The 990 Instructions have a section on the "$25,000 gross receipts test". For organizations three years old or more you use a three year average, including the current year, to to determine if your receipts are "normally" less than $25,000. If your average receipts are less than $25,000, I agree with the advice above that you should should file the form with just the top filled out so the organization does not lose the habit of checking to see if a completed return is needed.
I have always considered that an expense happens once a check has been sent. I use my check book balance on all reports and would use it a 990. (I provide the PTO Pres with a reconcilation of my report/check book balance to the bank statement balance.) I have had a few situations where the check was never cashed. In this case, after six months I add it back in as an offset to any expense incurred in the appropriate budget category.
We don't usually have expenses carrying over our August 1 fiscal year, but it happened last summer. Since we knew what the amounts were, we created a budget category called Accounts Payable in our new year's budget. We start our annual budget process with the checking account balance as of August 1, so we had to recognize the outstanding checks somehow. Like Coffee, we will allocate the $ to their respective budget categories for our 2005/06 Form 990EZ.
I don't think it's practical to demand a cut-off dates for checks. And even if you do, it's non-trivial to stop payment on a check (often there's a fee and it can generate negative pr). There's lots of financial activity between March and June.
Go ahead and take the job. There's very few volunteers who even consider being Treasurer. If you're thinking this much about the state of your PTO's finances, then you are PERFECT for the job!
We wrote some checks at the end of last school year that cleared AFTER our fiscal year ended. Our tax guy said we didn't have to include it in this year's budget because we wrote the checks before the fiscal year ended and it wasn't our fault the checks weren't cashed. Sounds kind of hokey, but he's a CPA and those were his exact words! But I know what your CPA is talking about. Your bank statement ending balance at the end of the fiscal year doesn't include those transactions. If you don't include those transactions in the beginning of your new fiscal year, then your register will not reconcile with the bank statement. When we started our new fiscal year, I discovered I had to include those "late" transactions in order to balance my books. For our budget reports, I categorize them as "Unplanned Expenses" noting they were 2004 expenses. When it comes time to file taxes, those transactions will be included in their respective 2005 categories. I don't know if this is the correct way of handling transactions cleared after the FY ended, so if anyone has a better solution, I'm all ears (eyes!)
On the IRS 990EZ form it says if the organization's gross receipts are not normally over 25K, then you do not need to file a return with the IRS. But, if the IRS sends you the package, then you just fill out the top portion (Name, address, ein) and submit a blank return (none of the financial stuff!). However, your state may require you to fill out the entire form regardless of what you've made.
Be careful when you tally up your "GROSS" receipts. When you do a fundraiser like catalog sales (wrapping paper, candy, etc.), you deposit ALL of the money into your bank account and then send the company their cut (usually 50 percent). Let's say you made $10,000 and sent the company $5,000. You have to claim the entire $10,000 as income--not just your profit.
If you make less than $100,000 you can file the 990EZ with the IRS.
Not sure how to go about it but...
Our school year runs September to August. This way over the summer we have an auditing commmittee that can go over the books, receipts, etc. and we can be sure that all (or at least most) checks are cleared. We also send our books to an accountant (charges $500 per year but well worth it). He files all tax forms for us, charities registration renewal, etc. plus it is a safety backup to keep from any wrongdoing by the treasurer.
Maybe you can change the way the year runs so you don't have to rush and you don't want to do anything to inconvenience the parents (they don't like that!).
We are a 501c3 with less than $25K in receipts, but they have been filing returns for the last several years. Several of the returns have minor mistakes and make it cumbersome for the new treasurer to deal with, she's spending a great deal of time trying to get all of this straight and I'm not sure she even needs to.
Also, there is a big hang up with our group regarding cash vs accrual basis. They spoke to a CPA and since we're cash, she swears that any checks written but not cleared when the fiscal year cuts off need to be put into the next year, which messes up the next groups budgets. Can this be true? The best idea now is to cut checks in March and demand that the checks are cleared or issue a stop payment before school lets out in May. I'm considering being the treasurer next year, but I'm a little concerned with all of these issues up in the air. Any advice would be great.
