Our bylaws state: The books will be turned over to the auditing committee. Also our chairperson duties: 3. The Chairperson shall report the plans and activities of the committee to the PTO Board, which must approve all such reports..
5. All committee chairpersons shall use their budget in order to purchase necessary supplies and materials. Any money spent in excess of the budget is subject to approval.
No, we did not make a profit, in fact a loss even with what was just bought prior to the event. Then she went out and spent more unaproved money but claims it is fine because she got good deals and the stuff can be used next year. Which is probably true but she does not seem to understand that it was not (her) decision to make and can not seem to understand why the President is so upset.She thinks the President is trying to be to "formal" with voting ect... She is friends with the outgoing treasurer and like the school Principal does not want us to do the audit required in the bylaws. There are no records for many events. Example, we paid a yearbook bill this year from last years year book, there are no records as to how many yearbooks were sold. The bill was over $2000.00 and they still do not think we should do an audit. They think we are on a witch hunt.
I'm treasurer of our HSA and I use quicken to record all money made and spent. I can have a report to the board at a moments notice and we always know exactely how much money we have. I never spend without the whole boards approval and have to write on every receipt the date, check #, who the check was written to and what it was for. I don't understand why any PTO, PTA or HSA wouldn't have some kind of program like this in place to take care of their finances. In case of an audit all the information is readily available.
Give her a date to prepare a comprehensive financial report - balance on hand, current position for each budget category, projected remaining expenses, reconciled bank statements for each month, transaction journal, etc. If she can't produce that information by the deadline, she is probably in over her head. Conduct an internal audit to help her get back on track and to ensure all $$ is accounted for.
A good rule of thumb is that the Treasurer should never be the chairperson of a money-making event. You might want to specify that in your bylaws. Also, she needs to prove that the extra inventory she bought still exists. By the way, did the Santa Shop clear a profit this year?
Our PTO treasurer is also chairperson to Secret Santa event. She spent almost $2000.00 over our $5000.00 buget for this event. She told the President that it was stuff that was needed and can be used next year. But the point is no one gave her authourization to spent this money. She still dose not think she did anything wrong. Can we take over her position....how? We are also into our 7th month and she still does not know our net-worth.
