PTA cash count sheet and cash handling procedures

Cash is where honest volunteers get into trouble. A box of bills passes through a lot of hands at a carnival or a bake sale, and if something goes missing, the person who was alone with it gets the questions. The fix is simple: two people count, both sign, and the money goes to the bank quickly. It works the same for a PTA, a school PTO or a booster club.

PTA cash handling procedures, step by step

Set this up once, about 20 minutes, and put a stack of printed count sheets in the cash box. Then every event runs the same way.

1. 1 Set up the float. Write a check to a named volunteer, never to "Cash". Ask the bank for small bills.
2. 2 Count the float before the event. Two people count it by denomination and write it on the count sheet.
3. 3 Count at the event, before the cash leaves the room. At least two people count together. They shouldn’t be related or live together.
4. 4 Fill in one count sheet per count. Bills, coins and checks, the float, and what you expected from tickets or a tally sheet.
5. 5 Every counter signs. Each counter can keep a photo of the signed sheet, and the event chair gets a copy as a receipt.
6. 6 Stamp every check "For deposit only" with the group’s name on the back.
7. 7 Seal it. Put the cash and a copy of the sheet in a sealed deposit bag.
8. 8 Deposit the same day if you can, and no later than the next business day. Two people go to the bank together.
9. 9 File the signed sheet with that month’s records.

For events that run several days, like a book fair, count and deposit every day. And never pay reimbursements out of the cash box: deposit everything and pay reimbursements by check later.

How to handle the starting cash (float)

The float is the change you put in the box before the event opens. It’s the one controlled way cash leaves the account. Virginia PTA, for example, writes a check to a named volunteer, never to "Cash". The same rule holds every day of the year: don’t write checks to "Cash" and don’t take cash out of the account (see two signatures on every check).

• Ask the bank for small bills.
• Two people count the float by denomination before the event starts, and write it on the count sheet.
• At the end, count the float in with everything else. Money raised is cash plus checks, minus the float.
• When the float goes back into the bank, record it as a cash box re-deposit, not as money raised. Otherwise the event looks bigger than it was.

What goes on a PTA cash box form or cash verification form

Whatever your group calls it, a cash box form, a money counting sheet or a cash verification form, it holds the same things. Use one sheet per count:

• The event, the date and the starting cash (float).
• Cash by denomination: $100, $50, $20, $10, $5 and $1 bills, then loose and rolled coins.
• Checks, each with the payer, the check number and the amount.
• A summary: total cash and checks, minus the float, money raised, what you expected from tickets sold or a tally sheet, and any over or short.
• The amount deposited, and card and app sales for the event, noted separately because they aren’t in this deposit.
• A name and signature line for every counter, with room for a third if your rules require one.
• A record of the float and the deposit: who handed over the float and who got it back, who deposited the money and when, and the overnight seal if it was held.

The tool above prints the count. The full sheet, with the float handover, deposit record and overnight seal lines, is Sheet F in the guide.

If the count is over or short

Count once more, together. If the count still doesn’t match the tickets or the tally, look first for wrong change, giveaways nobody wrote down, or a pricing mistake.

Write down what you counted, not what you expected, and add a note on the sheet about any difference. Don’t take money from anywhere to make it balance. The signed sheet is the honest record, and it’s what the review committee checks at year end: deposits should match signed cash count forms (see the PTA audit checklist).

PTA, PTO and booster club differences

• PTA units follow their state PTA’s cash rules on top of their bylaws, and the rules differ. Utah PTA requires three people at every count; others ask for at least two. Some state PTAs publish their own counting sheet. If yours does, use it.
• Utah PTA cash box rules are some of the most detailed: three counters, a counting sheet with lines for loose and rolled coins, a separate form for the beginning cash box, and the float recorded as a "cash box re-deposit" when it goes back to the bank.
• A school PTO or booster club has no state PTA rules to follow, so your bylaws come first. Ask the principal whether your school district has its own rules for PTOs and booster clubs; they sit on top of your bylaws and are easy to miss. The two-counter routine is good practice for every group.
• Card and app sales work the same for everyone: they aren’t in the box, so they don’t go in the count. If your group sells by app, note those sales from the app’s report.

Common mistakes

• One person counting alone. Even with a good reason, it leaves that person with no proof. Wait for the second counter.
• Counting the float as money raised. Take the float out first, and record it as a cash box re-deposit when it goes back to the bank.
• Taking cash home overnight. Use the night drop or the school safe, sealed and signed.
• Paying a volunteer back from the box. It breaks the link between the count and the deposit. Pay reimbursements by check.
• Counters who are related or live together. Pick two people who aren’t.
• Losing the signed sheet. File it with that month’s records so the monthly bank match and the year-end review can find it.