How Treasury works

Once a year, before money comes in

1. Set up your budget

• Press Edit budget. Add a line for each thing you raise money for — choose Raising — and each thing you spend on — choose Spending.
• Budgeted is what you hope to raise or plan to spend. Change a name or an amount any time and press Save.
• Removing a line never removes money. Anything that counted toward it is kept and shown as not on a budget line, where you can place it again.

Tip: Card payments find a line on their own when its name contains what they were for — a line called Membership dues picks up dues paid online, and one called Donations picks up online donations.

Whenever an envelope comes in

2. Record cash and checks

• Under Money coming in, use Record cash or a check. Choose Check or Cash, enter the amount (and the check number), choose which budget line it counts toward, add who it came from and a memo, then press Record it.
• It appears in the list as Not deposited yet. After the bank run, press the Mark $… deposited button (it shows the total) — it marks everything not yet deposited as deposited today.
• Typed something wrong? Press Fix next to the payment to change the amount, date, name, check number or budget line, or Remove to delete it. Every change is listed under Activity at the bottom of the page.
• Receipt next to a payment opens a thank-you letter for the giver, ready to print or save.

When a family pays membership dues by cash or check

3. Mark a family's dues paid

• Do this from the Roster, not Treasury. Click a child's name to open their family's actions, press Mark dues paid, then enter the amount and how they paid.
• That is what makes them a member — their membership card starts working — and the payment shows up in Treasury by itself.
• The roster shows Dues paid or Dues not paid for every family once your PTO charges dues (Setup → Settings → Membership dues).

Once your PTO has connected Stripe

4. Card payments

• Dues, donations and fundraiser gifts paid online appear under Money coming in on their own, marked Paid by card. They settle in your PTO's own Stripe account and reach your bank on Stripe's payout schedule, so there is nothing to deposit.
• To put a card payment on a different budget line, press Fix and choose one. The amount and who paid can't change — those are Stripe's record — so a refund happens in your Stripe dashboard.
• To take card payments at all, connect your PTO's Stripe account under Setup → Settings → Payouts & bank. Until Stripe has finished checking your details, families can still join and are asked to pay you directly.

Whenever the PTO pays for something itself

5. Record a bill the PTO paid

• Under Money going out, press Record money the PTO paid out. Say what it was for, the amount, the date, who was paid (a check number is useful here) and which spending line it comes out of, then press Record it.
• It counts as spent straight away, against that line, and shows under Money going out marked Paid. Recorded something wrong? Press Remove on it and record it again.
• Don't record spending under Money coming in — that section is only for money the PTO receives.

When someone spends their own money for the PTO

6. Pay volunteers back

• Room parents and board members send their receipts from Money → Reimbursements — or send them the link ptohomeroom.com/admin/receipts. They can photograph each receipt with a phone.
• Each request appears on Treasury under Money going out, with how many receipts are attached and how they'd like to be paid.
• Choose which spending line it comes out of under Pay it out of, then press Approve (or Decline). Once you've actually paid them back, press Mark paid — it then counts against that line.

Any time

7. Reading the numbers

• The sentence at the top — raised and spent this year — adds up every payment for the current school year, less refunds, and everything paid out: bills you recorded and reimbursements you've marked paid.
• Each line under Raising and Spending shows what has actually come in or gone out against what you budgeted.
• Not yet on a budget line holds money that counts toward no line. It is real money and it is already in the total — press Fix on the payment to place it.

For your auditor or the next treasurer

8. At year end

• Audit packet downloads one zip of spreadsheets: every payment (with the budget line it counts toward), the budget, everything paid out and how it was decided, and the activity log.
• Export receipts downloads the receipt photos volunteers sent with their reimbursements, named by person and room.
• Don't forget lists what almost every parent group owes each year — the 990-N, state charity registration, insurance and a year-end review. Dates and thresholds depend on your state, so check yours.