Last updated 2026-07-24
TL;DR
Most small booster clubs and PTOs file Form 990-N (the "e-Postcard") if gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less; bigger groups file 990-EZ or the full 990. The treasurer's job is to track money in and out, keep records, and file the right form on time so the group keeps its tax-exempt status.
What is a treasurer?
A treasurer is the person in a club, booster group, or PTO who is responsible for the money. That means tracking every dollar that comes in (dues, fundraiser proceeds, concession sales, sponsorships) and every dollar that goes out (uniforms, equipment, tournament fees, snacks), and being able to show anyone who asks where the group's cash actually went. In a volunteer organization, the treasurer usually isn't a professional accountant. Most are parents, coaches, or club members who got handed a shoebox of receipts and a login to a bank account. That's normal. The job is learnable, but it comes with real responsibilities: keeping accurate books, filing the group's tax paperwork with the IRS on time, and reporting to the board or membership on a regular schedule. The stakes are higher than people expect. Miss three years of required IRS filings in a row and the organization automatically loses its tax-exempt status, no warning letter required beyond what the IRS already publishes [1]. That single fact is why "what does a treasurer do" matters so much for small nonprofits: the treasurer is usually the only person watching that deadline.
What does a treasurer do (day to day and year round)?
Day to day, a treasurer records transactions, reconciles the bank statement, and keeps receipts organized by category. Month to month, they report a running balance to the board, flag any account low on cash, and make sure two people (more than one) can see or approve major transactions. Year to year, they close out the books for the fiscal year, prepare for a new officer handoff, and file the group's annual return with the IRS. A reasonable job description looks like this: maintain a checkbook or bookkeeping ledger; deposit and document all cash and check income within a few days of receipt; pay bills and reimburse members with backup documentation; reconcile bank statements monthly; present a treasurer's report at each board meeting; file the correct IRS form annually; and keep at least three years of records accessible (many treasurers keep seven, since that covers most audit lookback windows). Small groups often skip internal controls because "everyone trusts each other." That's exactly the setup that leads to problems, not because volunteers are dishonest but because sloppy books make errors invisible until they're big. A second signer on the bank account and a simple monthly reconciliation catch most problems before they become a crisis. For more on this, see financial controls.
What does a club treasurer do differently than a corporate treasurer?
A club or booster treasurer does the same core job as a corporate one, just at a much smaller scale and usually with far less formal training. There's no finance department backing them up. There's no dedicated software budget. Most club treasurers manage everything in a spreadsheet or a basic accounting app, track a handful of bank accounts, and personally know most of the people whose money passes through their hands. The legal and tax obligations, though, are real regardless of size. A youth soccer club with $12,000 in annual revenue has the same IRS filing requirement (Form 990-N at minimum) as a much larger nonprofit, just a shorter form [2]. A PTO treasurer handling $200,000 a year from a school carnival and a used-book sale has to think about sales tax, raffle licensing, and possibly Form 990-EZ instead of the postcard version. What does a treasurer of a club do that a bookkeeper doesn't? Judgment calls. A bookkeeper records transactions. A treasurer decides (with the board) whether a purchase is appropriate, whether the group has enough reserve to commit to a big equipment order, and whether the current bank setup still makes sense as the group grows.
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the annual information return that most tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS. It is not a tax bill in the way an individual's Form 1040 is; nonprofits generally don't owe income tax on money related to their exempt purpose. Instead, Form 990 is a public disclosure document: it tells the IRS, state charity regulators, donors, and anyone else who looks it up how the organization raised money, spent money, and governed itself [3]. The IRS describes the 990 family as forms that "tax-exempt organizations, nonexempt charitable trusts, and section 527 political organizations file... to provide the IRS with the information required by section 6033" [3]. That's the legal hook: Internal Revenue Code section 6033 requires most exempt organizations to file annually, and the specific version you file depends on your gross receipts and total assets. There are four main versions small groups will run into: Form 990-N (electronic postcard, for gross receipts normally $50,000 or less), Form 990-EZ (short form, for gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000), the full Form 990 (for larger organizations above those thresholds), and Form 990-PF (for private foundations, regardless of size) [4]. Booster clubs and PTOs almost always fall into the first two categories.
What is the 990 tax form used for, exactly?
The 990 tax form is used to report income, expenses, program activities, and governance practices to the IRS every year, and it becomes a public record. Anyone, including parents in your booster club, can look up your organization's past 990 filings through the IRS's Tax Exempt Organization Search tool or through sites like ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer, which republish the filings [5]. That public visibility is intentional. Congress designed the exempt-organization reporting system so donors and the public could see how tax-exempt money is used, since the organization isn't paying income tax on it. If your booster club spent $40,000 on a coaching stipend and $2,000 on actual student equipment, a parent could find that out from the filed 990. Because of that visibility, treasurers should treat the 990 (or 990-N) not as busywork but as the group's annual public report card. A clean, accurate filing protects the board from awkward questions later, and it's also required to keep the tax-exempt status the group depends on for grants, sponsor donations, and tax-deductible receipts to donors.
What is Form 990-N and who has to file it?
Form 990-N, sometimes called the e-Postcard, is the shortest version of the 990 family. It's for small tax-exempt organizations whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less per year [2]. It asks for basic information only: the organization's legal name, address, EIN, tax year, confirmation that gross receipts are $50,000 or under, and a statement that the organization is still operating. The IRS states plainly that "most small tax-exempt organizations whose annual gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less" are eligible to file the 990-N instead of a longer form [2]. It has to be filed electronically through the IRS's own system, and there's no paper option. It takes most treasurers under ten minutes once they have the EIN and basic org info handy. The catch that trips people up: 990-N has no extension option and, unlike the longer forms, there's no late fee for a single missed year. But miss it for three consecutive years and the organization's exempt status is automatically revoked, no appeal process for the routine miss. That's covered in more detail in our 990-N guide and our form 990-N explainer.
What is Form 990-EZ and when do you need it instead?
| 990-N | Smallest orgs | Normally $50,000 or less | No asset test | Online only, IRS system | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 990-EZ | Small-mid orgs | Less than $200,000 | Less than $500,000 | Electronic filing required | |
| Form 990 | Larger orgs | $200,000 or more, or assets $500,000+ | Above EZ thresholds | Electronic filing required | |
| 990-PF | Private foundations | Any amount | Any amount | Electronic filing required | (Thresholds per IRS guidance [4]; confirm current-year figures with the IRS, since dollar thresholds can be adjusted.) |
Form 990-EZ is the next step up from the postcard. Organizations use it if gross receipts are less than $200,000 and total assets are less than $500,000 at the end of the tax year [4]. It's a real form, several pages, asking for a breakdown of revenue by source, functional expenses, a balance sheet, and information about officers and program accomplishments. A booster club that ran one great fundraiser and pulled in $180,000 for new uniforms and a bus trip, even as a one-time bump, would likely need to file the 990-EZ for that year instead of the 990-N, because gross receipts crossed the $50,000 threshold tied to eligibility for the postcard. If total assets or receipts grow past the 990-EZ thresholds, the organization moves up again to the full Form 990. Here's a quick comparison to keep on the wall by the treasurer's desk: | Form | Who files it | Gross receipts | Total assets | Filing method |
What happens if a treasurer misses the filing deadline?
Nothing dramatic happens after one missed year for a 990-N filer; there's no late penalty specifically for the e-Postcard. But the real danger is cumulative. The IRS is explicit about this: an organization that fails to file required 990-series returns for three consecutive years has its tax-exempt status automatically revoked by law, effective on the filing due date of the third year [1]. This isn't a discretionary IRS decision; it's written into the tax code (section 6033(j) of the Internal Revenue Code) and it happens automatically, with no separate notice required beyond what's already publicly listed. Thousands of small nonprofits lose their status this way every year, usually because a volunteer treasurer left and nobody picked up the filing duty during the gap. The fix, if it happens to your group, is IRS Revenue Procedure 2014-11, which lays out streamlined reinstatement processes, including a simplified path for organizations that would have been eligible to file 990-N or 990-EZ [6]. It requires filing Form 1023 or 1023-EZ again (yes, essentially reapplying) along with the missing returns, and there are fee and time costs. Prevention is far cheaper than the fix. For the recovery process itself, see our coverage under the irs-and-990 hub.
What does a treasurer do to prepare the 990 or 990-N each year?
Preparation starts months before the deadline, not the week of. A treasurer pulls the year's income and expense totals, confirms the organization's EIN and legal name match IRS records, checks which form applies this year based on gross receipts and assets, and gathers any board-approved financial statements. Most organizations run on a calendar year or a school year (July 1 to June 30) as their fiscal year; the 990-series return is due on the 15th day of the 5th month after the fiscal year ends. For a calendar-year filer, that's May 15. For a July-to-June fiscal year, that's November 15 [7]. An automatic 6-month extension is available using Form 8868 for organizations filing 990 or 990-EZ, though 990-N filers don't need to file for extension since there's no penalty for late e-Postcard filing (there's simply no such thing as an "on-time" deadline in the penalty sense, just the three-year revocation clock). The practical prep checklist: confirm your EIN, confirm your fiscal year end date, total your gross receipts for the year, total your year-end assets, pick the correct form from the table above, gather board meeting minutes if the full 990 asks about governance practices, and file electronically before the deadline. Groups searching for background on any of these forms can start with our general form 990 guide, our [990](/articles/treasurer-basics/990) overview, our 990 tax form breakdown, or the irs form 990 reference page.
Does a small booster club or PTO really have to file anything with the IRS?
Yes, almost always, if the organization has federal tax-exempt status (typically 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4)). The $50,000 gross receipts threshold for 990-N eligibility is a filing simplification, not an exemption from filing altogether. The IRS's own FAQ page states that organizations "normally" under that threshold "may be required to file" the e-Postcard annually [2], meaning the filing obligation itself doesn't go away just because the group is small. There are limited exceptions: certain church-related organizations and some government-affiliated entities have different rules, and organizations that haven't yet received formal IRS tax-exempt recognition have a different set of considerations entirely. A brand-new booster club that hasn't filed Form 1023 or 1023-EZ yet isn't technically a recognized 501(c)(3), even if it's operating as one; that's a separate, earlier step from annual filing. If your group genuinely isn't sure whether it has current tax-exempt status, the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool lets you look up your organization by name or EIN to see its recognition status and filing history [5]. That's worth doing at every treasurer handoff, more than when something looks wrong.
What does a nonprofit tax form filing have to do with state raffle licenses and registration?
Federal 990 filing and state charity registration are two separate systems that often trip up the same volunteer treasurer. Filing your 990 or 990-N with the IRS keeps your federal tax-exempt status alive. Many states separately require charitable organizations to register with a state charity office or attorney general before soliciting donations, running raffles, or holding certain fundraisers, and that registration is often renewed annually, sometimes referencing your federal 990 as supporting documentation . A booster club that files its 990-N faithfully every year but never registered with its state's charity regulator can still be out of compliance at the state level, and vice versa. Raffle licensing specifically almost always sits with a state gaming commission or attorney general's charitable gaming division, separate from both the IRS and general charity registration. Confirm with the IRS and your state charity office (and your state's gaming or lottery commission, if you plan to run a raffle) exactly which registrations apply to your group, since rules vary widely by state. A useful mental model: the IRS wants to know how you handled money that wasn't taxed. Your state charity regulator wants to know that you're not defrauding local donors. Your state raffle authority wants to know the game itself is run legally. Three different agencies, three different forms, and treasurers who only track one of the three are the ones who get an unpleasant letter eventually.
Building the habits that keep filings on time
The single best habit a new treasurer can build is a recurring calendar reminder set the day they take the job, not the month before the deadline. Put the fiscal year end date, the 990-series due date (5 months and 15 days later), and a backup reminder 60 days before that on the calendar, shared with at least one other board member so the obligation doesn't live in one person's head. Keep a simple year-round folder (digital or physical) with bank statements, receipts, board minutes, and a running income/expense log. When filing season arrives, the treasurer should be assembling a report from existing records, not reconstructing a year of transactions from memory and a shoebox. This is the exact gap a State-Personalized Treasurer Kit is built to close: a one-time $99 package that gives a new treasurer the state-specific forms, deadline calendar, and recordkeeping templates for their state's charity registration and raffle rules alongside the federal filing basics, so the first year doesn't rely on guesswork or a predecessor's memory.
What a treasurer handoff should include
Every organization eventually swaps treasurers, and that handoff is the single riskiest moment for missed filings. A good handoff packet includes: the EIN and IRS determination letter, the last three years of filed 990-series returns, current bank account details and signer list, the state charity registration number and renewal date, any raffle or gaming license numbers, and a written summary of what's due when. Boards that treat the treasurer role as a one-person black box are the ones who end up filing for reinstatement under Revenue Procedure 2014-11 a few years later [6]. Boards that require a documented handoff, even a simple one-page memo plus a shared drive folder, rarely lose their exempt status by accident. If your organization is mid-handoff right now, or discovering it's been auto-revoked, our handoff-and-audits hub and irs-and-990 hub both cover recovery steps in more depth than fits here.
Frequently asked questions
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer tracks all money coming in and going out of an organization, keeps financial records, reports to the board regularly, and files the required annual IRS return (990-N, 990-EZ, or full 990) so the group keeps its tax-exempt status. In many small clubs they also handle bank reconciliations and reimbursements.
What is a treasurer?
A treasurer is the officer responsible for an organization's finances: recording transactions, safeguarding funds, reporting on the group's financial position, and making sure required tax filings happen on time. In a volunteer nonprofit, it's usually an elected or appointed board position, not a paid professional role.
What do treasurers do at a school PTO?
PTO treasurers collect and deposit fundraiser and membership income, pay approved expenses like classroom supplies or teacher grants, reconcile the bank account monthly, present a treasurer's report at meetings, and file the PTO's annual IRS Form 990-N or 990-EZ depending on the year's gross receipts.
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the annual information return most tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS under Internal Revenue Code section 6033. It reports income, expenses, and governance information and becomes a public record, searchable through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool.
What is a 990 tax form used for?
It's used to report a nonprofit's finances and activities to the IRS annually and to satisfy public disclosure requirements. It is not an income tax bill; tax-exempt organizations generally don't owe federal income tax on activity related to their exempt purpose.
What is the 990-N and who qualifies?
Form 990-N, the e-Postcard, is for tax-exempt organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less per year. It's filed only online through the IRS system, asks for basic identifying information, and has no paper filing option.
What does a club treasurer do differently from a company treasurer?
The core job is similar (track money, report accurately, file required returns) but a club treasurer works at much smaller scale, usually without professional accounting support, and personally knows most people whose money passes through the accounts. The legal filing obligations still apply regardless of the group's size.
What happens if a nonprofit misses its 990 filing for multiple years?
If a tax-exempt organization fails to file a required 990-series return for three consecutive years, the IRS automatically revokes its tax-exempt status, effective on the third year's filing due date. This is required by law (IRC 6033(j)), not a discretionary IRS choice.
Can a revoked nonprofit get its tax-exempt status back?
Yes, generally through IRS Revenue Procedure 2014-11, which offers streamlined reinstatement, including a simplified process for organizations that would have qualified for 990-N or 990-EZ. It requires refiling an exemption application (Form 1023 or 1023-EZ) along with the missing returns.
Do small booster clubs really have to file anything with the IRS?
Yes, if the organization holds federal tax-exempt status, it generally must file some version of the 990 series every year, even if gross receipts are small enough to qualify for the simplified 990-N. The $50,000 threshold determines which form to use, not whether filing is required.
How is a state raffle license different from filing Form 990?
Form 990 is a federal IRS filing to keep tax-exempt status. A raffle license comes from a separate state agency (often a gaming commission or the attorney general's office) and authorizes the specific fundraising activity. Many states also require separate charity registration on top of both. Confirm requirements with your state's charity office.
What's the deadline for filing Form 990 or 990-N?
The return is due on the 15th day of the 5th month after the organization's fiscal year ends. For a calendar-year filer, that's May 15. Organizations filing 990 or 990-EZ can request a 6-month extension using Form 8868.
What records should a treasurer keep for the 990 filing?
Bank statements, receipts, an income and expense log, board meeting minutes, the EIN and IRS determination letter, and copies of prior years' filed returns. Most treasurers keep at least three years of records, and many keep seven to be safe for audits or grant applications.
Sources
- IRS, Automatic Revocation of Exemption: organizations that fail to file required returns for three consecutive years automatically lose tax-exempt status
- IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations (Form 990-N): 990-N eligibility for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less
- IRS, About Form 990: definition and purpose of Form 990 as the annual information return under section 6033
- IRS Publication 557, Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization: thresholds distinguishing 990-N, 990-EZ, full 990, and 990-PF filing requirements
- IRS, Tax Exempt Organization Search: public tool to check an organization's exempt status and filing history
- IRS Revenue Procedure 2014-11, 2014-3 I.R.B. 411: streamlined reinstatement process for organizations that lost exempt status through automatic revocation
- IRS Instructions for Form 990 and Form 990-EZ: 990-series returns due the 15th day of the 5th month after fiscal year end