What is the job of a treasurer: the real job description

Last updated 2026-07-24

what does a treasurer do?

A treasurer is the person a club, nonprofit, PTO, or booster group trusts to track its money and account for it honestly. That's the whole job in one sentence. Everything else, the spreadsheets, the bank reconciliations, the IRS filings, is just the mechanics of doing that one thing well. In practice the role breaks into four buckets: recording money in and out, keeping the bank account and books matched up, reporting the numbers to the board or membership on a regular schedule, and handling compliance paperwork so the organization doesn't lose its tax-exempt status or run afoul of state rules. Small organizations often collapse all four into one volunteer with a laptop and a shoebox of receipts. Larger ones split the work across a treasurer, a bookkeeper, and an outside CPA. Nobody hands new treasurers a real job description. Most people inherit a bank login, a login to nothing else, and a vague sense that "the taxes thing" is due sometime. That gap is exactly why so many small nonprofits end up on the IRS auto-revocation list ^[1]. The job isn't hard, but it is unforgiving of neglect: skip a filing for three years running and the exemption is gone automatically, no warning letter required.

what is a treasurer, exactly?

A treasurer is an officer position, usually defined in the organization's bylaws, responsible for custody of funds and financial recordkeeping. It's a fiduciary role. That means the treasurer has a legal and ethical duty to handle the organization's money as carefully as they'd handle their own, arguably more carefully, since it isn't their own. Most bylaws describe the treasurer's duties in a paragraph or two: collect dues and donations, pay bills, keep records, report to the board. Some state nonprofit statutes also touch on officer duties in general terms, though the specific job description almost always comes from the org's own governing documents rather than state law. If your bylaws are silent or vague on what the treasurer actually does, that's worth fixing at the next board meeting, because vague duties are how money goes unaccounted for. A treasurer is not automatically a certified accountant, a lawyer, or a tax preparer. Most volunteer treasurers are parents, coaches, or members with a knack for spreadsheets. That's fine for day-to-day bookkeeping. It's not fine for a stance on complicated tax questions; that's when you call a CPA who works with nonprofits.

what do treasurers do day to day?

Day to day, a treasurer's calendar looks like this: deposit checks and cash within a few days of receiving them, log every transaction in a ledger or accounting software, reconcile the bank statement against the books every month, and keep receipts or invoices for anything the group buys. Weekly or event-driven tasks include collecting concession or ticket cash, counting it with a second person present, and getting it into the bank fast. Monthly tasks include the bank reconciliation and a short financial report for the board meeting: cash on hand, money in, money out, and how actual spending compares to budget. Quarterly or annual tasks include renewing any state charitable registration, checking whether a raffle license needs renewal, and preparing the annual IRS filing. A decent chunk of the job is just responsiveness: answering "can we afford new uniforms" or "did that sponsor's check clear" within a day, not a month. Boards lose faith in treasurers who go quiet, even when the books are actually fine.

what does a club treasurer do differently from a company treasurer?

A corporate treasurer manages cash flow, investments, and debt for a business, often with a finance team underneath them. A club or booster treasurer manages a checking account, a savings account if they're lucky, and maybe a payment app for dues. The scale is completely different, but the discipline required is the same. Where club treasurers get it wrong is treating the smallness of the operation as a reason to skip controls. A $6,000 annual budget still needs two signers on the bank account, a receipt for every purchase, and a report at every meeting. Fraud and simple mistakes both hide just as easily in a small account as a large one; small accounts just get looked at less often, which is exactly the problem. A club treasurer of does one thing corporate treasurers rarely worry about: they're usually also the one filing with the IRS. Booster clubs and PTOs are frequently small enough to file the 990-N e-postcard instead of a full return, which is simpler, but simple isn't the same as optional.

what does a treasurer of a club do with a raffle or fundraiser?

For a raffle, silent auction, or big fundraiser, the treasurer's job expands to include tracking gross revenue separately from expenses, keeping every ticket stub or bid sheet, and making sure any required state raffle license or charitable gaming permit is in hand before the event, not after. Most states that allow charitable raffles require a license or registration through the state's gaming commission, secretary of state, or attorney general's charities office, and the rules (minimum age of the organization, percentage of proceeds that must go to charity, reporting deadlines) vary a lot state to state. Confirm the specific requirement with your state charity office and, where relevant, your state's gaming or lottery commission before you sell a single ticket. After the event, the treasurer reconciles gross receipts, prizes awarded, and expenses, and keeps that documentation because many states require a post-event financial report as a condition of the license. This is also the exact kind of unrelated business income or gaming income question that can affect what goes on the annual Form 990 or 990-N; when in doubt, ask a nonprofit CPA rather than guessing.

what is Form 990?

Form 990 is the annual information return that most tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS to report income, expenses, and activities. The IRS describes it plainly: "Form 990 is used by tax-exempt organizations, nonexempt charitable trusts, and section 527 political organizations to provide the IRS with the information required by section 6033" ^[2]. Which version an organization files depends on gross receipts and total assets. Organizations with gross receipts normally under $50,000 file the 990-N e-postcard. Those with gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000 can generally file the shorter Form 990-EZ. Larger organizations file the full Form 990 ^[3]. The filing isn't optional busywork. It's how the IRS, donors, and state charity regulators can see that a nonprofit is spending money the way it says it does. Guidestar and similar databases pull directly from these filings, so a sloppy or late 990 is public, permanently.

what is a 990 tax form used for?

The 990 tax form isn't a tax bill. It's an information return, meaning it reports financial activity rather than calculating tax owed, since most filers don't owe income tax at all. Its real function is transparency: it tells the IRS, state regulators, and the public how much money came in, where it went, who got paid, and whether the organization is still operating within its exempt purpose. Donors and grant-makers routinely pull a group's 990 before writing a check, since it's public record. A booster club with two years of clean 990-N filings and a simple mission statement looks a lot more fundable than one with gaps. For small booster and PTO groups the relevant version is almost always the 990-N, sometimes called the e-postcard, which asks for basics: legal name, EIN, tax year, address, name of a principal officer, and confirmation that gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less ^[3]. It takes maybe ten minutes to file online through the IRS's e-Postcard system once you have the group's EIN and login credentials in hand.

what is the 990 deadline and what happens if you miss it?

The 990, 990-EZ, and 990-N are all due by the 15th day of the 5th month after the organization's accounting period ends. For a group on a calendar year (ending December 31), that's May 15 of the following year ^[2]. Miss the deadline once and nothing dramatic happens beyond a possible late notice. Miss it three years running and the consequence is automatic and irreversible under current law: the IRS states that "an organization that fails to file required Form 990-series returns for three consecutive years will automatically lose its tax-exempt status" ^[4]. No hearing, no warning phone call. The revocation is published in the IRS's Auto-Revocation List ^[5], and it's searchable by anyone, including the parents and donors your group depends on. Getting reinstated after auto-revocation means filing Form 1023 or 1023-EZ again (yes, from scratch) along with the IRS's reasonable cause statement and, often, back-filing the missed 990s. It's a real project, not a five-minute fix, which is exactly why the filing deadline deserves a calendar reminder every single year, not a mental note.

what does a treasurer do in a club with volunteers instead of staff?

In an all-volunteer club, the treasurer is often the only person who understands the finances at all, which is a risk in itself. If that one person disappears mid-season (new job, family move, burnout), the group can lose access to the bank account, the accounting file, and institutional knowledge about who owes what. The fix isn't complicated: keep a shared, written record of account numbers, signers, passwords, and the current-year budget somewhere the board (more than the treasurer) can access. Require two signatures on checks over a set dollar threshold. Have the outgoing treasurer walk the incoming one through a real handoff meeting, more than an email with a login. Most volunteer treasurers are also parents, coaches, or members juggling this alongside a full-time job. The role doesn't need to be glamorous or time-consuming if the systems are simple: one shared spreadsheet or a $15/month accounting tool, a monthly reconciliation ritual, and a folder (physical or cloud) where every receipt lives. Complexity is the enemy here, not effort.

what records does a treasurer need to keep?

Bank statements & reconciliations	7 years
Receipts/invoices	7 years
Form 990-series filings	Permanently (public record anyway)
Board minutes & bylaws	Permanently
Payroll/1099 records (if any)	4 years minimum (IRS employment tax standard)

At minimum: a running ledger of all income and expenses, bank statements and monthly reconciliations, receipts or invoices for every expense, copies of all IRS filings (990-series) for at least three years, and the current bylaws or budget approved by the board. The IRS's general guidance for exempt organizations is to keep records that support items reported on returns, and many practitioners recommend keeping 990-series filings and supporting financial records for a minimum of seven years given how they interact with state audit and charity-registration timelines, though the IRS itself doesn't set one single blanket retention rule for all nonprofit records ^[6]. When in doubt, keep it longer than feels necessary. Storage is cheap. Reconstructing three years of missing receipts during an audit is not. | Record type | Typical retention |

how is a treasurer different from a bookkeeper or accountant?

A bookkeeper records transactions. A treasurer is the officer accountable for the money, whether or not they do the data entry themselves. An accountant, especially a CPA, interprets financial statements, advises on tax strategy, and can prepare or review returns. A small booster club treasurer is usually doing bookkeeper-level work (entering transactions, reconciling accounts) while carrying treasurer-level accountability (answering to the board, signing off on the 990-N). That's a lot of hats on one head, and it's exactly why so many groups eventually hire an outside bookkeeper or accountant once the budget crosses roughly $25,000 to $50,000 a year, a rough threshold many volunteer treasurers cite anecdotally rather than one set by any regulator. BoosterLedger's treasurer kit exists for the gap between "volunteer with a spreadsheet" and "organization that can afford a bookkeeper": a one-time $99 State-Personalized Treasurer Kit that lays out the specific filings, deadlines, and forms for your state and org type, so a new treasurer isn't guessing at what applies to them.

what's the difference between a treasurer's job and financial controls?

The treasurer's job is a role. Financial controls are the systems that keep that role from becoming a single point of failure or temptation. A good control set includes two signers on the bank account, a receipt requirement for reimbursement, a monthly reconciliation reviewed by someone other than the treasurer, and a simple written policy on who can approve spending over a set dollar amount. Many state attorney general charity offices publish guidance on this exact topic for small nonprofits, and the recurring theme is separation of duties: the person who collects cash shouldn't be the only one who counts it, and the person who writes checks shouldn't be the only one who reconciles the account . In a two-person board this is hard to do perfectly. Do it imperfectly rather than not at all: even having a second parent glance at the bank statement each month catches most honest mistakes before they become a real problem. Controls aren't an insult to the treasurer's integrity. They're what lets a volunteer sleep at night, since nobody can accuse them of anything when two people always sign off.

when should a treasurer bring in outside help?

Bring in a CPA or bookkeeper when the organization's gross receipts approach the threshold where the 990-N no longer applies (over $50,000 normally means 990-EZ or full 990), when there's been a gap in filings and auto-revocation is a real risk, when the group starts running raffles or gaming events with state licensing requirements, or when there's any suspicion of missing money. A one-time consultation with a nonprofit CPA, often in the $150 to $400 range depending on region and complexity (this varies enough that getting a local quote beats trusting any national average), can save a group from a costly mistake on reinstatement or a state filing. It's not a sign of failure to ask; it's the same instinct that makes a good treasurer double-check a bank reconciliation. The IRS itself and most state charity regulators explicitly are not able to give personalized tax advice over the phone for complex situations, they can only point to general guidance. So for anything beyond routine bookkeeping and standard 990-N filing, confirm specifics with the IRS, your state charity office, and a CPA rather than relying on a forum post or a well-meaning board member's memory of "how we did it last year."

Frequently asked questions

What does a treasurer do?

A treasurer tracks all money coming into and out of an organization, keeps the bank account reconciled with the books, reports finances to the board on a regular schedule, and handles required government filings like the IRS Form 990 or 990-N. In small clubs, one volunteer usually does all of it.

What is a treasurer?

A treasurer is an officer position, typically defined in an organization's bylaws, responsible for custody of funds and financial recordkeeping. It's a fiduciary role: the treasurer has a duty to handle the group's money carefully and account for it honestly, whether or not they're a trained accountant.

What do treasurers do on a daily or monthly basis?

Daily or weekly, they deposit cash and checks and log transactions. Monthly, they reconcile the bank statement against the books and give the board a short financial report. Quarterly or annually, they renew state charitable registrations, check raffle license status, and file the annual IRS return.

What does a club treasurer do that's different from a corporate treasurer?

A corporate treasurer manages cash flow, investments, and debt for a business, often with a finance team. A club treasurer manages a checking account and dues, usually alone, and is frequently the one who files the group's IRS Form 990-N. Scale differs; the accountability standard doesn't.

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. The IRS states it's used to provide information required under Internal Revenue Code section 6033. Which version applies depends on the organization's gross receipts and total assets.

What is a 990 tax form used for?

It's used for transparency, not tax calculation. Most filers owe no tax on it. It reports income, spending, and program activity to the IRS and, since it's public record, to donors and state regulators who use it to decide whether an organization is trustworthy and still exempt.

What is the 990-N and who has to file it?

The 990-N, called the e-Postcard, is the shortest annual IRS filing, required for tax-exempt organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less. It's filed online and takes about ten minutes once you have the group's EIN.

What happens if a treasurer misses the 990 deadline?

Missing one year usually just triggers a late notice. Missing three consecutive years causes automatic revocation of tax-exempt status under IRS rules, with no hearing or warning required. The organization then appears on the IRS Auto-Revocation List and must reapply for exemption to get status back.

What does a treasurer of a club do with fundraiser or raffle money?

They track gross revenue separately from expenses, keep every ticket stub or receipt, and confirm any required state raffle license or charitable gaming permit is secured before the event. Afterward they reconcile totals and keep documentation, since many states require a post-event financial report as a license condition.

How long should a treasurer keep financial records?

Many nonprofit practitioners recommend at least 7 years for bank statements, receipts, and reconciliations, and permanently for 990-series filings, board minutes, and bylaws (they're public record anyway). The IRS doesn't set one blanket rule for all records, so confirm specifics with a CPA if your situation is complex.

Is a treasurer the same as a bookkeeper or accountant?

No. A bookkeeper records transactions. An accountant interprets statements and advises on tax strategy. A treasurer is the accountable officer, often doing bookkeeper-level work in small organizations while carrying the legal responsibility for the group's finances and required filings.

What financial controls should a treasurer have in place?

At minimum: two signers on the bank account, a receipt requirement for every reimbursement, someone other than the treasurer reviewing the monthly bank reconciliation, and a written policy on spending approval limits. Separation of duties is the core principle state charity regulators recommend for small nonprofits.

When should a volunteer treasurer bring in a CPA?

Consider it when gross receipts approach the 990-N threshold, when filings have lapsed and auto-revocation is possible, when the group starts running licensed raffles or gaming, or when any money is unaccounted for. A one-time consultation often runs a few hundred dollars and can prevent expensive mistakes.

Sources

1. IRS, Automatic Revocation of Exemption List: Organizations that fail to file for three consecutive years appear on this public list
2. IRS, About Form 990: Form 990 is used to provide the IRS information required under section 6033, and its deadline is the 15th day of the 5th month after year end
3. IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations (Form 990-N): Organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less can file Form 990-N
4. IRS, Exempt Organizations Business Master File Extract / Auto-Revocation List: Auto-revoked organizations are published and searchable in IRS data
5. IRS, Employment Tax Recordkeeping: Employment tax records generally must be kept for at least 4 years
6. New York State Attorney General, Internal Controls and Financial Accountability for Not-for-Profit Boards: Separation of financial duties is a core recommended control for small nonprofit organizations