How do you keep track and /or get around state, federal and wages and hours laws??

Big Bad Can O' Worms IMHO :eek:

ValTreas: From the job description you gave, you are taking some of the responsibilties that our President has. Our President prepares the budget WITH the treasurer, handles the correspondence, grant requests, etc. Our President also works 12 months out of the year preparing for the upcoming year with vendors, PTO membership, welcome letters, and handling all email, phone calls, etc. that come in throughout the summer.
So for SGMS it depends on how the job description is written for your PTO in the bylaws. Nothing should fall solely on one person on the Executive Board. If you have one position or a few that have too much responsibility, it will deter others from wanting to join. Review your bylaws and split up some of the current responsibilities if possible and maybe you will get more interested. Agree with prior post: an incentive is good, but a paid position is not the way I'd go.

valtreas;134446 wrote: Hi, New on the boards here. I'm starting my 2nd year as treasurer. This is a very difficult position to fill and keep. We changed our by-laws to lengthen the term of treasurer so that if we got someone who was capable and wanted to stay, they could.

This position involves so much more than just "keeping a checkbook". Of our entire Board, I have the longest job description and am the only one who has a true 12 month position. Everyone else gets a summer break. I don't. Bills still need to be paid. Our fiscal year ends on June 30th which means closing out the books. Funding requests come in over the summer. I still have to go to school a few times a week.

If you are having trouble filling/keeping this position, by all means, change your by-laws and offer some incentive for this position. We are all volunteers, absolutely. However, the treasurer is responsible for running a business. If you are a 501(c)(3), you are a legal business in the eyes of the IRS, Department of State and local government. You are the lead officer for the business, not the president. The treasurer is the one who signs off on everything for tax purposes. It's a huge responsibility and you must interview potential candidates carefully. Perhaps your organization isn't as complex as ours. It's the treasurer's butt on the line with the IRS. Think about what a CPA or related fields make. We are volunteers and do it because we care about the kids. During school I'll put in 50+ hours doing the books, budgets, correspondence, requests, grants, etc..

No one ever tells you the reality of this position because it would scare people away. I handled close to $150,000.00 last year. Anything you can do to make this position more appealing to someone, do it. It will be money well-spent. And spend the money on a good accounting system. All of your volunteers are important and should be cherished. Your treasurer is the one who actually runs the organization. Don't forget to show your appreciation for him/her.

Hope this helps!

Agreed that treasurer can be a tough job, but -- man -- it's a slippery slop you're starting to walk on. I'd say keep trying to find a volunteer (unpaid) treasurer and use some of the suggestions here (like co-treasurers, software (www.ptomanager.com), multiple check signers) to make the job less daunting.

If you can't find that, maybe hire a bookkeeper.

But I wouldn't start rewarding/paying my volunteers based on the difficulty of the job. If treasurer gets free admission to all school events plus a dedicated parking spot and $25/month, what does president get? What does the chair of your big fundraiser get (should she be on commission?)? Etc.

I haven't run across any groups that pay stipends to their volunteers. And I think there's good reasoning behind that.

Tim

In our PTA we have Co-Treasurers.

It's not so overwhelming. It is a 2 year commitment. I write checks and deposit $, keep track of what the teachers/specialists are requesting (we give them $ out of our budget). Making sure we're not paying something that should be ASB $, and balance the checkbook.

The other treasurer, balances the checkbook, files the tax returns, deals with the spreadsheets (tracking the budget).

Not so overwhelming when you break it in halves.

Hi, New on the boards here. I'm starting my 2nd year as treasurer. This is a very difficult position to fill and keep. We changed our by-laws to lengthen the term of treasurer so that if we got someone who was capable and wanted to stay, they could.

This position involves so much more than just "keeping a checkbook". Of our entire Board, I have the longest job description and am the only one who has a true 12 month position. Everyone else gets a summer break. I don't. Bills still need to be paid. Our fiscal year ends on June 30th which means closing out the books. Funding requests come in over the summer. I still have to go to school a few times a week.

If you are having trouble filling/keeping this position, by all means, change your by-laws and offer some incentive for this position. We are all volunteers, absolutely. However, the treasurer is responsible for running a business. If you are a 501(c)(3), you are a legal business in the eyes of the IRS, Department of State and local government. You are the lead officer for the business, not the president. The treasurer is the one who signs off on everything for tax purposes. It's a huge responsibility and you must interview potential candidates carefully. Perhaps your organization isn't as complex as ours. It's the treasurer's butt on the line with the IRS. Think about what a CPA or related fields make. We are volunteers and do it because we care about the kids. During school I'll put in 50+ hours doing the books, budgets, correspondence, requests, grants, etc..

No one ever tells you the reality of this position because it would scare people away. I handled close to $150,000.00 last year. Anything you can do to make this position more appealing to someone, do it. It will be money well-spent. And spend the money on a good accounting system. All of your volunteers are important and should be cherished. Your treasurer is the one who actually runs the organization. Don't forget to show your appreciation for him/her.

Hope this helps!

Our bylaws clearly state that volunteers are not to be compensated for their time donated to PTO Business. Besides handling the checkbooks and providing cash boxes for your events, does your Treasurer have any other duties? If they are doing more, maybe that is the issue.
Our treasurer's have never had an issue with time consuming them to carry out their responsibilities. Of course, there are times it is hectic, but if they are clear as to the job responsibilities before they choose to run, I'm not sure why the issues suddenly arises.
Our President is also a signature on the checks. Therefore, I was able to make deposits for our Treasurer when she was unavailable due to family needs. I just handed the deposit slips copies when I saw her, but it saved her time in adding up the deposit and a trip to the bank each time.