The staff person that is a co-signer is deep enough in that she knows what is going on with the spending etc. The main problem is for years she and a few other people were the only one's that did the PTO. Now the past two years having a PTO that wants to do it "right" makes it a delicate situation on bypassing there old standby of we have the money cover it. Now it has to be approved. Since myself and the VP are there every morning for an hour (normally alot more than that) and then again in the afternoon for an hour or so there is no problem with us approving the expenditures. I normally have a computer list of what is upcoming expense wise etc. I have also added the Treasurer's binder each Treasurer's report that I've done. As for the current treasurer our past treasurer did make several attempts to explain and show the current one everything. The current one simply informed her that she had experience with doing payroll, AP/AR and this was a no brainer. Which makes me wonder if it was a no brainer then why did the checkbook get so messed up as soon as she took office?! Even after I found everything last month and showed her my reconcilliations etc. and explained to her that since she was the Treasurer and in order for her to see for herself the errors she must go back immediately and get the checkbook corrected. Her response was why can't I just note that this is the correct balance and forget "fixing" it. I stated for record keeping you must go back and correct it. The next person won't know why or what was going on if you don't keep tabs on it. To date this has not been done, and that was three weeks ago. Keeping her in as Treasurer to me is the worst mistake we can make. I have expressed this to the VP and the Pres and feel they need to talk to her and do something soon. I have no problems with co-treasurers, but I do not feel the current treasurer should have any part of the money. Her personal life and other issues that are on going put her and the PTO's bank account at possible risks. Missed deposits etc. could cause some to feel she is not "honest" and right now I'm not sure she could handle that. And knowing that she has no clue what is up with the checkbook since she took the notes home I gave her on it and not once tried to do anything on it. Sorry it's just aggravating that I do my job and then some and when we have tried several times to help her with hers she does nothing to rectify it. I'm at a loss. So right now I'm avoiding her when I do see her just because I know she will ask me what is going on and I still do not feel it is my place to tell her.
Tim's suggestion is one to consider in hopes of keeping the peace while ensuring the job gets done. But I'll take a less polite angle. There's a reason so few people want to be treasurer of a PTO - it's a hard job.
Most people are scared off by the math, the rules, the complexities and the responsibility of handling the group's money. That's a good thing because a treasurer election should never become a popularity contest. Your PTO thought in all sincerity that it was electing the right person for the job. But now it's glaringly apparent that she is in over her head. That's not an indictment of her as a person, a leader, or as a worthwhile volunteer. It just means she shouldn't be treasurer. Her talents are better suited to another role.
Do you think she had good training from the prior treasurer? Did she really know what was expected from her when she accepted the job? Does your PTO have a treasurer's manual? Were the PTO's expectations of her spelled out before she started to struggle? We as volunteers are so often guilty of assuming the next guy will know what to do. So we don't keep good records and we misplace the ones we do keep. So maybe some of her troubles can be shared by "the sytem". Which higlights the opportunity for improvement in training future treasurers. Anyway, back to the main point....
Reconciling the checkbook each month is an absolute must-do. If she doesn't use a computer, then she should have followed the manual method her predecessor used. One doesn't have the right to be sloppy with other people's money. Sure, any board can help a treasurer through a bad week or even a bad stretch, but only if the treasurer asks for help. She may very well feel embarassed, maybe even ashamed by her poor record keeping and her excuses are a defense mechanism to delay the inevitable "xxx hitting the fan". She's probably all knotted up inside.
Want to give her another chance? Then the president should develop a performance improvement plan with her: checkbook balanced by x date, treasurer report showing xyz ready for next board meeting, etc. Lay out the expectations. If she can't meet those requirements, then it's time to remove her from office. She might even remove herself at that point. Youshould take the job and find a new secretary (which is way easier and less risky than finding a new treasurer). Check your bylaws for any rules about removing an officer.
And finally, regarding the check signing privilege. The only people who should have authority to act upon the spending of the PTO's money are people who really know what the spending is for. That would disqualify the staff person who is a signer for convenience. If that person isn't in the loop deep enough to understand each check, then s/he shouldn't be a signer. There's really no check/balance in that situation because your second signer is a rubber stamp. I feel a real responsibility in signing a PTO check - I have put my reputation on the line by approving the spending. Thankfully, I can also rely on the Pres or VP to back me up as the second signer. Under the conditions you've described, I would continue to allow the treasurer to sign checks, but I would require that the second signature come from the president or VP only, no one else. Do you use a control form to back up each check which requires an explanation for each check? Such a form forces both signers to read and accept the explanation, not just the payee on the actual check. Check the Useful Resources section here for sample forms.
Good luck. Your PTO is lucky to have a fall back person like you willing to dig through the mess before it becomes a financial crisis.
The problem is the other officer's as well as myself feel she should no longer be on as a co-signor. Her circumstances etc. we feel could cause a lapse in "ethics" and that is a concern especially while trying to keep money for a playground. The board meeting didn't address this situation but afterward I spoke to the President and simply put stated that I could no longer do the reports etc. when I had no control that she either needed to do it or be replaced. He agreed said that he did not think she should be treasurer anymore. What kills me the most is she sat through the meeting never making an attempt to apologize for her lack of responsibility etc. and prior to the meeting she never approached me to find out what I had done or how I did it etc. She then leaves after the meeting and goes and complains to another board member that I'm trying to "Take over" her job. Umm...she hasn't done a job to takeover?! So we already see that it's not going to be pretty. Matters were made worse by several people commenting during the meeting on how I had things broke down etc. We do have two co-signors though, one is a school employee. However, often she signs whatever the treasurer puts in front of her without asking "what is this for?". Right now there's an open door for abuse of which we are trying to stop before it happens regardless of this treasurer or not. I'm just not sure how to deal with the situation. I have avoided her direct questions in reference to is she still treasurer etc as I'm only the secretary and do not feel it's my place to tell her or talk to her about this.
Could you guys move to appoint a co-treasurer? Even if you guys think the new co-treasurer will be doing all the work, this might allow you to get what you want (better controls) without having to force old treasurer to step down. If you have a two-signature rule on checks, then new co-treasurer could be added to the approved signer list and new co-treasurer could also do the books.
Instead of saying: "you have to go." You'd be saying: "we want to give you some help."
We elected a new treasurer in August of this year (last years treasurer needed to go back to work). The person we elected said she wanted to do the job and had payroll, AR/AP experience (according to her). She was extremely excited. About two weeks into it I noticed that she wasn't around much. The VP told me she had been sick, so I didn't think much about it. She came around once in awhile but wasn't present during most of the money collection for our largest fundraiser. At last months Board meeting we couldn't even do a Treasurer's report because she hadn't kept up with the records. She left upset, and her excuse was that I as Secretary hadn't set it up on the computer for her (last years Tres. did it by hand then had her husband do it on computer.) I was asked to get the books organized (Accounting major in college and well I'm extremely organized...o.k. I'm anal). It took me from 11 am on a Monday to 3 am that Tuesday morning to figure out what had gone wrong in just two months! She had not reconciled the bank statements etc. Total of $8,000 in mistakes. I informed them that she should not be a cosignor nor treasurer but everyone made excuses for her and said they didn't want to hurt her feelings. now she says she has personal issues etc. but feels better being at the school. However her personal issue stories have not be consistent. The VP is hesitant to just tell her we are voting on a new treasurer and I again am preparing the treasurer report as the VP and myself have been taking care of this since the end of October. The board meeting is today and I feel strongly we should vote to replace her as treasurer as she refuses to step down. I have made my feelings clear to the VP that we can not have one person cosigning checks and another doing the books. She says "I know" and that's it. I'm very frustrated and not sure what to do. The Pres is the VP's husband and is not on campus except for meetigns etc. He works full time. Nothing in our bylaws addresses this. Any help would be appreciated. I plan to speak to him tonight prior to the board meeting about the situation as I feel it is his place to request her to step down or inform her that due to her personal crisis we feel it's best if she focuses on taking care of that and let someone else deal with the books. HELP!
