Here's what are on our forms (which are copied onto different color paper: yellow for Reimbursement Request, pink for check request, green for Deposit notice/cash receipt)
Cash Receipt -
Who the cash is from, phone, date
Project/Event
Total Amount
Specific description of the source
Then there's an area to log the cash breakdown by denomination, and extend it to totals by denomination, then total all
There's also an area to list the number of checks and total check amount, if any
At the bottom, we have a space for the treasurer's signature, date
At the very bottom are the control fields for the treasurer: account, deposit date, logged-in check off
The person who is collecting the money should fill out the form, not the school secretary. In fact, I would suggest that the secretary keep a stash of Cash Receipt forms to give to the volunteer who shows up with money. The secretary should not accept any money without a completed form. If she is collecting t-shirt ordes, for example, I would still have a PTO volunteer who is in charge of the t-shirts take responsibility for tallying the orders and counting the money. If the secretary really does that herself, then she might appreciate using the Cash Reciept form because it gives her a neat way to record what she has collected.
Check Request -
Is very similar to Reimbursement Request with a few changes.
Name of person requesting check, phone, date submitted
Project/Event
Date Needed and Date Mailed (if applicable)
Reason for Check
Check Payable to...
Amount
Address of payee (if no invoice attached)
Spaces for TWO approvals from the same two authorized officers who sign the check, date
At the bottom - Treasurer's control fields: account, check #, date, logged check off
The Check Request is used to pay an invoice, to send in with a mailed order form, to pay an assembly performer, to pay the school for somehthing we agreed to fund, or to pay for a PTO purchase directly without reimbursement. In most cases, we have a paper trail up front. If we are paying an invoice, we have a copy of the invoice. If we are mailing in an order, we keep a copy of the order form. If we are paying an assembly performer, we keep a copy of the contract. If we are paying the school, we get a note from the principal on letterhead. The hardest one is when we write a check for a PTO purchase up front. In that case, the treasurer works closely with the requestor to nail down the exact check amount, and then stays after the requestor to get a copy of the receipt. We're lucky in our PTO that people usually pay with their own money and ask for reimbursement, so we have a receipt before we write the reimb check.
Hope that helps. If you are the new treasurer, I would strongly encourage you to put the Toolkit on your Christmas list. Maybe Santa will bring it if your PTO won't. All the info I told you above and tons more is in the toolkit, along with e-samples you can customize.
