paper trail for all transactions.
For example, Treasurers shouldn’t reimburse for an expense that doesn’t have a receipt to back it up.
But what if a member loses the receipt?
If a member loses a receipt and it’s a one time thing, then you can accept other proof of purchase, such as a credit card bill showing the transaction.
But if a member makes a habit of losing receipts, then she needs to not conduct business on behalf of the PTO since they’ve demonstrated they’re not reliable.
Receipts are vital to ensuring expenses are for legitimate PTO business!
Facilitate the Annual Audit
One reason for needing the paper trail is so that an annual audit at the end of each fiscal year can be conducted.
The Treasurer should never be part of the audit.
Instead, the annual audit should be performed by members of the PTO unconnected to direct financial dealings or an outside independent auditor.
But the Treasurer needs to provide all of the information needed to get the audit done!
The purpose of the audit is to double check that everything is on the up and up and no financial funny business is going on.
Create and Present Monthly Treasurer Reports
Each month, the Treasurer should generate monthly reports that show all transactions for the previous month, as well as an up to date picture of income and expenses.
For more information on what should be included in a Treasurer’s Report, check out this post!
How to be an Effective PTO Treasurer?
Aside from making sure you’re following the above list of specific responsibilities, tapping into the good communication skills and being organized are the primary ways volunteers can be an effective Treasurer.
To really be useful, Treasurers should share the financial information with the officers and members of the parent group so they can have a sense of the current footing of the group since finances have so much sway in what happens.
For example, if a fundraiser is super successful, the group can figure out how to reallocate the budget to make the most of the windfall.
And on the other hand, if the fundraiser flops, then the group should be armed with that information to make a change in spending habits, if not adjust the overall budget accordingly.
Who Can Be PTO Treasurer
Any member in good standing of the PTO can be a Treasurer for the group, including teachers.
There’s non conflict of interest for the teacher serving as PTO Treasurer since Treasurers don’t make decisions about how PTO money is spent.
They make sure the PTO’s wishes are carried out by following the motions made during meetings about expenditures as well as the PTO’s budget.
Why the PTO Treasurer Role Can be Hard to Fill
Next to the PTO President role, the second most difficult position to fill in any PTO has got to be Treasurer.
In part, this is because the duties and responsibilities of PTO Treasurers are unique to any other in a school parent group.
And the Treasurer job duties can seem overwhelming because managing the money and finances of the PTO is vitally important and mistakes can literally be costly.
In especially busy groups, the workload for Treasurers can be high.
Treasurers are expected to do so much more than just make deposits and balance the checkbook.
Wouldn’t that be nice if it was really that simple at those two things?
Instead, Treasurers are tasked with taking on a lot more than that.
A whole lot more and it can be downright overwhelming to someone new to the position!
Top Tools for PTO Treasurers
Phew, that certainly is a lot of responsibility to handle as a volunteer treasurer!
The good news is that it’s not all up to Treasurers to create the systems and processes outlined above to stay organized and effectively manage PTO money.
Here are some tools to help get the job done the right way.
First up is an overarching system that’ll handle all of your PTO financial accounts.
Treasurer’s Finance Manager
You don’t still keep track of your own finances with pen and paper, so why would you ever think of doing that for your PTO?
You wouldn’t, would you?
But until now, the accounting system options for PTOs have been pretty cost prohibitive, with sky high costs and annual subscription fees.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could buy something once and it would work for years and years to come?
Let me introduce you to the Treasurer’s Finance Manager!
This financial manager and parent group accounts ting program is the easiest and most approachable money management tool to use.
It’s been specifically designed for school parent groups, no matter their name (PTO, PTA, etc.), or amount of money being handled.
It features an auto-updating budget and two click monthly Treasurer reports.
Simply select the start and end month and the report is auto-generated.
Best of all, there’s no math or accounting knowledge or experience needed!
This is THE money management program PTO Treasurers dream about since it drastically cuts down on the time Treasurers spend on transaction reconciliation, budget and monthly report generation and annual audit preparation.
There’s much more information about this tool here.
Staying Organized
A big part of keeping clean financial records and auditable PTO financial books is to keep everything organized.
After all, an auditor’s worst nightmare is to be handed a tote bag stuffed with receipts and notes scribbled on note paper.
There’s a better way to handle keeping everything together:
And that’s by compiling everything in an organized binder.
Introducing the Treasurer’s Planner, the star of the Treasurer’s Success Kit.
This planner has everything a Treasurer needs!
First, there’s the actual structure to build a Treasurer’s Binder in no time, with a set of divider pages to keep everything organized.
And then there’s also a whole set of essential forms and finance management templates like reimbursement request forms and cash box forms that make keeping that crucial paper trail oh so simple!
Watch this!
This video covers exactly what you need to know about being a good PTO Treasurer:
Over to you!
The bottom line is that it’s not hard to be a good PTO Treasurer as long as you know the PTO Treasurer duties and responsibilities.
Remember that the most important rule for Treasurers is to safeguard and properly manage group funds.
As long as you follow the Treasurer job duties as outlined above, you’ll be well on your way!
