The second most difficult position to fill in any PTO has got to be Treasurer, especially since the duties and responsibilities of Treasurers can seem so overwhelming.
In all my years of PTA service, next to the President role, that Treasurer’s position was hands down the most difficult position to convince someone to take on.
Especially in the elementary school PTA where so, so , so much was always going on.
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!
This post will run through all of the duties of being PTO Treasurer so you’ll have a comprehensive resource for how to get the job done in one place!
Help Create Annual Budget
Before the school year starts, the Treasurer should work with the PTO President to craft an annual budget.
The process doesn’t have to be complicated, but it can seem pretty overwhelming if you’ve not done it before.
There is great information about making a PTO budget in this post that details the process a bit more.
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.
Deposit Right Away
Part of keeping the finances accurate is to stay on top of making regular deposits.
You never want to be in the position of getting into financial trouble because there’s a huge amount of money waiting to be deposited when you have a bunch of expenses to be paid.
Nor do you want something to happen to the checks or cash if they’re not deposited ASAP.
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.
Reconcile Transactions
At least monthly, you should be reviewing all transactions to ensure that checks have cleared.
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!
Keep Clean Books
The next thing PTO Treasurers should be mindful about is keeping clean financial books.
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 she’s really 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 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 Treasure should generate monthly reports that show all transactions for the previous month, as well as an up to date picture of income and expenses year.
For more information on what should be included in a Treasurer’s Report, check out this post!
Overwhelmed yet?
Phew, that certainly is a lot of responsibility to handle!
But I have some good news!
There are tools to make life as a Treasurer easier!
In fact, I have the inside scoop on them right now!
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 options for PTOs have been pretty cost prohibitive, with the 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?
And bonus points if the system you bought could be used with software just about everyone has on their computer already?
Let me introduce you to the Treasurer’s Finance Manager!
This financial manager isn’t the fanciest option out there, but it is the easiest and most approachable to use.
I totally cannot take credit for creating this.
In fact, I asked my Excel Nerd husband to tweak what he created to use as PTA Treasurer so that I could make it available for other Treasurers.
Because I know that it is THE solution PTOs have been looking for!
There’s much more information about this tool here.
Staying Organized
A big part of keeping clean 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 it’s the Treasurer’s Planner.
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 like Reimbursement Request forms and Cash Box forms that make keeping that crucial paper trail oh so simple!
Watch this!
Over to you!
Now you have all the information you need for how to confidently fulfill your duties as PTO Treasurer. Hope you have a fantastic term!
