I've been acting Treasurer for 3 years now. When I came on board, I was given all the treasurer's reports for the past 8-9 years. After looking through them, I decided that the best option for me at the time was just to use Excel spreadsheets. It's not an inclusive program, but it's one that almost everyone ahs on their computer and is easy to use. I don't keep a running register, per say. I do it from month to month so that it's easy to look at and read by the members at the meetings. I usually do a year long check book report at the end and beginning of each year so that everyone can see what went on all year long. I also keep track of expenses for individual events, such as our Holiday Shop and Carnival, so that we can see where we spent money and made money so we know what we might change for the better for the next year's event.
That being said, I just signed up for and am currently trying the PTO Manager for this same information. It's too soon to tell how it's going to work since I"m using the trial version to see if I like it and how it works. It seems great, though. Very organized and has given me things to think about, such as keeping track of individual fundraisers, like Box Tops, Labels for Education, Coke Points, Carnival, Holiday Shop, and others.
I can't say that there is a right way and a wrong way on how to keep your books, because everyone works differently. One thing to keep in mind, though, is to make sure that it is something that will be easily transferable when the times comes for you to step down and hand their reins over to the next treasurer. You want to make sure that it is easy to understand and learn. Good luck!
We are in the process of revamping our PTA's treasurer reports. Our past treasurer uses QuickBooks and there has been a lot of confusion. However, as a caveat, our Treasurer was very disorganized and could never really answer questions and there was always something that still needed to be entered once he looked at the reports at meetings. So maybe it isn't QuickBook that is the problem. Does anyone have a report/accounting software that they absolutely love? Would love to hear what works or doesn't work for your parent group!
