| October 2023
Hello Texas PTA Treasurers,
Thank you for stepping up to serve your PTA! Your role as treasurer is an important one and critical to helping your PTA accomplish its goals. This time can be one of the most demanding, fun, and impactful periods of the year. You are recruiting members, finalizing your plans for the year, hosting events and more. I know how hard you work! In turn, I will do my best to support you and point you to resources to help you get the information you need.
Texas PTA offers leaders the opportunity to upload rosters, pay dues, and send member cards digitally for any members who do not join on joinpta.org. The president, treasurer and membership chair will receive an email verifying an electronic dues payment if they are registered as the president, treasurer or membership chair for 2023-24. For more information go to the Digital Rosters, Dues and Membership Cards webpage.
I’ve heard some PTAs are having issues with the IRS Form 990-N filing system. The IRS now has two login options available: ID.me or Login.gov. If you are having issues with either, the likely reason is that you have not selected the User Type after logging in. Please make sure this is selected.
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If that is not the issue and you are using ID.me, consider trying Login.gov. This is a newer system that seems to have fewer issues. Information on how to use Login.gov can be found here.
Please make sure once you have filed that you save a copy of the ACCEPTED 990-N not the notice of filing that the IRS suggests you print and keep for your records:
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Be Alert for Phishing Scams As the treasurer, you are most likely to receive phishing scams claiming that the president needs you to do something immediately or wants you to pay an invoice without following the proper procedures. The easiest way to check if the email is legitimate is to hover over the sender’s email address - even though it says it’s from a person you know, the email address will likely say something completely different. If you do happen to see a legitimate email asking for an invoice to be paid without a funds request form, send a text to that individual reminding them of the proper procedures to request a check. Here’s a great video on the different types of phishing scams you might encounter and how to double-check something that doesn’t seem quite right.
Here are some things to review and think about as you get started this year:
Resources: Speaking of support, here are some specific resources to guide you through the year:
Getting Started: Below are some things you can do to get you off to a great start:
- Read your Bylaws (and Standing Rules, if applicable). You can request an updated copy at the Texas PTA Bylaws page.
- Ensure that a financial reconciliation was completed. Prior to taking over the books, you want to be sure a financial reconciliation committee reviewed the books and prepared a report for the 22-23. If this was not done, request the current president appoint a committee immediately
- Verify that the IRS Form 990 was filed for 22-23. Please check the Treasurer Resource Guide for additional information about filing the 990. If you did not receive printed confirmation of an accepted 990-N filing, you can check to see if one was filed at IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. Keep in mind that it takes 3-5 days after your 990-N is accepted for the 990-N filing to be reflected on this site
- Determine if there is an approved budget. PTAs are required to have a budget adopted by the membership in place at all times. Without one, funds can’t be collected or spent. If the PTA does not have an adopted budget, prepare and present a budget to the membership for approval. Please review the Budget section of the Treasurer Resource Guide for more information.
- Ensure all executive board members, including yourself, have executive board-approved plans of work. Treasurers use the plans of work to propose budget amendments at the first membership meeting of the year. There is a sample plan of work for the treasurer in the Treasurer Resource Guide. Based on the plans of work, make amendments to the budget, if needed.
- Determine which financial tracking software to use. The financial tracking software that your PTA uses is a decision for you and your executive board to make. Texas PTA is partnered with myPTEZ for a free membership and fee-based financial tracking tool
- Make sure your PTA is adequately covered with insurance. Texas PTA highly recommends that PTAs obtain Embezzlement Insurance, Directors and Officers Liability and General Liability Insurance each year. Texas PTA is partnered with AIM to provide PTAs affordable insurance
- Ensure a non-signer is appointed by the president to review all PTA accounts monthly. A Statement Review by a Non-Signer is completed for each account statement and filed with the secretary. The secretary then presents the report at the next executive board meeting and the board investigates any open questions raised during the review. In addition to this being a required procedure, it is also required for embezzlement insurance eligibility.
Don’t forget to reach out to your Council President or Field Service Representative with questions. Check ‘Need Help?’ Tab of the Local PTA Roster if you are unsure of your PTA’s Council President or Field Service Representative.
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Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help,
Kim Belew
Texas PTA Treasurer
treasurer@txpta.org
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MONTHLY
- Deposit funds and make payments as needed. Ensure proper documentation is maintained for the PTA's records.
- Record transactions including sales tax and state/national dues as a liability (it may be called an escrow depending on the type of financial software you use).
- Coordinate with the membership chair to submit members/dues to Texas PTA.
- Prepare financial reports (dated from the last meeting to current meeting).
- Propose any budget amendments for membership approval, if needed
- Reconcile the checkbook/financial software to the monthly bank statement.
- Reconcile any e-commerce, credit card or merchant accounts to the monthly account statement.
- Check the Local PTA Roster to confirm that your PTA is in good standing. If not, follow up on what’s missing.
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| THIS MONTH (if the following haven't been done already):
- Electronically file the appropriate IRS Form 990 for fiscal year 2022-23
- Present acceptance of 990 filing for 2022-23 to the executive board
- The financial reconciliation committee presents the financial reconciliation report for adoption at the first membership meeting of 2023-24. Recommendations from the report should be addressed at the first executive board meeting. If these recommendations are financial in nature, ensure that the recommendations are considered and implemented, if appropriate.
- Present the 2022-23 annual financial report at the first membership meeting.
- Complete the Basics Boardsmanship and BASICS Treasurer Online Training and read the Basics Treasurer Resource Guide.
- If you use a debit or credit card, have an online store, or accept debit or credit cards in person (point-of sale system), ensure your PTA has standing rules that include the Texas PTA E-Commerce Policy or adopt the policy at the first membership meeting.
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Adding Items to the Online Store
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| To add an item to your online store you will first need to navigate to the Web Store Admin menu by selecting Admin/Web Store/Web Store Admin:
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| From here, you will select “Items” on the left side of the screen. There will be two columns listed. The “Available Products” are items that have been set up in Item Admin, and the “Web Store Items” are the items that have been added to sell on your online store. Select the arrow icon next to a product to toggle it back and forth from the two columns:
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You can add an Item as a “Featured Item” to include it on the front page of your online store.
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| Click here for all tips to date.
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Q: We need some cash to have for change at an upcoming event. I know we aren’t supposed to withdraw cash from the PTA bank account or have petty cash, so what should we do?
A: You are correct, cash should never be withdrawn from the PTA via an ATM, cash advance, or cash back from a deposit and should be immediately deposited after an event. A check request should be completed by the event chair who needs the cash for change at the event. The treasurer should then write a check to the chair and the chair can cash the check and get the change they need for their start-up cash. Read more on how to record this transaction and handle the redeposit of the start-up cash as well as past Questions and Answers of the month here.
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Read the last Treasurer's Corner here.
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