I think we are all of one voice when we say there is something terribly wrong with this procedure and you must get a 3rd party involved.

I would also suggest that you should concider running for an exec. board position. The best way to effect change is from within.

HUGE RED FLAG!!! I'm going to be harsh here, but if that were the attitude of my PTO, I would tell that they get $0 of my money from now on. Ok, now I'll calm down. CrewChief's advice about an audit is right on. That's good common sense for every group, even ones with stellar financial practices.

The money doens't belong to your treasurer or your president. It belongs to the members. As a member, you have the right to receive and your treasurer has the responsibilty to produce a written/printed accounting of AT LEAST the transactions for the year against your group's bank account. If that means your treasurer photocopies every page in the check register for the year because that's all the documentation she has at this point, so be it. I wonder, how does the Exec Board know there's enough money in the account to pay for those expenditures you vote on? Is it just first come, first served on expeditures? No planning!? Sigh.

Why do officers think they are not accountable to the members....which essentially means they are not accountable to the students. Your PTO may be run by the most wonderful, most sincere, most dedicated, most honest volunteers in the world, but this uninformed attitude about the financial records makes them look like they're trying to hide something. I hope for your group's sake that it's just ignorance, not arrogance that is clouding their judgement.

You want a tool to help the treasurer adopt "official" procedures? Get a copy of the PTOToday Treasurer's Toolkit binder (from this site). In the short term, print off the article from the PTOToday article archives called "Five Smart Financial Controls" - one of them is a written monthly treasurer's report. www.ptotoday.com/magDay.html

Hi!

I've e-mailed you my by-laws,too. I'm with CrewChief. A written report is a must.

Oh Boy! I've emailed a copy of my group's bylaws to you. Maybe that will help you start drafting some for your own group.

I think an independent audit of your books should be done over the summer, if not right away. Does your group have it's own account or do you run the funds through the school? Perhaps if the school is conducting an audit, your books can be reviewed at the same time.

It's unacceptable that the treasurer doesn't provide a monthly report.

As you'll see in my own bylaws, Review of Treasurer's Report is a required monthly agenda item. Thankfully, my group has always had terrific treasurers!

Sorry, I sent the wrong e-mail. It should read This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Be sure to use the underscore before the 305. Thanks. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

At our last PTO meeting of the year I asked if "we" could have a printed copy of the treasure's report for this year. It was stated that at each meeting the treasure verbally tells us how much we have taken in for a fundraiser and we vote on all expenditures so there is no reason for any further report or budget to be given. How do I approach the board again with this? (We do have bylaws but no one has seen a copy in years.) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.