Long gone are the days of paper ledgers and notebooks to track PTO finances.
Because times and technology have changed so that PTO Treasurers can save a ton of time.
There are a bunch of different money management systems available, and it can be hard to choose the right one, so this post will help you a lot!
But what should PTO Treasurers be using to manage the financial accounts of their groups?
And what makes for good PTO Treasurer software?
That’s just what we’ll cover in this post, so read on!
Ease of Use
Let’s be real.
You aren’t the CFO of a Fortune 500 Company.
You need a simple and straightforward program, not something super complicated with gobs of reporting features you’ll never use.
One of the primary considerations of PTO financial programs is how easy it is to use (or not).
It’s super important for the program to be user friendly because PTO Treasurer’s aren’t paid and they’re squeezing in managing the PTO’s money in between loads of laundry and homework help all all the other responsibilities of life.
There’s just not the time (or the will!) to make a huge investment learning a complicated program.
Especially since it isn’t necessary.
A simple system will serve you well in the long run, especially since odds re that the rest of your fellow PTO volunteers aren’t accountants and don’t have familiarity with financial reports.
Add to that clean and simple is always the way to go.
Quick Start Up Time and Low Learning Curve
The most important feature of financial management programs is one that offers a fast start up time to get everything going.
Does the program offer tons of training videos?
While that may be helpful, it’s also an indication that it’s probably not an intuitive program and more complicated than actually needed.
Easy Transferability
The next consideration to take into account is if the system makes it easy to transfer to the next Treasurer.
Because it’s not going to be you forever.
Thank goodness for that!
And because not everyone is using the same kind of computer, it’s important to choose a system that can be used by both PC and Mac users, alike.
Doesn’t Add to Overhead
Look for a system that is a one-time payment.
Paying a monthly or annual subscription fee isn’t a good use of your group’s funds.
Wouldn’t you much rather spend the money on something that directly benefits the students or staff?
Of course!
Consistent Updates
One last consideration to make in choosing PTO Treasurer’s Software is whether or not updates are offered and if features become available.
Technical bugs come up and need to be resolved.
Bonus points if the updates come free.
Easy to Understand Reports
You shouldn’t need an accounting degree to understand the PTO books or monthly reports.
Understandability and transparency are key!
Seeing at a glance the money in and out and out and where your groups stands with the budget and year to date income and expenses is essential.
#1 Recommendation for Treasurer’s Software
If you’re in the market for a comprehensive PTO financial management tool that meets (and exceeds) all of the requirements outlined in this post, check out the Treasurer’s Finance Manager.
It literally ticks off all the boxes that are laid out above.
Super Smart Investment
The Treasurer’s Finance Manager saves your PTO money by cutting out unnecessary overhead: Buy the program once and enjoy lifetime updates.
Use year after year without having to spend any more money to access the program, which will zero out this overhead after only one year.
Quick Set up and Support Galore
Just five steps is all it takes to get the Treasurer’s Finance Manager all set up and running!
The set up instructions are clear and clean, and explained in terms anyone can understand. Absolutely no previous accounting or Treasurer experience is necessary.
As for support, there’s loads baked in and on demand, so you’ll have access to the information you need when you need it.
Simple Reporting
The Treasurer’s Finance Manager also has the reports you’ll actually use baked right in.
No generic financial reports that aren’t helpful, leaving you to wonder if you need to be doing more each month.
And no more spending hours to figure out what sort of information to include.
The Treasurer’s Finance Manager features auto-generating reports (yes, you read that right).
Take the Monthly Treasurer’s Report for example, simply navigate to the tab, select the date range and watch everything fill in right before your eyes.
Same deal for the Acuity Report, which allows you to drill down for Committee Chairs so they know where financial things stand without the Treasurer having to do anything more than select the category name.
All income and expenses for that Category will automagically fill in for a done for you report in seconds.
And what’s more any notes entered in on the Budget tab for that category will automatically transfer over for the report.
Easy Transitions
The Treasurer’s Finance Manager also makes transitions easier since the program comes in the Google Sheets.
This means anyone can use the program, no matter what type of computer they have, PC or Mac.
And what’s more, you can actually use the program on other devices like tablets and even a phone.
This means your firm doesn’t have the devote resources to purchase a PTO computer.
Ultimate Transparency and Secure Access
The added bonus of using the Google Sheets version is that the Treasurer can grant viewing rights, but not editing, to other officers and select committee chairs.
This means the leaders can check for themselves how much they have left to spend for class parties, for example.
All without needing to bug the Treasurer for the information!
Transparency plus then some, which is such a win for all.
Watch this!
Learn even more about what to look for to easy PTO money management in this video:
