I've given the Treasurer a deadline by which the account has to be corrected in order for us to prepare next year's budget.

As a side note, the Treasurer is very defensive about her position - I made one report request of the school's Business Manager in order to get some final numbers for one of our Committee Chairpersons and the Treasurer accused me of trying to do her job.

I wonder why she is so defensive? Considering that you have the background to help her, it just doesn't make sense. I mean, let's see, she is a volunteer trying to help out (like us all, right?). She has been given a position she doesn't know a lot about (and we've all been here before, right?). She doesn't do the job very well (but on nomination night last year, how many people said "Oh, it's really easy and we'll all help you?"...right?). You have the skills to help her (you did say an 'extensive background' and I gather that means school or some other form of accounting education which the average joe might not have...right?) You issued a deadline and then went over her head (and she still doesn't know how to fix the problem and now must be feeling awful, frustrated, mad, useless and OMG! maybe even defensive... right?).

I know, I know, you're busy and it's not your job.

Take a couple hours a week and help this gal out. It's the right thing to do. After all, it sounds like YOU are the resource you've been looking for to help her. Teach her how to do the job right and who knows? Maybe with some training and encouragement, you won't have to train another one next year.

I'm the PTO President for my kids' school and the person who volunteered to be this year's PTO Treasurer has no accounting background. She doesn't understand anything about the software in which the school's new Business Manager is tracking the PTO's finances and, therefore, isn't catching the errors that are being made. Our Treasury Reports don't even match the balance in the PTO's cash account!

At the beginning of the year, our PTO Board discussed the possibility of becoming a separate non-profit entity and we listed the requirements, which include developing three years' of financial statements. Currently, we can't do this because the books are in disasterous shape. I was unaware until very recently, that the Treasurer truly didn't understand what she's supposed to be doing.

With a several months still to go in the school year, what do I do? I have an extensive accounting background and could do the Treasurer's job, but I have my own responsibilities to tend to. I've given the Treasurer a deadline by which the account has to be corrected in order for us to prepare next year's budget. Is there some resource she can or should access to learn the basics of accounting for a PTO?

As a side note, the Treasurer is very defensive about her position - I made one report request of the school's Business Manager in order to get some final numbers for one of our Committee Chairpersons and the Treasurer accused me of trying to do her job.