In addition to local colleges, don't forget the vocational schools and junior colleges! We've had great luck getting help for our website with a nearby comunity college. They are so pleased to have a project for the studetns and we are so pleased to have some knowledgable help! I think the same would also be true for accounting help. Also, maybe your treasurer wouldn't be so defensive if it was presented that you are helping a class at a nearby school.
You can become a nonprofit 501(c)3 without a ton of financial detail. We were a newly organized PTO last year and received our nonprofit status last year also. We just had to provide a basic budget outline, and you're not required to stick exactly to it.
We have had problems finding an accountant as well, appeals to our parents have been ignored. I plan to try the college route suggested...
Whenever I hear that a treasurer is defensive, i worry, because our group was embezzeled out of over $20,000. WHY because no one wanted to "embarass" our treasurer over issues like unbalanced reports, etc. I suggest that your group conduct an audit of the books immediately and then after, create a finance commitee as suggested in the Oct 02 issue of PTO today,
remember this is not her personal bank account , it belongs to every pareent and child at your school !!!!! More than likely, your treasurer is just in over her head, but it is up to the others in the PTO to safeguard the childrens money!
By the way, after 18 mos our former treasurer has repaid part of the money, and is serving jail time
Very Sad and we could have avoided this by being proactive. Good Luck !!!
kmamom suggests that you ask for a parent who is an accounting to audit your books for free. We tried that. Our President spoke at our Curriculum Nights, we sent out fliers, we asked around to no avail. That's why we contacted an audit professor at the university. The information and advice we received was invaluable and probably better than going to a parent who is an accountant.
Along the idea of talking to professors - My sis-in-law is an accountant. While she was in school, everyone was scrambling for internships and things to put on their resumes. Maybe a senior accounting student could help out?
PTO MOM of 3--thanks for the tip! If our treasurer (a CPA with an accounting firm in NYC who was gracious enough to offer to help out) ever decides to bail I'll be sure to take your advice! Another thing I was thinking was to put the call out to all the parents that you need help "auditing," I'm sure there has to be one accountant in the bunch that would be happy to help out for free!
