Last updated 2026-07-25
TL;DR
A treasurer tracks every dollar in and out, reconciles the bank account monthly, keeps receipts, reports finances to the board, and files the group's IRS return (Form 990-N, 990-EZ, or 990) every year. Miss three years of filings and the IRS automatically revokes the group's tax-exempt status under 26 U.S.C. §6033(j).
what does a treasurer do, in plain terms
A treasurer is the person who watches the money. That's the one-sentence version. The longer version: a treasurer records every deposit and withdrawal, keeps the bank account reconciled, pays bills on time, collects and organizes receipts, and gives the board or membership a clear picture of where the group stands financially at any given moment. For a small booster club or PTO, this usually means keeping a simple ledger (a spreadsheet is fine for most groups under $50,000 a year in activity), reconciling the bank statement every month, and preparing a short financial report before each board meeting. For a group with paid staff or bigger budgets, it can mean managing payroll withholding, tracking restricted grant funds separately, and coordinating with an outside accountant. The job is part bookkeeper, part translator. Board members and parents don't want a wall of transaction codes. They want to know: how much cash do we have, are we on budget, and can we afford the thing we're voting on tonight. A good treasurer answers that in two minutes, not twenty. One thing that surprises new treasurers: the job is mostly routine, not glamorous. Reconciling a bank statement takes maybe 30 to 60 minutes a month for a typical booster club. The stressful part isn't the math, it's catching problems (a bounced check, a forgotten Venmo transfer, a receipt nobody can find) before they pile up for six months.
what is a treasurer, exactly, and how is the role different from a bookkeeper or accountant
A treasurer is an elected or appointed officer of the organization, usually named in the bylaws, with fiduciary responsibility for the group's money. A bookkeeper is a task; a treasurer is a role that includes that task plus oversight and reporting duties. An accountant is typically an outside professional (often a CPA) hired to prepare tax filings, audits, or complex financial statements. Most booster clubs and PTOs don't hire a CPA. The treasurer does the bookkeeping personally, and the board relies on that person's honesty and diligence. That's exactly why financial controls matter even in small volunteer groups: no professional licensing board is checking the treasurer's work, so the group has to build its own checks (a second signer on checks, someone besides the treasurer opening the bank statement, an annual informal review by another board member). Many state nonprofit corporation statutes name the treasurer as a required officer with specific duties. Some states use different titles (financial secretary, comptroller) but the fiduciary expectation is the same: keep accurate records and don't co-mingle the organization's funds with personal funds. If your group has never had a written procedure for who signs checks, who reviews the bank statement, and how receipts get filed, that's worth fixing before it becomes a problem. See financial controls basics for a simple starting checklist.
what do treasurers do day to day, week to week, and month to month
| Aug-Sep | Set up new fiscal year books, collect dues | 3-5 hrs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct-Apr | Monthly reconciliation, board reports | 1-2 hrs/mo | |
| May | Year-end reconciliation, prep for handoff | 2-4 hrs | |
| Nov-May (varies) | File Form 990-N/EZ/990 (due 4.5 months after fiscal year end) | 1-6 hrs | The filing deadline is the 15th day of the 5th month after the organization's accounting period ends [1]. For a group on a July 1-June 30 fiscal year, that's November 15. |
Daily or as-needed: record incoming cash (concession sales, membership dues, donations) and outgoing payments, keep receipts with a note about what the purchase was for, and deposit cash promptly rather than holding it. Weekly or biweekly: pay any outstanding bills, follow up on outstanding checks that haven't cleared, and log any new transactions into the ledger. Monthly: reconcile the bank statement against the ledger. Every transaction on the bank statement should match something in the books, and vice versa. This single habit catches most errors and most fraud early. Prepare a short financial report for the board meeting: cash on hand, income and expenses since the last meeting, and how actual spending compares to budget. Annually: prepare or help prepare the budget for the coming year, coordinate an outside or internal financial review (even an informal one, where a non-treasurer board member looks over the books), and file the group's federal tax return. Most small booster clubs and PTOs with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less file the e-Postcard, Form 990-N [1]. Larger groups file Form 990-EZ or the full Form 990 depending on gross receipts and assets [2]. Here's a rough month-by-month workload for a typical school-year booster club: | Month | Typical treasurer task | Time estimate |
what does a treasurer do in a club, specifically for booster clubs, PTOs, and youth sports groups
In a booster club or PTO, the treasurer usually handles a mix of things a corporate treasurer never touches: concession stand cash counts, raffle ticket money, spirit-wear sales, and sponsorship checks from local businesses. Volume is often small per transaction but frequent, and a lot of it is cash, which is exactly the kind of activity that needs a written cash-handling procedure (two people counting concession cash, a deposit log, a receipt for every reimbursement). Club treasurers also tend to manage restricted funds: money raised specifically for a trip, a piece of equipment, or a scholarship has to be tracked separately from general operating funds and spent only on what it was raised for. Donors and parents notice when restricted money gets used for something else, and it can create real legal and trust problems. If the club runs a raffle as a fundraiser, the treasurer is usually the one who has to confirm licensing requirements with the state charity office or attorney general before selling a single ticket, since most states require a raffle license or registration and have rules about prize limits, recordkeeping, and reporting proceeds. Requirements vary a lot by state, so confirm with your state's charity regulator before running one. See form 990 for how raffle income interacts with annual filing. A club treasurer of a small youth sports team might handle only a few thousand dollars a year and still needs the same basic discipline: separate bank account (never a personal account), monthly reconciliation, and a simple year-end report to parents.
what is form 990 and why does the treasurer have to deal with it
| Form 990-N (e-Postcard) | Small orgs | Gross receipts normally ≤ $50,000 [1] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form 990-EZ | Mid-size orgs | Gross receipts < $200,000 and total assets < $500,000 [2] | |
| Form 990 (full) | Larger orgs | Gross receipts ≥ $200,000 or total assets ≥ $500,000 [2] | |
| Form 990-PF | Private foundations | All private foundations, regardless of size | The treasurer is usually the person who pulls the numbers together for whichever version applies, even if someone else (an outside preparer, a board president) actually files it. Getting this wrong, or not filing at all, has a specific and serious consequence covered in the next section. For the mechanics of each version, see 990 tax form, irs form 990, and 990-n. |
Form 990 is the annual information return that most tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS. It's not an income tax return in the traditional sense (most 501(c)(3) and similar organizations owe no income tax). It's a disclosure document: revenue, expenses, assets, governance practices, and compensation of top staff, all reported to the public and the IRS [2]. There are four versions, and which one your group files depends on gross receipts and total assets: | Filing | Who files it | Threshold |
what is the 990, and is it the same thing as the 990-N
"The 990" is shorthand people use loosely for the whole family of annual information returns, but strictly speaking Form 990 is the full-length version. Form 990-N, the e-Postcard, is a separate, much shorter filing meant for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less [1]. The IRS describes the 990-N requirement plainly: "Most tax-exempt organizations, other than churches and church-related organizations, that normally have gross receipts of $50,000 or less are required to file the e-Postcard, Form 990-N, unless they choose to file a complete Form 990 or Form 990-EZ instead" [1]. So a small booster club can technically choose to file the longer form if it wants more detailed public records, but almost none do, since the e-Postcard takes maybe 10 minutes online and asks for basic identifying information rather than a full financial statement. The full Form 990 asks for a lot more: program service descriptions, a breakdown of revenue by source, compensation for officers and key employees, and a series of governance questions (does the organization have a conflict-of-interest policy, does it retain records, and so on) [2]. A treasurer moving from 990-N to 990-EZ or full 990 because the group grew past $50,000 in gross receipts should expect meaningfully more prep time, often several hours instead of ten minutes.
what is a 990 tax form used for, beyond just filing
Beyond satisfying the annual filing requirement, the 990 (in any version) works as the group's public financial resume. Form 990-EZ and full Form 990 are public documents. Many are posted on sites like the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search and third-party databases, so donors, sponsors, and even rival booster clubs can look up a group's revenue, expenses, and reported governance practices. This matters practically. A parent deciding whether to trust a booster club with a $500 sponsorship check might look up the group's most recent 990 first. A school district considering whether to keep working with a PTO might do the same. Treasurers who keep clean, accurate 990 filings are doing more than checking an IRS box, they're building a paper trail that supports the group's credibility. The 990 also documents whether an organization's tax-exempt status is current. If a group hasn't filed anything in years, that's visible, and it's a red flag for anyone doing diligence.
what happens if a treasurer misses the 990 filing for multiple years
This is the single biggest risk most volunteer treasurers don't know about until it's already happened: automatic revocation. Federal law requires the IRS to automatically revoke the tax-exempt status of any organization that fails to file the required annual return or notice for three consecutive years [3]. The IRS states it directly: "the law automatically revokes the tax-exempt status of organizations that do not file required Form 990-series returns or notices annually for three consecutive years" [3]. There's no warning letter that says "final notice, your status will be revoked next month." The revocation is automatic once year three of non-filing is missed, and it applies retroactively to the filing due date of that third year. Once revoked, the organization owes income tax on its revenue going forward (until reinstated), loses the ability to tell donors their gifts are tax-deductible, and its name appears on the IRS's public Auto-Revocation List [3]. Getting reinstated means filing Form 1023 or 1023-EZ again (essentially reapplying for tax-exempt status) and often paying back-filings, though the IRS does offer streamlined retroactive reinstatement procedures for small organizations that missed the deadline for reasonable cause, described in Revenue Procedure 2014-11 [4]. If your group is on the Auto-Revocation List right now, don't panic, but don't wait either. Confirm your status using the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool and talk to a tax professional about which reinstatement path fits your group's size and history.
what does a treasurer of a club do when there's no accountant on the board
Most small booster clubs, PTOs, and youth sports leagues never hire a professional accountant or bookkeeper. That means the treasurer is it, the only line of defense between organized finances and chaos. In that setup, a few habits matter more than anything else. First, never let the treasurer be the only person with access to the bank account or the only person who sees the statement. Even the most honest volunteer benefits from a second set of eyes, and it protects the treasurer from suspicion if something ever looks off. Second, keep it simple. A spreadsheet with columns for date, description, category, income, expense, and running balance is enough for most groups. Fancy software isn't required until the budget gets into the tens of thousands of dollars with multiple funding sources. Third, write things down as a habit, not a scramble. A one-page cash handling procedure (who counts concession money, how it gets deposited, who signs off) prevents 90 percent of the awkward "where did that $200 go" conversations. Fourth, plan the handoff before you need it. Booster club treasurers turn over often, sometimes annually. If the outgoing treasurer's system lives entirely in their head, the incoming treasurer starts from zero. See handoff and audits for a structured transition checklist. A $99 one-time State-Personalized Treasurer Kit (built for your specific state's raffle and charity registration rules) can shortcut a lot of this setup work if you'd rather not build the templates from scratch. Check it out at the treasurer kit builder.
how much time does the treasurer job actually take
For a small booster club or PTO (under roughly $25,000 a year in activity), expect 3 to 6 hours a month in a normal month, more during fundraising season or tax filing season. For a mid-size group filing Form 990-EZ, add several hours a year for the annual filing prep. For a larger group with paid staff or grant funding, the job can become closer to a part-time bookkeeping position, sometimes 10+ hours a month. The honest answer nobody wants to hear: it's rarely the accounting math that eats the time, it's chasing down missing receipts, following up on uncashed checks, and untangling a predecessor's incomplete records. A clean handoff from the previous treasurer, and a habit of reconciling monthly instead of quarterly, cuts the time commitment substantially.
getting started: the first 30 days as a new treasurer
If you just took over, don't try to fix everything at once. In the first week, get access to the bank account, get the login for whatever bookkeeping tool (or spreadsheet) the group uses, and ask the outgoing treasurer for the last 12 months of bank statements and the most recent 990 filing. Confirm the group's EIN and check its status on the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool. In weeks two and three, reconcile the current bank balance against the ledger, even if it takes a while to untangle. This tells you whether the books you inherited are trustworthy. Check when the next 990 filing is due; it's the 15th day of the 5th month after the fiscal year ends [1], and mark it now so it doesn't sneak up on you. By day 30, you should know: current cash balance, whether the group's tax-exempt status is current, when the next filing is due, and whether there's a written budget for the year. If any of those four things is missing or unclear, that's your first project.
Frequently asked questions
what does a treasurer do?
A treasurer tracks all money coming into and out of an organization, reconciles the bank account monthly, pays bills, keeps receipts organized, reports finances to the board, and prepares or coordinates the group's annual IRS filing (Form 990-N, 990-EZ, or 990). In a small booster club or PTO, one person usually does all of this without outside accounting help.
what is a treasurer?
A treasurer is an officer of an organization, usually named in the bylaws, responsible for the group's financial records and fiduciary oversight. It's a role, more than a task: bookkeeping is part of the job, and the treasurer also reports to the board and is accountable for how the money is handled.
what do treasurers do that's different from a bookkeeper?
A bookkeeper records transactions. A treasurer does that plus reports to the board, oversees financial controls, coordinates the budget, and takes fiduciary responsibility for the organization's funds. Many small groups don't have a separate bookkeeper, so the treasurer does both jobs.
what does a treasurer do in a club versus a corporation?
In a club (booster club, PTO, youth sports league), the treasurer usually handles smaller, more frequent transactions, often including cash from concessions or raffles, and manages restricted fundraising money. In a corporation, treasurer duties are often split across finance staff and focus more on cash management and reporting to a board of directors, not day-to-day cash handling.
what does a club treasurer do about cash from concessions and raffles?
A club treasurer should require two people to count cash together, log the count, deposit it promptly, and keep a written cash-handling procedure. If the club runs a raffle, the treasurer typically has to confirm licensing and reporting rules with the state charity office or attorney general before selling tickets, since rules vary by state.
what is form 990?
Form 990 is the annual information return most tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS, disclosing revenue, expenses, assets, and governance practices. It's a public document, not a traditional income tax return, and comes in several versions (990-N, 990-EZ, full 990, 990-PF) depending on the organization's size [2].
what is a 990 tax form used for?
Beyond meeting the annual IRS filing requirement, a 990 tax form works as a public record of an organization's finances that donors, sponsors, and school districts can look up. It also documents whether an organization's tax-exempt status is current, which matters for anyone considering a donation or partnership.
what is the 990, exactly, and is it the same as the 990-N?
"The 990" often refers loosely to the whole family of annual IRS filings, but Form 990 specifically is the full-length version for larger organizations. Form 990-N (the e-Postcard) is a much shorter filing for organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less [1].
how often does a treasurer have to file the 990?
Every year, without exception, regardless of which version applies. The deadline is the 15th day of the 5th month after the organization's fiscal year ends. Missing it for three consecutive years triggers automatic revocation of tax-exempt status under federal law [3].
what happens if a booster club or PTO treasurer never files the 990?
After three consecutive years of not filing, the IRS automatically revokes the organization's tax-exempt status, no warning notice required [3]. The group then owes income tax on revenue going forward and appears on the IRS's public Auto-Revocation List until it reinstates its status.
can a treasurer fix an auto-revoked tax-exempt status?
Yes, usually through refiling Form 1023 or 1023-EZ and, for many small organizations that missed deadlines for reasonable cause, using the streamlined retroactive reinstatement process under Revenue Procedure 2014-11 [4]. Confirm current requirements with the IRS and consider talking to a tax professional, since this isn't legal or tax advice.
does a small booster club really need a treasurer if it barely handles any money?
Yes. Even groups with just a few thousand dollars a year in activity need someone tracking deposits, expenses, and the bank balance, and someone responsible for the annual IRS filing. Skipping this is exactly how small groups end up on the IRS Auto-Revocation List a few years later without realizing it.
how much time does being a treasurer take each month?
For a small booster club or PTO, expect roughly 3 to 6 hours a month in a normal month, more during fundraising season or around the annual filing deadline. Groups with messy inherited books or no written procedures often take longer until things get organized.
Sources
- IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations (Form 990-N e-Postcard): Gross receipts threshold for filing Form 990-N and the filing deadline (15th day of 5th month after fiscal year end)
- IRS, Form 990 Series Which Forms Do Exempt Organizations File: Thresholds distinguishing Form 990-N, 990-EZ, and full Form 990 filing requirements
- IRS, Automatic Revocation of Exemption: Three consecutive years of non-filing triggers automatic revocation of tax-exempt status
- IRS, Revenue Procedure 2014-11, Retroactive Reinstatement Procedures: Streamlined retroactive reinstatement process available for small organizations after auto-revocation
- IRS, Exempt Organizations Select Check (Tax Exempt Organization Search): Public tool to confirm an organization's current tax-exempt status and Auto-Revocation List presence
- 26 U.S.C. §6033(j), Failure to File Return: Statutory basis requiring automatic revocation after three consecutive years of failing to file required annual returns or notices