Thank you for all the useful advice! We just need to approach this situation and get it taken care of. We have allowed time to pass in hopes there would be reasoning given behind these funds being gone but so far nothing. So, now I do believe, it is time for an audit. We have not had one in 6 or years. So we are over due. Thank you all again!
Originally posted by Ira: You might want to say something like
"Some parents have concern about how the PTO funds have been allocated and expenditures made that don't seem to fully be explained by the monthly accounting sheets. So we can assure all parents of the legitamacy of the PTO spending and allocations, we request a review of the books, bank statements, receipts, and other financial papers of the PTO by those interested.
All we have ever said is that our total is not matching the bank statement so we are asking this accountant to help review our books. Any objections? ( This is often when someone asks if we have asked this parent or that one and we say "yeap, she is helping us out")
"Some parents have concern about how the PTO funds have been allocated and expenditures made that don't seem to fully be explained by the monthly accounting sheets. So we can assure all parents of the legitamacy of the PTO spending and allocations, we request a review of the books, bank statements, receipts, and other financial papers of the PTO by those interested.
If sufficient time can't be allocated by the treasurer for a complete review, we would be glad to copy those items under appropriate supervision and immediately return the papers, so we can review those items over an extended period."
If you change/add bylaws, all financial papers should be available anytime someone wishes to review some or all of them (given sufficient notice of 1 or 2 weeks). Also, an independent review by an independent accountant (which costs money) or an independent committee of anyone and everyone who wishes to participate (that way, you can't say that a person was banned from the review and thus the outcome was rigged) should be periodically required (once or 2 times a year).
I have to agree with mykidsmom, you need to have the treasurer turn over ALL financial records and get an audit done ASAP. Your bank can certainly help you with getting statements to show all transactions that have gone on with the checking account, but I would probably find an accountant to sit down and go through the books and statements. You will want to ask the bank for copies of the cancelled checks if the treasurer doesn't have them so the accountant can compare who the checks were written too with the entries in the ledgers.
If there has been no dishonesty than the treasurer shouldn't have a problem with handing everything over. If he/she refuses, then I'd be suspicious.
Sorry Counrty, but the first thing they need to do is find all the records of accounting from the bank, the school, past books, whatever or whomever to see what balances were. If the money was help with your school there is an honest chance that there could have been a simple error ( we had lunch money deposted into PTO -- the gal wrote 23 instead of 32) .
If you keep ALL your own records, your need to sit down with a Account Manager at your bank and explain what has happened. This may come with some charges but worth it if you are missing 10,000.
You are past what your by-laws say or have to offer, besides that can take months and if there has been some dishonesty the longer you take to take action the worse and harder the issue becomes. This is when you need to think how would you find money you missed in your household.
This is one of those times when you need to clean up the "spilled milk" before you worry about who spilled the milk!
The 1st thing you do is ask to be put on the agenda at the next meeting to bring up the need for bylaws, next put together some basic bylaws with some other members that include an annual audit slid in somewhere.
or
better yet and especially if you think $ is already missing include something concerning committees that goes something like this:
"the pto shall have and/or add as many committees as needed with a majority membership vote"
Get the bylaws passed and after that you can request a vote to add in an audit committee and poof it's done in less than 2 meetings, if the/any officers refuse to undergo an audit call the principal and/or the BOE and let them know.
Good Luck and honestly if your instincts tell you there is something amiss there usually is.
