transitioning

When it comes to transitioning from one PTA board to the next one, I expect that each unit –or council-- marches to its own drummer. However bear in mind, whether you serve on a unit or council board, the sequence of necessary events is the same.

Winding Down…

First, if you need to, file your year-end taxes for 2005-06. Remember that employing a professional tax preparer is a legitimate PTA expense, and when necessary, should be a line item in the current budget. Towards understanding this, please take note of the following:

Unit and council PTAs with annual gross receipts normally more than $25,000 and not in excess of $100,000 must file Form 990EZ and Schedule A.

If your unit PTA has annual gross receipts in excess of $100,000 and assets over $250,000, you must file Form 990 and Schedule A.

If your unit PTA has annual gross receipts normally less than $25,000, you are not required to file Forms 990/990EZ or Schedule A. However, if a PTA is not required to file but receives a Form 990 package from the IRS, it must be signed by an elected officer and returned indicating the filer is not required to file.

For more info on tax requirements, go to:

www.capta.org/sections/finance/tax-requirements.cfm

Second, after filing the taxes, your Treasurer’s records should be ready for audit. If you haven’t done this, please make this a top-priority. To make it easier for you, the PTA Audit checklist is available on-line. Go to

www.capta.org/sections/resources/downloads/audit-checklist.pdf

Third, once your records have cleared audit, please turnover all of your Treasury’s records to the new Treasurer. Remember to include at least one copy of the previous year’s signed tax forms, which notes the date the tax forms were mailed.

Lastly, mail (or deliver) two copies of the audit to your council treasurer (council passes one on to district on your behalf). For Out-of-Council units, please mail 2 copies directly to my attention.

Gearing up….
There is some house keeping that needs to be performed, once the year-end audit is completed. The new Board Members can assume their responsibilities and the checkbook is no longer “frozen”. However, remember that to sign PTA checks, the new Board will need to complete new bank signature cards. For the bank, you will need to bring a form of photo I.D. and one signer will need to bring a signed copy of the minutes that voted in the new board (and has the board member names). Make note that this task is conveniently accomplished over the summer months, when more time is at hand.

The next priority is to prepare for the Budget Committee meeting. This meeting is usually, though not necessarily, chaired by the incoming Treasurer. The new Treasurer customarily presents a spreadsheet of budget and actual expenditures for the last one to two years. It is through review of these actual expenditures that the Budget Committee arrives at the recommended budget for the incoming year. This “recommended” budget is first voted on at the executive board level, and then it is presented at the unit’s first General Association Meeting for final review and vote by all PTA members.

Once these tasks are completed, your next project, besides day-to-day PTA operations, is Membership. For this, there are two upcoming dates to keep in mind.

First, is the Early Bird Award deadline of remitting 15 members to California State PTA by October 31st.

Second, is the Chairman’s Club Award deadline of remitting 50 members to California State PTA by Nov. Fifteenth. Remember that to be accorded these awards, I will need to receive these remittances well in advance of the dates noted above so that they can be properly recorded and remitted.

For your benefit, a copy of the Unit Remittance Form is included. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with it, and if you have any questions regarding it or any of the other Treasurer’s duties, please contact me.