Hands down, being Treasurer is one of the most time consuming Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) or Parent Teacher Association (PTA) volunteer positions.
That’s because being a PTA Treasurer or a PTO treasury officer requires regular financial housekeeping for the parent group to remain on track.
And because of that, it’s also one of the hardest PTO officer positions to fill, especially since it seems like the role involves many, many hours of work to keep up with!
Add to that, most PTO /PTA Treasurers don’t come into the position with accounting or bookkeeping experience.
But just like everything else, the job of PTO Treasurer, and the specifics of PTA accounting is easier with the right system and tools.
For PTO Treasurers, the main system that’ll make a difference is the right PTO Treasurer software solution.
Narrowing down the available nonprofit organization accounting tool options can be a task, so let’s save you some time by highlighting the features of the best of the lot!
So today in this post, I’m giving you a short cut to the answer of what the best accounting software, and honestly the perfect financial secretary software solution for all PTO / PTA groups, no matter your name or group size!
Is Professional Accounting Software Necessary for PTO / PTA Groups?
Before we dive into how to choose the best treasurer software program for your school parent group, you’re probably wondering what kind of software to look for in the first place.
Should you be looking for a professional accounting tool?
Actually no.
Because of the cost and relative steep learning curves of professional grade accounting tools you can rule programs like quickbooks out.
Instead, you can use something that’s more straightforward and easy to use.
The best PTO Treasurer software actually isn’t software at all, but a straightforward program literally anyone can use, no matter their accounting or bookkeeping experience level.
And that’s because your PTO doesn’t actually need complicated software to manage PTO finances.
The truth is that PTOs aren’t so involved as to require fancy or expensive software.
What your PTO does need is a straightforward, simple, yet comprehensive system that organizes everything and is easy to manage.
And you need something designed specifically for PTOs that matches how PTO / PTA leaders and volunteers think.
Not something that was originally for some other sort of organization and adapted to fit PTOs.
You need a secure way to manage your PTO’s finances.
Keep track of money in the group’s bank accounts.
A easy method for telling Committee Chairs how much money is left in their budget.
An effortless way to create and update a budget.
A system that was designed from the ground up with every feature supporting the needs of PTOs.
And something that’ll quickly give you an idea of where your PTO sits financially.
Enter the Treasurer’s Finance Manager!
How the Treasurer’s Finance Manager Works
The Treasurer’s Finance Manager’s set up is very accessible.
It’s a straightforward spreadsheet based system where all you have to do is input numbers.
The math is literally taken care of for you, making it perfect for math-challenged treasury officers.
The linked spreadsheets have all of the formulas done for you, leaving you to customize the sheets with your parent teacher organization’s information, with calculations done automatically for you.
Works on all Computers
The Treasurer’s Finance Manager is flexible enough to work in Google Sheets, meaning you can access the program from anywhere.
What’s more, you can give other PTO officers permission to view the program, so they can see for themselves where finances stand, but not have access to change anything.
This provides the greatest amount of transparency and is a good choice for groups that strong anti-theft and embezzlement procedures in place.
What’s Included
Included in the Treasurer’s Finance Manager are the following features:
Custom Categories
The Treasurer’s Finance Manager is a robust accounting program set up for up to 50 distinct income source and expense categories, making it super easy to tailor to your group.
Streamline your reporting by organizing your categories.
Transactions Register
Keep track of each and every transaction and tag it with your predefined categories to see where your group’s money is going.
Bank reconciliations is an easy to track task using the reconciliation and cleared balance features built into the Transaction Register.
Budget Creation and Tracking
Creating an annual budget for your parent teacher organization and tracking it throughout the year is easy using the budget tool baked into the Treasurer’s Finance Manager.
Simply enter your pre-defined categories (up to 50 income and expense categories) and enter in what your anticipated income or expenses will be.
The Budget Tracker auto-updates in real-time with the specific income sources and expenses as entires are made in the Transaction Register.
This means you’ll always know exactly where your group stands financially at a glance.
If you really want to get nerdy with your tracking, enter in the previous numbers for up to the past two years to see how this year’s finances are stacking up!
Manage Multiple Accounts in One Place
The Treasurer’s Finance Manager can handle up to three separate accounts of your choosing.
This is perfect for groups that must separately track membership income or have multiple savings or CD accounts.
Monthly Report Templates
When it comes to generating monthly Treasurer reports, the Treasurer’s Finance Manager is hands down the best option available for PTO/PTA Treasurers!
For concise and accurate financial records reporting, simply select the starting and ending dates for the report and watch as the report literally generates itself!
All the essential information needed for a transparent and comprehensive financial reports is automatically loaded and you can simply print the report and the with you to the meeting.
No need to manually compile an income statement or a transaction report.
All of the pertinent information is pulled into the print-ready report for you.
Want to grab the financial data for a different time period? Just select the desired date range in the month selector and you’ll get exactly the information you’re looking for, providing you with the ultimate level of flexible reporting.
In addition to the monthly report option, there’s an End of Year Statement that gives a snapshot look at up to three different account all on one page.
Year end audit preparation is pretty much non-existent as long as you keep the transaction register up to date since each monthly report as well as the end of the year statement will be a complete picture of your group’s financial information.
Easy Treasurer Transitions
The beauty of the Treasurer’s Finance Manager is that it’s so easy to pass down to the next Treasurer, no matter if they’re a PC or Mac user.
In fact, using the Google Sheets version of the spreadsheet makes it super easy to transfer the information to the new PTO Treasurer.
Simply pass along the PTO Treasurer login info or tap the share button and you’re all done with giving the incoming Treasurer the access they need.
Nothing else is needed, no password resetting necessary.
Cost Comparison
With the Treasurer’s financial workbook, there’s no annual subscription to pay each year.
It’s a one time purchase with zero strings attached going forward.
Alternative PTO accounting software costs anywhere up to $900 per year!
That’s an outrageous amount of money to spend on the overhead of running your PTO.
I know you’d much rather spend that on something for the kids or school staff.
One the high end of the spectrum, alternative software is bloated with features you don’t need and won’t use as PTO Treasurer.
At the low end of the spectrum, alternative software lacks the capability to enter in custom budget numbers.
Um, that’s useless.
What’s more, it’s a reoccurring expense your PTO doesn’t need now that there’s a budget friendly option with the Treasurer’s Finance Manager!
Your one time purchase gives you lifetime access to the finance management program for life.
That means your PTA /PTO will never spend another dime on accounting programs.
No monthly fee or annual subscription fees involved here!
Time Investment
Another advantage to using PTO Answer’s Treasurer’s Finance Manager is how super simple and straightforward the system is to use and learn.
So you won’t have to put in much more time than a few minutes to orient yourself with the Treasurer’s Finance Manager and then dive right on in to using it.
There’s no wasted time trying to figure things out with this system.
How Easy to Use is the Treasurer’s Finance Manager, Really?
The Treasurer’s Finance Manager is very easy to use.
You don’t have to be an accountant to use this particular PTO accounting program.
You don’t even have to be good at math to use it!
The financial terms used in the Treasurer’s Finance Manager are plain English and not confusing accounting jargon.
Yet, this system takes all of the trouble out of the equation.
This system has been designed by a PTA Treasurer who used it with multiple PTAs and then streamlined it to make it easy for any PTO, non-profit booster club, social group, scouting or member based organization to use.
Updates and Premium Features
The other difference with the Treasurer’s Finance Manager when compared to every other financial management tool designed for use by parent groups like PTO, PTA, booster clubs and organizations, is that there’s an additional cost to access upgrades and premium features.
But that’s not the case with this program.
Updates are free and you’ll get access to not only fantastic customer service but also any and all features right from the start.
Convinced that you’ve Found the Best Accounting Software for your PTO/PTA?
You will love how much time, hassle and headache the Treasurer’s Finance Manager will save you.
Get your copy of the ultimate financial management system today!
Over to you!
And now you know all about the very best PTO accounting software that will be such a game changer for both you and your PTO/PTA.
No recurring subscription costs.
No time consuming learning accounting practices.
Easy access and even easier set up perfect for all nonprofit treasurer officers
Just plug and play easiness and straightforward money management.
The system has all the features you expect, plus a few more that make your life as a Treasurer infinitely easier and with peace of mind you have it all of your parent group’s financial management needs covered now and going forward!
