My last team called it General Funds. Our bylaws required a carryover so no board would start out with nothing. The budget at the start of each school year showed all of the allocated money in the appropriate accounts such as Carnival Start Up, Student Directory, etc. An example might look like:

Total Funds: $3,500.00

General Funds - $1,000.00
Carnival Start Up - $1,000.00
Student Directory - $600.00
Registration/Open House - $500.00
Teacher Appreciation - $400.00

Total Allocated: $3,500.00

mum - how would you present the amount of money on hand at the start of the year on your PTO's budget/treasurer's report? We do it the way I showed because that money is part of the pot of funds available to be spent. If it's not added into the projected income for the year, how do you recognize it's available? We never start the school year with zero dollars in the bank.

I'm really curious, not trying to whine. My goal is to create an intuitive treasurer's report for all our members, not just the accountants. Thanks for weighing in.

So, seems like there are confilicting answers here...based on standard accounting principles, do we show "carryover" balance on our budget?

Send me an example to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thanks

Critter;136433 wrote: Maybe they'd give an accountant apoplexy, but they've worked for us for a long time.

Yeah. I was keeping my mouth shut, because parent groups do this carryover thing all the time. At least in Critter's example, the carryover is a separate line at the top. The presentation that really makes those of us who are accountants nuts is the one where "carryover" is a line in the middle of the income or expenses, just to force a balanced budget. Trust me, carryover is not an accounting term, an income item, or an expense item. (Actually, I have to clarify--it is a legitimate bookkeeping term--but it has an entirely different meaning from the way parent groups use it.) It appears to be a parent group term coined to drive accountants crazy.

extreas - I think we're saying the same thing just showing it differently. If our PTO were saving for a multi-year project, we would have an expense category in our annual budget for the amount we projected to set aside from this year's activity. It would be acknowledged in our report just like any of the other expense categories. Our income and expense budgets would balance to zero.

Of course you're right about what constitutes income in the IRS's eyes. Even though we treat our cash on hand as availalbe "income" for annual budgeting purposes, we don't do that on our 990. Only this year's income is reported on the 990.

This is a hot button for me because confusing treasurer reports are what prompted me to run for treasurer in the first place. I've tried to make the reports intutive and easy for any member to understand the first time they look one over. Maybe they'd give an accountant apoplexy, but they've worked for us for a long time.

Critter;136383 wrote: I should probably clarify that our budget includes a category for planned carryover into the next year ($2,000 as set in our bylaws). That way, we can balance our annual income and expenses to zero and still have $2,000 left in the bank to start the next year. On our budget report, we list carryover at the top of the Income section. It is included in the total income available to spend on our planned expenses. It's hard to show this here, but below is a very simplified version of our budget/treasurer's report to help explain one way to handle this:

ANNUAL BUDGET, ABC PTO

Carryover/Beginning Balance in checkbook Aug 1 = $2,956.33
INCOME
Fundraiser #1 net profit $10,000
Fundraiser #2 net profit $ 6,000
TOTAL PROJECTED INCOME $18,956.33

EXPENSES
Enrichment $7,000
Family Outreach $5,000
Recognition $3,000
Carryover for next year $2,000
Other $1,956.33
TOTAL PLANNED EXPENSES $18,956.33

BALANCE $0

I guess we will have to disagree Critter. Your income for the year is not 18,956.33, it is $16,000. Cash on hand is just that - not income. On your personal taxes, do you count your savings as income and pay income taxes on it every year?

We don't "hide" the money that we start with. We clearly list it (on the bottom of the budget and the monthly treasurer's report) as the starting bank balance, then add in that year's budgeted income/earnings and subtract that year's budgeted expenses to get the projected ending balance.

The ending balance can be positive, for instance of the PTO is saving for a large purchase like playground equipment.