The outgoing treasurer has gone. You have the login, a folder of bank statements and a spreadsheet with tabs called "Final", "Final v2" and "Summer fair (use this one)". The bank balance does not match the number at the bottom of the sheet, and nobody on the committee can say why.
This is a common position for a PTA treasurer in their first term. You did not train as an accountant, and the job came with a file rather than a handover. The good news is that the clean-up is mostly sorting and writing things down. You do not need to understand every old row before you start, and you should not try to fix anything in the first week.
Do not fix anything yet
Before you change a single cell, save a copy of the file. Put the date in the file name, and keep the original somewhere the committee can see it. Then write a short note at the top of a new tab: the date you took over, who handed it over, and which bank accounts you have access to.
This matters later. If someone asks in six months why a figure moved, you can show the trail. The old file is the record of what was done before you arrived, so it should stay as it is.
Agree one opening balance
Your starting point is the latest bank statement, not the spreadsheet. Take the closing balance on the statement and write it down with its date. If you have more than one account, do each one separately.
Now compare that figure with what the spreadsheet says the PTA has at the same date. If they match, good. If they do not, write the difference down as a gap. Do not force it to zero by adding a balancing entry, and do not hide it in a "miscellaneous" line. A gap that is written down and explained later is far easier for an independent examiner or a parent reviewing the accounts to accept than a number that has quietly been made to agree.
Once you have an opening balance from the bank, and a note of any gap, you have a fixed point to work from.
Sort the old rows into funds
Next, go through the old rows and sort them by what the money was for. Most PTAs have a few real pots, even if the spreadsheet does not show them clearly:
- general funds that the committee can spend on whatever the PTA agrees
- the summer fair, or any other event, with its own income and costs
- money given for a specific purpose, such as playground equipment or a book fund
You may find that the old file has no column for this at all. Add one. Mark each row with the fund it belongs to, even if you are only guessing from the description. Where you are guessing, put a question mark in a comment next to the row so you can check it later.
One practical point: Vasker's Free plan gives you a starter cash book with one fund. If you want the summer fair and restricted money kept separate from general funds, you will need the Standard plan, which adds full books and reports. Work out which set-up fits your PTA before you migrate, so you are not moving the data twice.
List what you cannot explain
Some rows will not make sense. A payment to a name you do not recognise, a cash deposit with no note, a transfer between accounts that appears twice. Make a list of these. Put the date, the amount, the description as written, and the question you need answered.
Then take the list to two people. Ask the outgoing treasurer first, if they are willing to help, because they may remember a payment you cannot find on paper. Ask the committee second, particularly the chair and anyone who handled event cash. Give them a few weeks, and ask for a reply before the next meeting. Some answers will come back as "I think that was the bouncy castle", and that is useful. Write the answer down next to the row and note who gave it and when.
Any item that still cannot be explained after this stays on the list. That is acceptable. Your job is to show the committee what is known, what is still open and what you are doing about it, not to produce a perfect history from a file that was never kept properly.
Our guides on moving a charity's books off a spreadsheet and on starting a cash book mid-year cover the wider switch in more depth. This piece stays with the PTA clean-up itself: the unexplained rows, the funds and the questions for the committee.
Move to a simple cash book going forward
With an opening balance and sorted funds, you can start a simple cash book from the date of your opening balance. Keep the old spreadsheet as the record of what happened before, and do not copy every historic row into the new book unless you have a clear reason to. The new book records money from now on, with each entry dated, described and assigned to a fund.
A cash book does not need to be complicated. It needs to show, for each entry, the date, what it was, how much, which fund it belongs to and a reference to the receipt or bank line. Reconcile the book against the bank statement each month, so the balance on your screen matches the bank before the committee sees a report.
Vasker is one way to do this. You can start free by creating your free account and setting up the opening balance in an evening. Create the account from Sign up in a few minutes. There is no sales call and no setup fee. The Free plan gives you a starter cash book with one fund. Standard, at £59 a year, adds full books and reports, which is where most PTAs with a summer fair or restricted money will want to be.
The cash book needs an internet connection to work, so do not plan on entering things offline at a school event and expecting them to sync later. If you are keeping paper receipts at the gate, record them when you are back online, and keep the paper until the entry is made.
What to tell the committee at the next meeting
By the next meeting, you will have an opening balance, a list of funds and a list of open questions. Keep your update to three sentences:
"I have taken over the PTA books from [date] and agreed the opening balance with the bank statement at [date], with a gap of [amount] that I am still investigating. The old records are saved and unchanged, and the new cash book is running from [date], with funds shown separately for general, the summer fair and restricted money. I have [number] open questions that I am asking the old treasurer and committee to help answer, and I will bring an update to the next meeting."
If the committee wants more detail, share the list of open items and the reconciled bank position. Do not give them a single figure without the gap next to it.
Finally, check your PTA's constitution and any school arrangements for who can sign for payments and who receives reports, and make sure the handover is recorded. This is general information for volunteer treasurers, not legal or accounting advice. For anything specific to your PTA, check with the committee and your school.