Question: Can our secretary be a signer on our PTO bank account?

We recently switched from PTA to a PTO. Many of our board members have served as PTA officers in the past, and PTA policies are still ingrained in our minds. PTA does not allow the secretary to be a signer on the bank account. Our PTO requires two signatures on checks. The current signers are president, treasurer, and secretary. Members on our PTO board are questioning if the secretary should be allowed to be a signer because when we were PTA the secretary could not be a signer. Now that we are PTO, can the secretary be a signer?

Asked by Anonymous

Answers:

Advice from PTO Today

Craig writes:
A nice thing about being independent is you get to decide what works best for your group. In a general sense, I don't see anything wrong with making the secretary a signer on the bank account, particularly if you're requiring two signatures and one must be either the president or treasurer.

Community Advice

pngai writes:
Since the purpose of the VP is to step in as president, I would always have the President backed up by the VP rather than the secretary. Also, the treasurer's signature should always be required.