As president, can't you get a copy of the bank staements and go on from there. I hate to admit but we also have missing money this year but ours is different because its our fundraising chair and she never turns in cash and we have no way of proving anything(or so I've been told by a police friend of mine)because she doesn't keep copies of order forms and such.
As for your school, start off with the statements from the bank and the copies of the checks. Good luck!
An audit should be a routine procedure each year. You can easily put together a small committee to do this. If you don't feel comfortable mandating this yourself, then there are times that I think it is more diplomatic to "pass the buck".
If you are a 501(c)(3) you can say it's come to your attention that the IRS expects such organization to follow generally accepted accounting principals and that a routine audit would be considered part of that. (Generally speaking, this is true.)
Ask the school district auditor if he has guidelines for school groups that handle money. Inevitably they at least have some generic one page document. If he doesn't suggest an audit, get him agree it's a good idea. (He's an auditor, of course he thinks it's a good idea.) Then in all good conscience, you can say that the auditor told you to have it done.
If you have a good relationship with the principal, he or she might agree to be the catalyst. Heaven only knows how many things have been initiated because "a concerned parent" spoke to the principal.
You might even cheerfully volunteer to help her get everything in order for THIS audit (this summer). Or find volunteers to help. But get the books in order, and then make it a standard yearly practice.
Thank you all for your input...Critter, she does not keep a record of what is going on each month she has claimed that her computer has crashed several times and she lost all info...my personal opoinion...LAZY...she is also a teacher so that excuse comes in all the time..." I never have time" ect. ect. I have thought about it all day and thought of a way to tell her what I except out of her every month...I am going to give all new board members a detailed description of their job and what is excepted of them, this way maybe she wont think I am singiling her out. Thanks again for all your suggestions and advice [img]smile.gif[/img]
We continue to raise funds over the summer. We have monthly restaraunt nights once a month including summer months. We usually make $150-350 a month from this fundraiser. In addition to that we will continue to earn funds from Meijer's community rewards. Last month that brought in almost $200. I can only imagine how much it will bring in when parents are buying school supplies.
We continue to raise funds over the summer. We have monthly restaraunt nights once a month including summer months. We usually make $150-350 a month from this fundraiser. In addition to that we will continue to earn funds from Meijer's community rewards. Last month that brought in almost $200. I can only imagine how much it will bring in when parents are buying school supplies.
If you aren't sure how to recruit an auditor, why not volunteer to do it yourself? You are not the treasurer and you're not prez yet, so you would qualify as an objective party in my book. How could they refuse your offer? Even though - and maybe because-- she is repeating as treasurer, the books must be reviewed this summer. It's way too easy for bad habits one year to become a huge bad mire over several years.
As president,you have the right and responsibility to tighten up financial controls. I, too, will be prez next year and I'll tend to be an observer, not a micro-manager. But there's one area where it's absolutely inappropriate to let the chair "do her own thing" and that's Treasurer. The treasurer has no right to do her own thing - it's not her money. Tell her you recently learned about some great financial controls that will make her job easier and keep questions to a minimum... then show her examples of how you would like the tresurer's report to look like each month, what the budget should be, and what rules you want implemented regarding paper trails for reimbursement requests, etc. There should always be two signatures on every check, and a paper form to explain the transaction. It's hard to "hide" information when the operating procedures require her to document and report all her activity.
She's not doing a bad job, just maybe a sloppy one. Get things in order now, before the new school year starts, or you'll be mad at yourself (and her) all year. Good luck.
