I would think that would make the parents feel really good about their leadership too. Knowing exactly what money came in and where it went and having everything so organized is wonderful! It would be great for the next group of leaders coming in too. Think how easy it would be for them to plan their year out with great records like that!

I'm glad it went so well. We're supposed to be doing our first in years (and multiple treasurers) so I'm somewhat terrified.

Plus, I've seen the records. Sigh. Nowhere near as organized as your group. Kudos to them, really.

I volunteered this year to serve on the audit committee for our HS PTA, and our group of 3 met with the President tonight to collect the materials.

Wow! I have never seen a group so organized. It was truly incredible. I'd noticed through the year that the President was extremely meticulous and there was a lot of attention to detail regarding financial data. For example, at one point we got a $69 grant to cover an officer training slot that had not been budgeted. That amount was formally voted as a budget change to revenue and footnoted in the month's financials.

Those processes truly paid off when it came time to audit. I've never seen such documentation. A 3-4 inch treasurer's notebook with pristine backup, carefully organized. Reference material on what was/wasn't taxable. Checklists. Processes. Copy of the bylaws.

The president had prepared a folder for each of the three of us with the audit checklist, procedures, copies of audit from two previous years, financial reports from each meeting, etc. Plus we had the treasurer's notebook, the checkbook, etc.

We figured it would take two meetings. The audit includes reviewing the books of course, but it's also verifying a quorum at each meeting, verifying every budget item was approved in the minutes, matching membership rolls to dues collected, checking procedures like 2 signatures and no checks made out to cash, timing of deposits, two people counted cash, etc. So there is a lot of shuffling through the supporting paperwork and matching.

We had the whole thing done in 1-1/2 hours! It was amazing.

The President and Treasurer had both been to PTA officer training for their positions and they each had definite procedures to follow throughout the year. I honestly think having those resources helped, but PTOs could manage similarly with PTO Today membership and/or the info posted here in the forums. Regardless, it's definitely worth the time to plan this from the beginning and have strong processes.

It was a really interesting and rewarding experience.