SO YOU ARE A NEW UNIT TREASURER – WHAT SHOULD YOU BE DOING OVER THE SUMMER?
Submitted by Ira Weinreb
Congratulations! You have been elected as the new Treasurer for your PTA/PTSA Unit, and your term of office begins July 1. And then you start to wonder: “hmmmmm, what should I be doing now (or soon)?”
So let me help you with that:
1) Change the signers on your bank account(s). On or shortly after July 1, arrange to change the signers on your bank accounts. Your Bylaws specify which officers are to be check signers. Make an appointment to minimize waiting time. Typically, ALL signers for the new year must appear together at the bank, each with two forms of ID. Bring a copy of the minutes signed by the Secretary showing who the signers are to be. Usually one current signer also needs to appear.
2) Meet with the current Treasurer, from whom you will be taking over. He or she will give you a whole bunch of “stuff”: Your Unit’s books of accounting, the checkbook, deposit slips, check stamps, historical documents, and more. They should also give you (or set up for you) credentials to access the bank account(s) online. Hopefully, they are also willing to spend an hour or so with you showing you the records, how the books have been kept, and answering questions.
3) Review your Bylaws. Your Unit’s Bylaws are like a constitution – it’s the controlling governing document. Your Bylaws contain a lot of important information, such as which officers your Unit has, how many members or Board members must be present at a meeting to conduct business (the “quorum”), and how much your membership dues are. Read the Bylaws! Your Bylaws also list numerous identification numbers that will be important to you during the year, including your IRS Tax ID number, your Franchise Tax Board number, and your Charitable Trust (“CT”) number.
4) Know who is going to prepare certain documents that will be needed soon. Once the fiscal year ends on June 30, there are several documents that can be prepared.
End-of-Year Financial Review, which should be done by your Financial Reviewer. They will need access to some of the financial records, including the checkbook register, bank statements, and payment authorization forms. So coordinate with them to make those records available.
Annual Financial Report, which should be prepared by your outgoing Treasurer (but if your outgoing Treasurer can’t or won’t do it, then you will need to).
Tax Returns are the responsibility of the outgoing Treasurer (but you need to make sure they get done). Tax returns are not due until November 15, and you will receive much more information about them later, so don’t worry about those for now.
Prepare a Budget for the upcoming year, in conjunction with your Budget Committee (which as Treasurer you chair). The starting place for your Budget is your Annual Financial Report, which will tell you all the money you brought in and spent this year. Think about what will be different this next year from the current year, and voila — you will have your Budget!
As you embark on this journey as Unit Treasurer, please always remember that help is available to you. Your Council Treasurers are available to answer your questions, as am I, your District Treasurer. The 31st District will be presenting New Officer training at Anatola Elementary on September 30th at 6:00 pm, which will include me presenting Treasurer Training. The State PTA website also (www.capta.org) contains a lot of useful information. Please make use of these resources.
Ira.