FuturePrez - I can help. I wrote a How To guide about budgeting for a PTO I can email to you if you register with the forum.
You might also try to locate the first two issues of PTOToday magazine from fall 2003 (Sept and Oct) - the first issue has a column about setting up your budget, and the second describes how to manage each month according to your budget.
We usually ask our committee chairs and officers to estimate where they think they will end up budget-wise (over, under, right-on) sometime in March. Similar to Jennette, we have a fairly detailed budget, with everything broken out into line items. We can then determine where we might have "extra" money. The principal and the board then recommend what might be a good use of this "unused" money, so that everyone (board + members) can vote on it before everyone scatters for the summer. Technically, I think you can roll it over, but we have a policy that the peole that helped raise the money should have a say in what happens to it. We always make sure we have a cushion for the next year, but it's not substantial, just enough to cover an emergency.
We have a budget sheet that lists subgroups.
For example, we have Fundraising, Recognition, Green Thumb, Assemblies, etc.
Each subgroup has a budgeted amount set aside for it each year, then shows in an adjoining column the amount used, then the remaining balance for that year.
This way we can see what areas are spending/taking in, if any adjustments need to be made and so forth.
I highly recommend listing out things you know you'll use money for and then estimating their "budgets" and tracking them. It makes it so easy to glance and see how it's going and if you need to increase/decrease for the following year.
I desperatley need some input. I am having trouble understanding the whole Budget thing. We had our "budget meeting" for next year and came up with our "Grand total expenditures" (which includes next years budget amount) The problem I am having is getting our current Prez and current Treasurer to give me a straight answer on what is deemed extra money, (money left over after the budget has been tallied). My way of figuring it is this...you take the "Grand Total Expenditures" and subtract that from the amount that is in our PTO checking account and what you come up with is the total monies that is then called extra. Am I way off base or not? We are talking about quite a bit of money that needs to be accounted for one way or another. If it is indeed extra money ($$ that is left over after all receipts for the year and budget have been subtracted) we need/should have a purpose for it, teacher gifts, after school programs, etc. Not just to roll it over year after year. PLEASE, PLEASE help me to understand. I am not getting a straight answer from either one of them and this worries me. :confused:
