Last updated 2026-07-24
TL;DR
Every tax-exempt nonprofit, including tiny booster clubs and PTOs, must file one of the Form 990 series with the IRS every year, even with zero income. Miss three years and the IRS automatically revokes your exempt status [1]. Which form you file depends on gross receipts: under $50,000 usually means the 990-N e-postcard, which takes about 10 minutes online.
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer keeps the organization's money honest and its paperwork current. That means tracking every dollar in and out, reconciling the bank account monthly, keeping receipts, writing a simple financial report for meetings, and making sure the group's IRS and state filings go in on time. For a booster club, PTO, or youth sports league, the treasurer job is usually volunteer, usually annual (you hand it off to the next parent), and usually inherited with almost no documentation. That's the core problem this whole site exists to fix. The prior treasurer graduates their kid out of the program and takes the login passwords, the QuickBooks file, and the folder of receipts with them. The job has three legs: bookkeeping (record transactions, reconcile the bank statement), controls (two signers on checks, receipts before reimbursement, no one person touching both the money and the books alone), and compliance (990 filing, state charity registration if required, raffle licenses if you run one). Skip the third leg and you can lose your tax-exempt status without anyone in the club realizing it happened until a bank or sponsor asks for a determination letter you can't produce.
What is a treasurer, exactly, in a volunteer club?
In a volunteer club, the treasurer is the one officer with signing authority on the bank account and legal responsibility (shared with the board) for accurate financial records. It's an elected or appointed position, usually one-year terms, named in the bylaws. The treasurer isn't the accountant of record and isn't personally liable for the group's taxes in most normal circumstances, but they are the person who signs (or e-files) the 990 series return, and they're the person a bank, auditor, or state charity office will call first if something looks off. If the club has paid staff or a bookkeeper, the treasurer still has oversight duty: someone has to actually look at the bank statement every month, more than trust that the bookkeeper caught everything. Most small booster and PTO treasurers are parents with day jobs unrelated to finance. That's fine. The job doesn't require a CPA. It requires consistency: same process every month, same filing every year, and a habit of writing down who approved what.
What do treasurers do month to month and year to year?
Month to month: collect and deposit funds (concessions, memberships, fundraiser proceeds), pay approved bills, reconcile the bank statement against the books, and report a balance to the board. Year to year: file the [990](/articles/treasurer-basics/990) or 990-N with the IRS by the deadline (15th day of the 5th month after the fiscal year ends [1]), renew any state charitable solicitation registration if your state requires one, handle the annual budget, and do a clean handoff to next year's treasurer with a binder or shared drive that has the EIN, IRS determination letter, prior filings, and bank statements. A lot of clubs skip the yearly compliance half entirely because nobody told them it existed. The IRS doesn't send a friendly reminder before revoking status. You find out when a parent asks for a tax-deduction letter for a donation and you realize your EIN doesn't show up as exempt anymore on the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search.
What does a club treasurer do that's different from a corporate treasurer?
A corporate treasurer manages cash flow, investments, and debt for a company with paid finance staff behind them. A club treasurer, whether for a booster club, PTO, or youth sports league, is usually a solo volunteer doing bookkeeping, deposits, reimbursements, and IRS filing with no backup and no budget for software. The scale is different (a booster club might move $20,000 to $150,000 a year, not millions) but the compliance burden is oddly similar in kind: both need clean books, both file annual returns, both need internal controls so one person can't quietly move money without anyone noticing. The corporate treasurer has an audit committee. The club treasurer has a parent board that meets once a month and trusts you. That trust gap is exactly why documented controls matter more, not less, for small nonprofits. See financial controls basics if you're setting up check-signing rules and reimbursement policy from scratch.
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the annual information return that tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS to report income, expenses, and activities. It's not an income tax return in the traditional sense (most exempt orgs owe no tax on mission-related income), it's a public disclosure document that keeps the IRS, donors, and watchdog groups informed about how the organization spent its money. There are several versions depending on size: Form 990-N (e-Postcard) for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less, Form 990-EZ for those under $200,000 in gross receipts and under $500,000 in total assets, and the full Form 990 for larger organizations [2]. Private foundations file Form 990-PF regardless of size. "Most tax-exempt organizations must file an annual return. Which form an organization uses depends on the organization's financial activity," per the IRS [2]. Filed 990s (except 990-N data, which is a simple list) become public record; anyone can look up a nonprofit's 990 through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search or on sites like ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer. Related reading: irs form 990 covers the mechanics of each variant, and 990 tax form walks through what's actually being reported line by line.
What is a 990 tax form used for, and who has to file one?
| $50,000 or less | any | 990-N (e-Postcard) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less than $200,000 | Less than $500,000 | 990-EZ (or full 990) | |
| $200,000 or more, or | $500,000 or more | Form 990 | |
| Private foundation | any | Form 990-PF | Source: IRS, "Annual Exempt Organization Return: Who Must File" [2]. Most booster clubs and PTOs land in the 990-N or 990-EZ rows. If you're not sure which bucket you're in, add up total revenue for the fiscal year (more than what's in the bank right now) and check it against the thresholds. |
It reports your organization's revenue, expenses, program activities, and (on the full 990 and 990-EZ) officer/board information, to the IRS and the public. Nearly every tax-exempt organization recognized under IRC Section 501(a), including 501(c)(3) charities and 501(c)(4), (c)(6), (c)(7) social/recreational clubs, has to file something in the 990 series annually. Exceptions are narrow: churches and some church-affiliated organizations, and a few other categories listed in the instructions to Form 990 [3]. A booster club, PTO, or youth sports league recognized as tax-exempt does not get a pass just because it's small or all-volunteer. Gross receipts under $50,000? You still file, just the easy 990-N version. Here's the table that decides which form you owe: | Gross receipts (normal year) | Total assets | Form required |
What is the 990-N and how do you file it?
The 990-N, also called the e-Postcard, is the simplest annual filing: eight pieces of information (EIN, tax year, legal name, mailing address, website if any, confirmation that receipts are $50,000 or less, name and address of a principal officer, and a statement the organization is still operating) [4]. No financial detail, no attachments. You file it online through the IRS's e-Postcard system, linked from the IRS Form 990-N page [4]. It's free. It takes most treasurers under 15 minutes once you have the EIN and officer info handy. There's no paper version and no extension process for it; you either file it by the deadline or you're late. The deadline is the 15th day of the 5th month after your fiscal year ends. Calendar-year organizations (fiscal year ending December 31) file by May 15 [1]. If your booster club's fiscal year runs July to June (common for school-year programs), your 990-N is due November 15. See 990n and form 990-n for step-by-step filing screenshots and what to do if the system rejects your EIN.
What happens if you miss the deadline or don't file at all?
Miss one year, generally nothing happens automatically for 990-N filers (there's no late penalty for the e-Postcard itself). Miss three consecutive years, and the IRS automatically revokes your tax-exempt status by operation of law under IRC Section 6033(j) [5]. "Organizations that fail to file for three consecutive years automatically lose their tax-exempt status. The revocation of the organization's tax-exempt status does not take place until the filing due date of the third year," per the IRS [1]. This is automatic; no warning letter with a countdown, no hearing. One day your EIN is exempt, the next it's not, and you find out by checking the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search or the Auto-Revocation List. For the 990-EZ and full 990 forms (not the 990-N), there are also dollar penalties for late filing, generally $20 a day up to the lesser of $10,000 or 5% of gross receipts for smaller organizations, with higher daily penalties for large organizations, per the Form 990 instructions [3]. Confirm current penalty amounts with the IRS since these figures are adjusted periodically. Revocation means: donations are no longer tax-deductible to donors, you may owe corporate income tax on revenue going forward, and many grantmakers, sponsors, and school districts will not cut a check to an organization that can't produce a current determination letter.
How do you get tax-exempt status back after auto-revocation?
You apply for reinstatement, and depending on timing you may get retroactive relief back to the original revocation date. The IRS lays out four streamlined paths in Revenue Procedure 2014-11 [6]: streamlined retroactive reinstatement (within 15 months of revocation, for organizations eligible to file 990-N or 990-EZ), retroactive reinstatement within 15 months (showing reasonable cause), retroactive reinstatement after 15 months, and reinstatement effective from the postmark date (no retroactivity, simplest but you lose exempt status for the gap period). For small organizations that would have filed 990-N or 990-EZ, streamlined reinstatement (Rev. Proc. 2014-11, Section 4) generally requires filing Form 1023 or 1023-EZ with the appropriate fee, checking the box for streamlined retroactive reinstatement, and showing you've now filed the delinquent returns. Form 1023-EZ filing fee is $275 as of the IRS user fee schedule [1]; confirm the current fee before filing since these do change. This is exactly the situation a lot of booster clubs land in when a treasurer graduates out with no handoff and nobody files for two or three years. It's fixable, but it costs money and weeks of paperwork that a $0 990-N filing would have avoided entirely. If your organization shows up on the IRS Auto-Revocation List, don't panic and don't wait; the streamlined path only exists for a limited window after revocation.
What records does a treasurer need before filing the 990?
Bank statements for the full fiscal year, a summary of income by source (dues, concessions, fundraiser proceeds, sponsorships, grants), a summary of expenses by category, your EIN and legal name exactly as the IRS has it on file, and the name/address of your current principal officer. For 990-EZ or full 990, you'll also need a list of board members and officers, a description of program service accomplishments (what the money actually did: uniforms bought, tournaments funded, scholarships awarded), and, on the full 990, more detailed compensation and governance disclosures. If you inherited a mess (no prior 990s on file, unclear bank reconciliations, missing receipts), start by pulling twelve months of bank statements and rebuilding a simple income/expense summary before you touch the IRS form. Guessing numbers on a public filing is worse than a short delay to get them right. This is the part where a lot of new treasurers realize they need a system, more than a spreadsheet they inherited half-filled-out. A State-Personalized Treasurer Kit ($99 one-time) builds out the year-one filing calendar, the reconciliation template, and the state-specific charity registration checklist so you're not reverse-engineering all of this from IRS instructions PDFs during your first busy season.
Do state filings matter too, separate from the IRS?
Yes, and this trips up a lot of first-year treasurers who think the 990 is the whole job. Most states have a separate charitable solicitation registration requirement if your organization asks the public for donations, plus state corporate annual report filings to stay in good standing as a nonprofit corporation. Requirements vary sharply by state: some exempt small organizations under a revenue threshold, some require annual renewal with a fee, some require audited financials above a certain size. There is no single national rule here, so confirm with your state charity office or attorney general's charities division what applies to your booster club, PTO, or league. The National Association of State Charity Officials maintains links to each state's registration office as a starting point. If you run a raffle as a fundraiser, that's usually a separate license entirely, issued by a state gaming commission or attorney general, with its own application, fee, and reporting requirements, layered on top of both the IRS 990 and any charity registration. Treat these as three separate compliance tracks (IRS, state charity registration, state raffle license), not one bundled task.
What does a treasurer of a PTO or booster club do differently from a 501(c)(7) social club?
Most PTOs and booster clubs are recognized under 501(c)(3) (educational or charitable purpose) or occasionally 501(c)(4); youth sports leagues are sometimes 501(c)(3) and sometimes 501(c)(7) if organized mainly for member recreation rather than public benefit. The exemption category changes what donors can deduct and sometimes which 990 threshold applies, but the filing mechanics (990-N, 990-EZ, or full 990 based on gross receipts) are the same across categories [2]. The practical difference for the treasurer: a 501(c)(3) booster club can offer donors a tax deduction and often qualifies for grants that require that status; a 501(c)(7) social/recreational club generally can't. If your group's exemption category isn't documented anywhere in the files you inherited, the IRS determination letter (or the entry in Tax Exempt Organization Search) will show it. If you can't find a determination letter at all, that's a sign to check whether the organization was ever formally recognized as exempt, versus just operating informally under a parent PTA/booster umbrella EIN, which is a different and more complicated situation to sort out. Either way, the 990 filing habit is the same: pick the right form off the gross receipts table above, file it every year by the deadline, and keep the paperwork where the next treasurer can find it.
Frequently asked questions
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer tracks income and expenses, reconciles the bank account, reports finances to the board, and handles annual compliance like IRS Form 990 filing and any state charity registration. In a volunteer club, it's usually a one-year elected role with signing authority on the bank account.
What is a treasurer?
A treasurer is the officer responsible for an organization's money: recording transactions, safeguarding funds, reporting balances, and filing required tax and state paperwork. In nonprofits, the treasurer usually also signs or e-files the annual Form 990 series return with the IRS.
What do treasurers do day to day and year to year?
Day to day: deposit funds, pay approved bills, keep receipts. Month to month: reconcile the bank statement and report to the board. Year to year: file the 990 or 990-N by deadline, renew state charity registration if required, and hand off clean records to the next treasurer.
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the IRS's annual information return for tax-exempt organizations, reporting revenue, expenses, and activities. It comes in several versions (990-N, 990-EZ, full 990, 990-PF) depending on gross receipts and asset size, per IRS guidance on who must file [2].
What is a 990 tax form used for?
It's used to report a nonprofit's financial activity to the IRS and the public each year, keeping the organization's tax-exempt status current. It is not an income tax bill in most cases; it's a disclosure filing, and nearly every recognized tax-exempt organization must file some version of it annually.
What is the 990?
The 990 is the IRS's family of annual returns for tax-exempt organizations. Which specific version you file (990-N, 990-EZ, or full Form 990) depends on your gross receipts and total assets for the year, per the IRS's filing thresholds [4].
What does a club treasurer do differently from a corporate treasurer?
A club treasurer is usually a solo volunteer handling bookkeeping, deposits, reimbursements, and IRS filing with no paid staff behind them, unlike a corporate treasurer who manages cash flow and investments with a finance team. The compliance duties (clean books, annual filings, internal controls) are similar in kind, just much smaller in scale.
What does a treasurer of a club do at tax time specifically?
At tax time, the club treasurer pulls twelve months of bank statements, totals income and expenses by category, confirms the organization's EIN and officer info, and files the correct 990-series form by the 15th day of the 5th month after the fiscal year ends.
Does a small booster club with no income still have to file anything with the IRS?
Yes. Even a booster club with $0 in revenue for the year must file Form 990-N if it holds tax-exempt status, because the filing requirement is based on being recognized as exempt, not on having taxable activity. Skipping it for three straight years triggers automatic revocation under IRC Section 6033(j) [6].
What happens if a nonprofit doesn't file a 990 for several years?
After three consecutive years of not filing, the IRS automatically revokes the organization's tax-exempt status, effective as of the third year's filing deadline, per IRS guidance [1]. Reinstatement requires a new application (Form 1023 or 1023-EZ) and, in some cases, back-filing the missed returns.
How much does it cost to get tax-exempt status reinstated after revocation?
The Form 1023-EZ filing fee is $275 as of the IRS's published user fee schedule [9], though confirm the current amount with the IRS since fees change. Streamlined reinstatement under Revenue Procedure 2014-11 is available for eligible small organizations applying within 15 months of revocation [8].
Where can you check if your nonprofit's tax-exempt status was revoked?
Search the organization's name or EIN in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool, which lists both current exempt organizations and those on the Auto-Revocation List [https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/tax-exempt-organization-search]. This is the fastest way to confirm status before assuring a donor their gift is deductible.
Do you need a lawyer or accountant to file a 990-N?
No. The 990-N (e-Postcard) is designed for volunteer treasurers to file directly online in about 10 to 15 minutes, with just eight data points required. The 990-EZ and full Form 990 are more involved and some clubs choose to have a bookkeeper or accountant review them, though it's not legally required for most small organizations.
Sources
- IRS, Annual Filing and Filing Requirements FAQs: 990 series deadline is the 15th day of the 5th month after fiscal year end, and three consecutive years of non-filing triggers automatic revocation
- IRS, Annual Exempt Organization Return: Who Must File: which 990 form an organization files depends on its financial activity
- IRS, Instructions for Form 990: churches and certain church-affiliated organizations are among the narrow exceptions to the 990 filing requirement
- IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations (Form 990-N e-Postcard): 990-N requires eight data points and is filed electronically with no paper option
- 26 U.S.C. Section 6033(j): statutory basis for automatic revocation after three consecutive years of failing to file required annual returns
- IRS, Revenue Procedure 2014-11: the four reinstatement procedures including streamlined retroactive reinstatement within 15 months of revocation