I did issue a receipt for every penny that I got in from the Owl Prowl (fun run). I thought that most parents would probably like to know that the money actually made it to the school. I documented everything. I had 5 people counting money and signing deposits and 2 people drove the money to the bank. I was pretty strict about that issue.

I truly believe that if you have students bringing in money for a walk-a-thon or something where they aren't getting something in return then the students should be given a receipt.

Now, how long do you keep your copy for?

If we are selling tickets for something or taking pre-orders, we require a tear-off slip with it showing student name, amount, and whether it was paid by cash or check. It is all entered and kept in a spreadsheet. Sound control.

When we have an event, fair, or shop, we just have the starting balance and ending balance of each register or cash box. No control, and I am not sure how we'd reasonably implement controls.

We are considering purchasing cash registers -- the really cheap ones -- to run a tape to record transactions.

All the catalog fundraisers I've seen include envelopes where the parents usually fill out the amount of money that they have enclosed on the outside, and the inside includes all the order forms. Depending on the organization, we keep either a copy of the order form or the envelope (usually a copy of the order form).

At our bookfairs, we do issue receipts. They're usually standard receipt book forms with carbon. They're not very detailed (as in there's one line marked "books" with a total), so they can be done quickly. If the books are paid for with a credit card, we don't write up another separate receipt for that; we only write up the receipts for cash/check sales.

For events like bingo, we keep the initial reservation forms that show how many food tickets people ordered, how many bingo books, etc., because most of that stuff is sold pre-event. That money is all deposited before the event even takes place. But at the actual event, for any extra bingo books sold, concessions, etc., we don't issue any receipts for that. Same thing if you were to have a carnival and have people buy individual tickets for food, games, etc. Or concessions at movie night. But, if you use a form at the end of the night to show where two people counted the cash that came in, and attached that as your documentation, I think that's perfectly reasonable. It's not like the IRS expects you to go out and buy cash registers so you can have register slips to document your sales.

I wouldn't worry about documenting every little thing, but if you can get the bulk of your big events covered in some fashion, you should be ok.

Wow -- a receipt for each and every transaction would be a lot! I'll be interested to hear if anyone feels this is necessary. The last time we were audited by a CPA, he didn't comment on this, so I assume he thought we were fine.

For our deposits, we use a form much like the one PTO Today provides. We have require two people to count the money and checks (and the form has a place for each to sign). The treasurer then counts the money as well. When I was treasurer, I ran a machine tape and attached it to the form along with the deposit slip.

Critter, I think this is a very good question. I hope someone chimes in because I'd also like to know the answer.

We have incoming cash from several events over the course of a school year and it would be impossible to issue receipts for things such as carnival tickets/food, concessions, bi-weekly treats, etc.

We did get the "No cashbox reimbursements" lecture from our auditor a few years ago because folks were running out mid-event to buy more supplies then take the cash out of the cash box and leave the receipt. We were told that every reimbursement needs to be paid by check (with accompanying receipt, of course). I did hear through the grapevine that this was avoided by just taking cash with them and returning what they didn't use. No receipt, no check, no record. YIKES!

How do you document cash received (like for a fundraiser or book fair?). We don't issue receipts, nor do we keep a formal permanent tally of the source of our cash income other than a standard form to accompany our bank deposit slip. We have many financial controls to protect our financial integrity, but apparently our cash documentation is sub-par. A CPA friend told us we wouldn't pass an IRS audit unless our incoming cash is better documented. She said deposit slips aren't enough. That we need to be able to prove where the cash came from. Anyone have any experience or good ideas?