July and August Financial Tips for PTO, PTA, and Parent Group Treasurers
If you are a PTO, PTA, or parent group treasurer, your main July and August jobs are simple: finish any year-end review, build a realistic budget, organize your records, double-check fundraiser plans, and make sure your group is ready for back-to-school expenses. Taking care of those basics now can help the whole year feel smoother.
For a lot of treasurers, July and August are an in-between season. One year may have just wrapped up, a new budget may be getting started, and back-to-school season is getting closer by the day. The good news is that this can be a really useful time to get organized. A few smart financial check-ins during midsummer can help you head into fall feeling more confident, more prepared, and a lot less rushed.
Why July and August matter for treasurers
Once the school year starts, things move fast. Expenses pop up early, fundraisers get going, and questions start coming in.
That is why July and August are such a great time for treasurers to pause, review the basics, and make sure everything is in good shape before the pace picks up. A little time spent now can help you:
- Start the year with accurate numbers
- Feel better about the budget
- Make leadership transitions smoother
- Put simple financial routines in place
- Feel more prepared for back-to-school spending and fundraising
July financial tips for treasurers
If your new fiscal year begins July 1, this is a great month to get off to a strong start.
Finish the year-end audit or financial review
If your fiscal year ended on June 30, July is often when the audit or financial review happens.
This is a good chance to make sure your records are complete, catch any issues early, and help the full board feel confident in the numbers.
If your group uses an audit committee or outside reviewer, make sure they have what they need and enough time to finish the review.
Build a budget that feels realistic
A good budget should help your group plan well, not just repeat last year’s numbers.
As you work on the new budget:
- Base fundraising projections on conservative estimates
- Include expected cost increases for supplies and events
- Budget for volunteer appreciation
- Leave room for unexpected expenses
- Match spending plans to your group’s actual capacity
A realistic budget makes the rest of the year easier to manage.
Set up simple financial routines
Summer is a great time to review how money moves through your group.
A few simple routines can help prevent mistakes and reduce confusion. Consider whether your group should:
- Require two approvers for expenses
- Separate financial duties among different people
- Have one person review bank statements while someone else authorizes and issues payments
- Revisit reimbursement rules
- Update cash-handling procedures for events
These kinds of routines can make things easier and clearer for everyone.
Get organized for the year ahead
July is also a good time to make sure your files, reports, and account access are in good shape.
Try to:
- Update signer access on bank accounts
- Transfer financial passwords securely if leadership changed
- Organize digital folders and files
- Share recent treasurer reports with the new board
- Document recurring expenses and renewal dates
- Note important deadlines and annual tasks
A little organization now can save you a lot of scrambling later.
August financial tips for treasurers
August is often when the school year starts to feel real again. Calendars fill up, early expenses appear, and fall plans start moving quickly.
Review early-year expenses. Before the first big events and programs begin, take a close look at the expenses that usually show up right away.
That might include:
- Welcome-back event supplies
- Teacher support or classroom hospitality
- Volunteer appreciation items
- Printing, signage, or communication costs
- Membership or software renewals
Looking ahead now can help you avoid last-minute surprises.
Double-check your fundraiser numbers
If your group has a fall fundraiser, August is a great time to make sure the plan still feels realistic.
Ask:
- Is the income goal realistic?
- Do the costs still look accurate?
- Does this fundraiser feel worth the volunteer time?
- Do we have enough cash on hand before revenue starts coming in?
A quick review now can help your group go into fundraising season feeling prepared and confident.
Make sure records are easy to find. Once school starts, it gets much harder to stop and hunt for missing information. Before things get busy, make sure your key financial materials are easy for the right people to find, including:
- Bank information
- Current budget documents
- Treasurer reports
- Reimbursement forms
- Passwords and account access instructions
- Meeting minutes tied to major financial decisions
Check your cash reserve
Back-to-school season often brings early expenses before fundraiser income starts coming in. If you can, take one more look at whether your group has enough cushion to cover:
- Startup purchases
- Early event costs
- Reimbursements
- Unexpected school-year expenses
If the reserve feels tight, it is much better to know that now while there is still time to adjust plans. A few extra things that can really help A few small habits can make a big difference for treasurers during this stretch of the year:
- Create a simple treasurer transition checklist
- Maintain shared cloud access for financial records
- Keep meeting minutes that document major financial decisions
- Review whether officers are covered by appropriate liability or crime insurance
These are not huge tasks, but they can save a lot of confusion later.
A good end-of-summer goal
By the time fall arrives, most treasurers want to have:
- Clean books
- Clear financial routines
- A realistic budget
- Organized records
- Enough cash reserve to handle surprises
That does not mean everything has to be perfect. But if you can head into the new school year with those basics in place, the rest of the year will usually feel a whole lot smoother.
July and August can be a really helpful time to get your financial house in order before the school year gets busy. A little time spent reviewing the budget, organizing records, and checking the numbers can make back-to-school season feel much easier. If you are the treasurer this year, start small, tidy up the basics, and make a simple plan. A little work now can set your whole group up for a great start to the school year.
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