WOW! You are all so quick to respond! Thank you so much!

Flmom2001, not only do we have the treasurer's name only on our checking account, we are also guilty of having no rules and bylaws, only one signature required for checks, and many other no-no's going on with our group in terms of how it is run. I have slowly started introducing these concepts to a PTO that simply responds "we have always run fine without them." As you can imagine, I meet with a lot of resistance. Just last week, I was able to have Standing Rules approved by the executive board as well as reimbursement requests and cashier's reports. It is my first attempt at creating some structure. While I have been on the PTO for 5 years, I didn't take any leadership role until last year. Even as VP, all I did was run meetings occasionally. Now, with resources like PTOToday and it's website, my eyes have been opened to the seriousness of this business and the enormous responsibility we have to our students and teacher.

I will definitely print out some of the articles to share with the PTO board, but I don't want to look like a crazy woman accusing Roberta of embezzlement. Roberta is well liked in our group and I do not want this to become a personal matter. It is a business decision. The information about being uninsurable is helpful as well. While we're not looking for insurance at this time, it certainly gives credibility to the 2 officer argument.

Sadly, you are correct about a red flag. I do have my suspicions and they have been enhanced by her strong reaction. Last fall, I gave Roberta over $21,000 in cash and checks collected from our fall catalog fundraiser (I am chair of the fundraiser). I had previously triple counted the money and attached calculator reciepts to verify it. A couple days later, I asked Roberta if the deposit was correct and she claimed it was off by over $400. I was shocked and told her I triple counted and that I would like to compare her calculator receipts to my own. She told me she had already thrown them away. A couple days later she explained that she had taken out $400 in start up cash for the book fair (she is chair of this event). I have no way to prove or disprove her statement. I certainly don't want to make any accusations without solid proof, but if her story were true, I'd imagine she would have remembered that fact immediately instead of a couple days later.

mi3sons, I honestly have no idea if that would work at our bank or not, but it is certainly worth a phone call to find out. Thank you for your suggestion. I will call the bank to find out on Tuesday morning.

One more question that I left out initially - As PTO President, do I have any personal liability for the PTO checking account? Let's say our funds have been depleated and Roberta writes a large check that bounces - could the payee and/or bank hold me accountible personally for the money?

That's another good point mi3sons. The Treasurer doesn't have the authority to decide who is on the account. If the board has passed a decision by a majority vote to have more than one person on the account and a copy of the minutes stating who is to be on the account is supplied to the bank then that's how it will be once the new members fill out the paperwork. It's unthinkable to me that I as president wouldn't have access to our bank account.

All we ever do is take the minutes to the bank stating who the officers are and change the account. Don't know if that would work in your case or not.

Wow, sounds like you've opened a real can of worms!
The most surprising thing to me is that your PTO has only had one person on the account for so long; there are articles galore (many on this site) about the dangers of that, and the info I've received from insurance companies has said they won't even insure parent groups unless there are checks and balances in place. Maybe if you printed copies of some of the articles and showed them at your next meeting that would help the others see the light, or, if you can convince the board of the wisdom of insurance then you'll have to have extra people on the account.
I do have to wonder why this issue is coming up now since it appears you've been on the board several years. Did something raise a red flag for you?

Please help! I am in my second term as president of our PTO. I have previously held the position of secretary as well as vice president. At the end of this school year, our treasurer of 5 years will be stepping down as her youngest child will move on to middle school. Last year, we selected a successor who would shadow our treasurer this year and then take over the following year.

Let's call the treasurer Roberta. And her successor will be Bella for the purposes of this.

A couple weeks ago, I asked Roberta if she would be putting Bella's name on our checking account. She said she would be soon. I then suggested that I felt it would be good to put my name on the checking account at that time as well. Roberta's reaction was stunning. She flat out refused to, stating there was no reason for me to be on it. I have since been informed by other PTO members that she discussed this with them, accusing me of trying to control everything.

I assure you, my purpose is not to control everything. My purpose is to protect individual members of the PTO as well as our funds by having a system of checks and balances in place to ensure that one single PTO member does not have the only access to our checking account. The unfortunate fact is, our PTO has always operated with just a single PTO member (treasurer) on the checking account in addition to our principal (who does not have access to a PTO checkbook). Additionally, the treasurer is the one who receives, opens, and processes the bank statement each month. She does provide us with a Treasurer's report, but it is created on her computer and not by our bank.

Last Friday, our executive board met (Pres, VP, Sec, and Bella, upcoming treasurer). Roberta was unable to attend because she recently started a new job. All four of us at the meeting agreed that as president, my name should be added to the account, including the incoming treasurer.

After the meeting, our secretary called Roberta and informed her of the decision. Roberta again reacted in a shockingly negative manner. Roberta told our secretary that she would never put my name on the account as there is no reason for it. She said that her job as treasurer is to be in charge of the treasury and it is not my job. Roberta can be quite convincing and somewhat of a bully when it comes to making her point. At the end of the phone call, the secretary stated that she could see both sides of the issue. Frankly, I do not.

Please help me convince our PTO that we would be better off with more than one officer having access and priveliges on our checking account. I now feel that I may need to re-convince other board members too despite our previous meeting. This situation is frustrating and the drama it has created is disheartening. I am active in the PTO because I want to enhance the learning experience of the students in our school, not because I have extra time to waste. I could take the easy way out and back down, but I do not want to because I feel having two officers is in the best interest of our PTO.

Thank you in advance for any advice you can offer.