Last updated 2026-07-25
TL;DR
A nonprofit treasurer tracks money in and out, keeps books that match bank statements, files the right IRS Form 990 variant each year, and sets basic cash controls so no one person can move money unchecked. For a small booster club or PTO, that's usually 2-5 hours a month plus a bigger push at fiscal year end. Skipping the 990 filing three years running gets the group's tax-exempt status automatically revoked [1].
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer keeps the financial record straight and makes sure the group's money does what the board says it should. That means recording every deposit and payment, reconciling the bank account monthly, keeping receipts organized enough that someone else could follow the trail, and reporting a clean balance to the board on a regular schedule. In a volunteer-run booster club or PTO, the treasurer is usually the only person who touches the books day to day. That's exactly why the job needs structure, more than goodwill. A good treasurer doesn't need an accounting degree, but they do need a system: a ledger (spreadsheet or software), a filing habit, and a calendar with the IRS and state deadlines marked. The honest answer to "what does a treasurer do" splits into three buckets: bookkeeping (recording transactions), reporting (telling the board and members what the numbers say), and compliance (filing the form 990 or its simpler cousins, renewing any state charitable registration, and following raffle or gaming rules if the group runs those). Miss any one bucket long enough and the group either loses track of its own money or loses its tax-exempt status.
What is a treasurer, exactly?
A treasurer is the officer (usually elected or appointed by the board) legally and practically responsible for a nonprofit's money. It's a role defined by the organization's bylaws, not by state or federal law directly, though most nonprofit corporation statutes require some officer to handle finances. The treasurer isn't the accountant on retainer and isn't the auditor. Small groups often don't have either of those. The treasurer is the person who signs checks (with a co-signer, ideally), watches the checking account, and can answer "how much money do we have and where did it go" at any board meeting without scrambling. In bigger nonprofits, the treasurer role can be more of an oversight function, chairing a finance committee while paid staff do daily bookkeeping. In a booster club with a $15,000 annual budget, the treasurer usually is the bookkeeper, the reporter, and the compliance officer, all in one volunteer.
What do treasurers do day to day, month to month, year to year?
| Monthly | Reconcile bank statement, report to board |
|---|---|
| Start of fiscal year | Set budget, confirm signers on bank account |
| Mid-year | Check raffle/gaming license renewal dates if applicable |
| Within 4.5 months of fiscal year end | File Form 990-N, 990-EZ, or 990 [1] |
| Annually | Renew state charitable solicitation registration if required |
Daily or weekly: record cash and check deposits from fundraisers, concessions, or dues; keep receipts for anything paid out; never let cash sit uncounted overnight if it can be avoided. Monthly: reconcile the bank statement against the ledger, present a short financial report to the board (income, expenses, current balance), and flag anything unusual before it becomes a bigger problem. Annually: close the books for the fiscal year, prepare a year-end financial summary for the membership or board, and file the correct IRS return. That's Form 990-N (the e-Postcard) for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less, Form 990-EZ or Form 990 for larger ones, depending on revenue and asset thresholds the IRS sets [1]. Many states also require a separate annual charity registration renewal, filed with the state attorney general or secretary of state's charity office, confirm the exact form and deadline with your state. Here's a rough time-of-year table many small groups use: | Time of year | Treasurer task |
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the annual information return most tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS to report income, expenses, and activities. It's not an income tax bill in most cases; it's disclosure. The IRS uses it to check that a tax-exempt group is still operating consistently with its exempt purpose, and the public can look up any organization's filed 990s. There are several versions scaled to size. Form 990-N, called the e-Postcard, is for organizations whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less; it's a short online form with about eight data fields, no financial detail required, filed through the IRS's Form 990-N portal [2]. Form 990-EZ is for organizations with gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000. The full Form 990 is required above those thresholds [1]. Private foundations file a different version, Form 990-PF, regardless of size [3]. If your booster club or PTO holds federal 501(c)(3) or similar tax-exempt status, one of these filings is due every year, even in a year when the group raised almost no money. The IRS states plainly that most tax-exempt organizations must file some version of the annual return each year [1]. Related reading: 990 tax form and irs form 990 break down the line items in more detail.
What is a 990 tax form used for, in plain terms?
It answers, for the IRS and the public, three questions: did the organization take in and spend money the way it said it would, is anyone being paid an unreasonable amount, and is the group still doing the charitable or educational work it was recognized for. For a 990-N filer, the questions are close to trivial: legal name, EIN, tax year, mailing address, name and address of a principal officer, confirmation that gross receipts are still $50,000 or less, and a statement that the organization hasn't terminated [2]. It takes most people under ten minutes once they have the EIN and login set up. For 990-EZ or full 990 filers, it's a real financial statement: revenue by source, expenses by category, a balance sheet, and disclosures about governance and compensation. This is where a sloppy year of bookkeeping turns into a stressful spring. Groups making the jump from 990-N to 990-EZ (because a big fundraiser pushed gross receipts over $50,000) should budget real time, or a bookkeeper's help, for that first bigger filing.
What does a treasurer do in a club versus a full nonprofit?
A club treasurer (booster club, PTO chapter, alumni group, rec league board) usually handles a smaller, simpler version of everything above, but with one added wrinkle: high officer turnover. Booster club treasurers often serve one or two years while their kid is in the program, then hand off to the next parent. That turnover is the single biggest risk factor for small clubs. A treasurer who inherits messy books, an unreconciled bank account, or no idea whether the 990-N got filed last year is not unusual; it's close to the norm. A 990n filing gap of three consecutive years triggers automatic revocation of tax-exempt status under Internal Revenue Code section 6033(j), added by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 [4]. The IRS confirms this directly: organizations that don't file for three consecutive years "automatically lose their tax-exempt status" [4]. A club treasurer's real job, then, isn't just this year's numbers. It's leaving next year's treasurer a clean handoff: a written procedure, copies of the last three years of filings, bank statements filed by month, and clear notes on any raffle license or state registration that needs renewing.
What does a club treasurer do that a corporate one doesn't?
A corporate or large nonprofit treasurer usually has an accounting system, maybe paid staff, and an external audit. A club treasurer usually has a spreadsheet, a shoebox of receipts, and volunteers. That gap means club treasurers need lighter-weight but stricter habits: two signers on every check over some small threshold (many small nonprofits set this at $250 or $500, though there's no universal legal number, this is a board policy decision), a monthly reconciliation someone other than the treasurer glances at, and receipts kept for every reimbursement, no exceptions for the coach or the board president. Club treasurers also deal directly with state raffle and gaming licensing far more often than corporate treasurers do, since bingo nights, 50/50 raffles, and silent auctions are common fundraisers for schools and youth sports. Rules vary heavily by state (confirm specifics with your state charity office or gaming commission), and running a raffle without the required license can risk both the fundraiser's proceeds and the group's standing.
What happens if a treasurer doesn't file the 990 on time?
Missing one year's deadline for Form 990-N by itself carries no monetary penalty, since the e-Postcard has no fee and no late-filing fine for a single missed year [2]. But miss three years in a row and the IRS automatically revokes the organization's tax-exempt status, no warning letter required beyond what's already public in IRS guidance on automatic revocation [4]. Larger organizations filing 990-EZ or the full 990 do face late-filing penalties: as of the IRS's published guidance, the penalty can run $20 a day for smaller organizations (capped at the lesser of $12,000 or 5% of gross receipts) with higher daily penalties and caps for organizations with gross receipts over $1,208,500, per the instructions to Form 990 [5]. These numbers are indexed and can change, confirm current amounts with irs.gov before assuming a specific figure applies. Recovering from auto-revocation means filing IRS Form 1024 or 1024-A (or, for many small orgs, following the streamlined retroactive reinstatement process described in Revenue Procedure 2014-11) and paying the applicable user fee [6]. It's a real headache, usually a few weeks to a few months of back-and-forth, and it's entirely avoidable with a calendar reminder.
How do you review a treasurer's work (or your own)?
A basic review, whether it's a new officer checking a predecessor's books or a board doing its annual check, looks at five things: 1. Does the ledger balance to the bank statement for every month of the year? 2. Is there a receipt or invoice for every expense over a small threshold (many clubs use $25 or $50)? 3. Were the correct IRS forms filed on time (990-N, 990-EZ, or 990) [1]? 4. Is any required state charitable registration current? 5. Were two people involved in any check over the board's approval threshold? This isn't a full financial audit, which typically means an independent CPA reviewing the books start to finish, something most small clubs don't need annually but should consider every few years or whenever there's a full change of officers. It's closer to a health check. Related: see our 990-tax-form piece for what a reviewer should expect to see on the actual filing.
What's the difference between the treasurer, the bookkeeper, and the board?
In a small nonprofit these often collapse into one overworked volunteer, but the roles are distinct on paper. The bookkeeper records transactions. The treasurer oversees the books, reports to the board, and signs off on the annual filing. The board sets financial policy (spending limits, signer requirements, reserve targets) and is legally responsible for the organization even if it delegates day-to-day work to the treasurer. Boards that treat the treasurer as a black box, never asking for a monthly report, are setting up the exact conditions where fraud or simple error goes unnoticed for years. A short board-level financial report, even five lines, at every regular meeting is the cheapest control a nonprofit has.
Where does a state-personalized treasurer kit fit in?
Most of what's above is a process problem more than a knowledge problem: knowing the steps matters less than actually having the calendar, the templates, and the state-specific checklist in front of you when the deadline hits. That's the gap BoosterLedger's $99 one-time treasurer kit is built to close: a state-personalized packet covering your IRS filing calendar, a cash-handling checklist, and the raffle/registration basics for your specific state, so a new treasurer isn't rebuilding the wheel from scratch or guessing at deadlines from a generic PDF. It's not tax or legal advice, and it doesn't replace confirming specifics with the IRS or your state charity office. It's a starting structure, which for most volunteer treasurers is the actual bottleneck.
Frequently asked questions
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer records income and expenses, reconciles the bank account monthly, reports finances to the board, and handles annual compliance like filing IRS Form 990 (or 990-N/990-EZ) and renewing any state charitable registration. In small clubs, one volunteer usually does all three parts.
What is a treasurer?
A treasurer is the officer responsible for an organization's money, defined by the group's bylaws. They track transactions, report balances to the board, and make sure required government filings, like the IRS Form 990 series, happen on time each year.
What do treasurers do that other board members don't?
Treasurers are the ones who actually touch the bank account, ledger, and receipts day to day. Other board members set policy and oversee spending limits, but the treasurer is the one who can answer, at any moment, exactly how much money the group has and where it went.
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the annual information return the IRS requires from most tax-exempt organizations, reporting income, expenses, and governance details. It's public disclosure, not usually a tax bill. Smaller organizations file simplified versions: Form 990-N or 990-EZ [2].
What does a treasurer do in a club?
A club treasurer (booster club, PTO, youth sports league) handles dues and fundraiser income, pays vendors, reconciles the bank account, reports to the board or parent group, and files the club's annual IRS return, most often Form 990-N if gross receipts stay under $50,000 [3].
What does a club treasurer do differently from a corporate treasurer?
Club treasurers usually work without paid accounting staff or software, relying on spreadsheets and volunteer habits. They also deal more directly with raffle licensing and fundraiser cash handling, and face more frequent officer turnover, which makes clean handoff documentation especially important.
What is a 990 tax form?
It's the IRS's annual information return for tax-exempt organizations. Depending on size, a group files Form 990-N (gross receipts normally $50,000 or less), Form 990-EZ (under $200,000 receipts and $500,000 assets), or the full Form 990 above those thresholds [2].
What is the 990 used for?
The IRS and the public use it to verify a tax-exempt organization is still operating within its exempt purpose, reporting revenue, expenses, and (for EZ/full versions) governance and compensation details. Anyone can look up a filed 990 through the IRS's public search tools.
What happens if a nonprofit misses its 990 filing?
One missed year for a 990-N filer carries no fee. But missing three consecutive years triggers automatic revocation of tax-exempt status under IRC section 6033(j), with no additional warning required beyond public IRS guidance [1]. Reinstatement requires a separate application and fee [7].
How much time does the treasurer job take each month?
For a small booster club or PTO, most treasurers report roughly 2-5 hours a month for routine bookkeeping and reconciliation, with a bigger push (often several hours over a few days) at fiscal year end for the annual filing and board report.
Does a small club really need to file anything with the IRS?
Yes, if the group holds federal tax-exempt status. Even organizations with $0 in a given year generally still file Form 990-N annually; there's no minimum-revenue exemption from filing, only from which version of the form is required [2][3].
Who should review the treasurer's books?
Ideally someone other than the treasurer: a board member, a finance committee, or, every few years, an outside accountant. At minimum, the board should get a monthly report and compare it against bank statements at least once a year, especially at officer handoff.
What's the difference between a treasurer and a bookkeeper?
A bookkeeper records transactions. A treasurer oversees the whole financial picture, reports to the board, ensures internal controls like two-signer checks are followed, and is responsible for the organization's annual IRS and state filings.
Is the treasurer personally liable for financial mistakes?
Liability depends on state nonprofit law and the group's own governing documents; this isn't something to guess about. Confirm with your state's nonprofit statute or an attorney, but generally acting in good faith and following board-approved procedures reduces personal risk substantially.
Sources
- IRS, Automatic Revocation of Exemption: organizations that fail to file for three consecutive years automatically lose tax-exempt status
- IRS, Annual Exempt Organization Return: Who Must File: gross receipts and asset thresholds determining whether to file 990-N, 990-EZ, or full 990
- IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations, Form 990-N (e-Postcard): Form 990-N is for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less and requires basic identifying information
- IRS, About Form 990-PF: private foundations file Form 990-PF regardless of size
- 26 U.S.C. Section 6033(j), Internal Revenue Code: automatic revocation of exemption for organizations failing to file for three consecutive years is codified at IRC section 6033(j)
- IRS, Instructions for Form 990 Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax: late-filing penalty structure and dollar caps for organizations required to file 990-EZ or full 990
- IRS, Revenue Procedure 2014-11: streamlined retroactive reinstatement process for organizations that lost exemption for failure to file