PTA audit checklist

Every year, people who don’t handle the money check that the books are right. It’s routine, and it’s your best protection. The same checklist works for a PTA, a school PTO or a booster club.

PTA financial review: is it an audit?

Most people search for a "PTA audit", and that’s fine. What PTAs actually do is a financial review, sometimes called an internal review. It’s a check of the books by members, not an audit by an outside accountant. The committee compares the bank statements with the records, looks for a receipt and an approval behind every payment, and writes down anything that needs fixing.

Your own year-end treasurer’s report is for information only. The review report is the one that gets adopted.

Who can audit PTA accounts?

Your bylaws say who does the review and when. Usually:

• A committee of at least three members, appointed by the president.
• Not check signers, and not their relatives or household members.
• Not the treasurer. You hand over the records and stay available for questions.

A review is also due when the treasurer or any check signer changes, so it covers both your start and your hand-over. If you took over at the start of the year, the year-end review counts. If you’re changing bank signers, plan the review alongside it.

What’s on a PTA audit checklist

The checklist above has 14 checks, from Sheet L in the guide. They fall into five groups:

• The bank: the opening balance matches last year’s closing balance, every month’s statement is matched to the records, and someone who doesn’t sign checks reviewed each one. No uncashed checks older than six months.
• Payments: each has the signatures or approvals the bylaws require, a receipt or invoice and a signed request, and was in the budget or approved (or ratified) in the minutes.
• The minutes: they show the adopted budget and any changes.
• Money in: deposits match signed cash count forms with at least two counters, and money given for a purpose was spent only on that purpose.
• Everything else: state and National PTA dues went out on time (PTA only), the treasurer’s reports match the bank records, only current officers have logins to online accounts like PayPal, Venmo or Square, and the year’s IRS filing is done.

The monthly habits make this easy: a monthly bank match, a signed cash count sheet for every event, and treasurer’s reports filed for the review.

How to run the year-end review, step by step

Planning takes about 20 minutes. The review itself is the committee’s job.

1. 1 Ask the president to set the review date and appoint the committee. Put the date on your calendar.
2. 2 Hand over the records, filed by month: bank statements, receipts and payment requests, the minutes and your treasurer’s reports.
3. 3 Stay available for questions, but stay off the committee.
4. 4 The committee works through the checklist, comparing statements, receipts, the minutes and your reports, and checking who has logins to online accounts.
5. 5 Each "no" gets a written recommendation: what should happen, who does it and by when.
6. 6 The reviewers sign the report when they’re done.
7. 7 In a PTA, the members adopt it, usually at the first meeting of the new year, and it’s filed with the minutes.

PTA audit form: what the committee hands in

The tool above prints a financial review record: the group and year, who reviewed it, each check with its answer and notes, every recommendation, a signature line for each reviewer, and lines for the date it was presented to the board and adopted by the members.

If your state PTA has its own review form, use theirs. California State PTA and Washington State PTA, for example, publish financial review checklists.

PTA, PTO and booster club differences

• PTA units: follow your state PTA’s review form and deadline if it has one. The members adopt the review report, usually at the first meeting of the new year, and it’s filed with the minutes. If the reviewers find something they can’t sort out, your state PTA can help.
• Booster club audit checklist: the same checks work. Skip the state and National PTA dues line, and let your bylaws say who appoints the reviewers and who accepts the report. A booster club can ask an accountant when something doesn’t add up.
• School PTOs: also follow their own bylaws, with no state PTA above them. A CPA is your best outside check.

Common mistakes

• The treasurer choosing the reviewers, or sitting on the committee.
• A check signer, or a signer’s spouse, on the committee.
• Skipping the review when the treasurer changes. It should cover both your start and your hand-over.
• A "no" with no written recommendation. Every "no" needs one.
• Records in a pile instead of by month, which turns an evening into a weekend.
• Forgetting online accounts. Check who still has logins to PayPal, Venmo or Square.