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Stipend for Treasurer?

17 years 3 months ago #134572 by Shawn
Replied by Shawn on topic RE: Stipend for Treasurer?
How do you keep track and /or get around state, federal and wages and hours laws??

Big Bad Can O' Worms IMHO :eek:
Organizations that are tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Sections 501(c)(3) or (c)(4) have an can be subject to intermediate sanctions under IRC Section 4958 in the form of excise taxes if the IRS determines that any compensation arrangements for the staff or board results in private inurement. In order to take advantage of the rebuttable presumption safe harbor provided by the IRS in 26 CFR § 53.4958-6, organizations should ensure that their compensation arrangements are: 1) reviewed and approved by the board of directors or a committee authorized by the board; 2) supported by appropriate data as to comparable compensation; and 3) documented with a contemporaneous record. The regulations provide detailed instructions on taking advantage of the safe harbor provision and should be consulted by any Section 501(c)(3) or (c)(4) organization establishing or reviewing its compensation approval process
[taken From an unknown IRS source]

<font size=""1""><font color="#"black"">Liberalism is not an affilation its a curable disease. </font></font><br /><br><font color="#"gray"">~Wisdom of Shawnshuefus</font><br /><br><font color="#"blue""><font size=""1"">The punishment which the wise suffer, who refuse to take part in government, is...
17 years 3 months ago #134570 by OneandOnly
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.

Doing it for my one and only ~~ my son!
17 years 3 months ago #134478 by Rockne
Replied by Rockne on topic RE: Stipend for Treasurer?

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

PTO Today Founder
17 years 3 months ago #134477 by BeckyC
Replied by BeckyC on topic RE: Stipend for Treasurer?
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.
17 years 3 months ago #134446 by valtreas
Replied by valtreas on topic RE: Stipend for Treasurer?
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!:)
17 years 4 months ago #134388 by OneandOnly
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.

Doing it for my one and only ~~ my son!
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