When our new board took over last year (we were all new) things were just handed to us. Our treasurey was a royal mess. There were papers all over, checks were missing and things were never paid. The new treasurer (a former banker) handled and straightened everything out. She was a gem. At a meeting of the board minds, we decided to instill our own audits for the future. Now, in May, we have 3 independant parents go over our books. This gives the treasurer peace of mind, not to mention the board. We have now included this in our bylaws.

Anyone can make a deposit into the account, but they must see the treasurer first to get a slip. There are only tow people that have acces to the account and we need two signatures.

I would definatly say since the new treasurer, everything is running smoothly. But, in the future, at least there is an audit to keep everything straight.

We do an audit also when the presidient or treasurer leave office whether it would be in the middle of the school year or not. I would advise it also. before we redid our bylaws a audit was never done when one of our officers left and she left quite a mess that should have been fixed.

Best practive is to have an audit done whenever the signers on the account change or when a signer leaves office. Now that your president has left, it would be best to have an audit done now and another one in June or when you fiscal year ends.
Don't worry that the records you've been handed are a mess. (where's your treasurer? It's the treasurer's job to keep the financials in order. It's your responsibility to see that the treasurer does it!)
If your bylaws say that you org. hires an auditor or if you can appoint volunteers of your membership, do it now. It would be the audit committee's job to audit the books and give you a clean slate or starting point.
The audit to be performed at the end of the fiscal year would cover only have to cover the months from the end of this audit until the end of the fiscal year.

i was just given the role of president when our prior president moved away. When she left, she gave me all files she had in a big yellow envelope. Not very organized. I tried to sort out everything the best I could, with no avail..I decided to start from fresh. From the day I began the role of president. I have been trying to balance checkbook, but it doesn't match bank statement, because checks have not been cashed and deposits are made by principal without my knowledge. I wanted to do a audit in June, but with all this, I don't know where to begin. Does anyone have a clue? Please help..