PTO Today

Hi all! I was looking for some input. For those of you who have replaced or are in the process of replacing your playgrounds-
Do you have a line item in your current budget for playground monies, or do you have a seperate account?

We only have one account at our PTO, but sepearate line items for each committee/fund

The person writing our grants is insisting that we should have a seperate account for the playground.
What is the consensus our there?

I have seen it done both ways, nice thing about a seperate account is you know with no hesitation how much is there for it, a line item also works. If you are doing the playground in the near future leave it the way it is, rather than opening up a seperate account. when our school did it, it was for almost two years so it was worth it.

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"When you stop learning you stop growing."

I can't see that it would make much difference from an accounting point of view as long as you are clearly keeping track of it. Unless forced to for other reasons, my decision would probably based on:

1) Is is going to cost extra (i.e., fees) to have a separate account?
2) With a different account, that is somewhat longer term, could we get better interest rates?
3) Would it be easier/harder for us to manage if it were in a separate account?

Besides "account" is such a relative term. In an office, all the money might theoretically sit in one bank account, but when we refer to "accounts", we mean our internal chart of accounts. There are cost centers and coding associated with each "account" - but that certainly doesn't mean different [I]bank[/I] accounts.

Perhaps there is a valid reason for a separate bank account in the world of grant writing. If so, the person making this demand should be able to back up the need with some tangible reasons/documentation.

Ours was done with a separate line item. All fundraisers and events that were done to raise money specifically for the playground were stated on the memo. All expenses discussed in our meetings related to playground were specifically stated as such. finally, when we were still short on the money needed for our equipment and installation in the Playground Fund, we had a vote to move money from the General Funds over to the Playground Fund. It was all done with the knowledge of those at the meetings and parents were well aware if events/fundraisers were going for the usual school programs or playground. Some supported the playground more than the regular fundraisers!
Since this is only temporary (once you finish the project, you won't have a need for the extra account), make it easy on yourself and make it a line item. It can disappear more easily from your budget than closing a bank account.

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Making a positive difference one project at a time

While saving for our new playground we got a money market account. At the end of each fundraiser we voted on how much money to put into the money market account from the general account. When we first started saving for our playground we put the money into a CD, but as we got closer to being able to start on the program we didn't renew the CD, and opened the money market.

Thank you. We never thuoght about somethin g like this. There are only a few parents who think that there should be a seperate account. It ahs been explained to them about the tax id number, tax reporting and such. We have it as a sperate line item in our budget, and money stays put.