I am also looking for examples of Treasurer's reports. Could you also forward these to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.??

Thanks

I had another sit down with the principal. I asked her to deal with it because I was stewing. She came up with a great idea. Have the school secretary count the money with her and do the monthly report. I think it sounds great. It will keep her out of my hair and way and I trust the secretary because she is bonded.
I don't think the books were bad last year. I saw them. It could be that she just doesn't have the resources to do the report. I was as polite as I could be when offering the forms. I have to agree with you guys. I don't think she realized the full capacity of the job. It doesn't just involve writing a few checks here and there. I think she is in over her head. I honestly don't think she can do it. I have known this woman for several years and I gave her the benefit of the doubt, but I am starting to realize that my gut was right the first time. I will give her time to learn what to do. Hopefully the secretary can help her with this.
I'm tired and frustrated. I have washed my hands of it. I need to concentrate on other things. I will let the principal and secretary lead her.
Thanks for letting me vent! I will keep you updated.

This is deja vu for me. I became treasurer a few years ago because I couldn't understand our then-treasurer's reports and she was highly offended when I offered suggestions privately. I had to try the job myself to see if it was possible to present financial information in a forthcoming, simple, and complete fashion. I now think it is, even if it's still dull as a rock.

Your new treasurer misunderstands her role. She's only the custodian, not the one solely responsible for the money. The entire Executive Board is responsible for the proper handling and management of PTO's money. And every member has the right--and responsibility--to understand the finances to whatever level of detail they wish. And no one should be made to feel like they're questioning her integrity or snooping by asking questions, ESPECIALLY a fellow officer.

One of my favorite statements about being a PTO treasurer is, "Trust is not a safeguard." No one is questioning her integrity, but when she acts like she has something to hide, or is offended by very reasonable inquiries, she is undermining her integrity herself. You trust her, of course, but the PTO is a business and should be run with proper financial controls. Think of it this way...she may be the most honest person in the world, but if she trains the next treasurer in her defensive methods, then who is culpable if that next treasurer takes advantage of the system and pilfers funds?

As someone else here suggested, your treasurer may be overwhelmed by the job, or the files she inherited, and isn't ready to admit it. She may be embarrassed that she isn't as prepared to do this job as she may have thought. Give her the benefit of the doubt for a few days, but DO NOT back down on implementing standard financial controls. If she can't live with that, then she may not be the right person to be treasurer for your PTO. It's not for everyone.

Just to play the other side of the coin here... it is highly possible that the treasurer was given a big mess from previous years, and is trying to be very careful to not let things get messy again. Kind of a too many cooks spoil the stew sort of thing. It is not as if she is trying to hide the information, she is simply not presenting it in a way that one person does not understand, right? How many other members are having a problem with this? Will she allow people to view all the reports, 990's, bank statements and check registers or is she hiding this information. Also, its likely that the way it was presented offended her....did you hand her the forms and say "you should use these so we can keep you accountable" or did you say "do you think these forms might be useful in presenting information at meetings."

Chances are there is a big miscommunication. Your principal is right, let things calm down a bit and then have a meeting about it.

Well, I'd let her calm down, but I've learned the hard way that when someone says "I am accountable, leave it to me," it means they are only being accountable to themselves for themselves. I know you are trying to get your group up and running and getting people to follow rules when there aren't any or they haven't been followed in a long time is very difficult. I would get together with her and the principal(how is awesome)and just lay out on the table what you are wanting to accomplish this year. Mention that you want statements at every meeting, like the other groups do and you did at the school you came from. Accountability should be something that everyone understands why you would want. If she feels you are asking too much it is for one of 2 reasons, either she doesn't want to do the work, or she is hiding something-which could just be hiding that she doesn't have a clue how to do financial paperwork. Stand your ground.

Ouch.

(I'll try to add something helpful later, but....ouch!)

Tim