Would you mind sharing the format of your budget? I have seen a few sample budgets and I am confused about what all information needs to be there - checkbook balance, previous year monies actually spent, etc. I would very much like to keep this as simple as possible. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
C&M
You should look at your programs and what they've cost in the past. Last year's records are a good place to start. Each event should have had a total cost to the group that you can pull. Then you can adjust from there (do you expect more people, fewer people, was the event well "stocked" or did you need more stuff). We then give our chairperson a 5 or 10 percent overage they can commit to but after they think it will be more than that it has to come to the board for approval.
Next look at your "have to funds"--did you promise to buy 500 dollars worth of paper for the school, or supplement a field trip. The total of those things added (plus events) will give you a target on what you need to raise.
You can then create a "decrement list" fancy word for what you'll fund till you run out of money--in priority and based on calendar year. If you're not buying the paper till March--but don't have any more fundraisers till then, then you need to keep 500 dollars on the side to ensure you can fund your "have to fund" list. I hope this makes sense. It really isn't hard once you get it done one time. But working with the treasurer is a good way to stay on track with expected incomes and outputs throughout the year (the software on PTO Today makes this all a breeze after the first year as each event has it's own line to keep record of what was spent against that event).
Yes--we pretty much stay within the limits. It is the only way to ensure that you don't run out of money at the end of the year.
I am a new PTO president. We have been told that we need to develop a butdget for the upcoming year, and need to show account activity monthly. How should we go about doing this, and what type of budget does everyone usually set and is it Kept within the limits.
