A Tennessee PTA treasurer follows Tennessee PTA’s local unit bylaws and its PTA Money Wise Handbook, along with the state’s School Support Organization Financial Accountability Act. Two bonded officers sign every check. A committee of three non-signers or a professional audits the books. The audit, the first dues payment, and proof of the 990 all reach Tennessee PTA in November.
Tennessee PTA’s treasurer materials are on public pages, as is the state law on school support organizations. Everything below is current to November 2026 and links to its source.
The PTA Money Wise Handbook (updated November 2024) is the treasurer’s main reference. The Treasurer/Financial Documents page lists the November deadlines and links the Audit Report Form. The local unit bylaws template (revised October 2025) sets the treasurer’s duties and the good standing requirements. The Comptroller of the Treasury publishes the text of the School Support Organization Financial Accountability Act. Your school district adds its own policy on top of it.
Deadline calendar
Every Tennessee unit runs on a July 1 to June 30 fiscal year:
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Every board and general membership meeting | Written treasurer’s report |
| Monthly | Bank statement reviewed, signed, and dated by a board member who does not sign checks |
| After July 1, as new officers take office | Bank signers changed and officer information updated in Givebacks |
| Before the school year, on your district’s date | School support organization form to the director of schools |
| Before each fundraiser | Approval from the director of schools or a designee |
| First general meeting of the school year | Budget approved by the membership, as Tennessee PTA recommends |
| October 1, if your PTA is incorporated | Annual report to the Secretary of State |
| November 1 | Audit Report Form uploaded to Tennessee PTA |
| November 1 | First state and national dues payment, then monthly through June 1 |
| November 15 | IRS deadline for the 990-N, 990-EZ, or 990 |
| November 20 | 990 receipt to Tennessee PTA |
| December 1 | Unit in good standing to be eligible for Tennessee PTA awards |
| Before the school year ends | Statement of total revenues and disbursements to the director of schools |
| January 31 | 1099-NEC forms to recipients and the IRS |
| At least every five years | Bylaws resubmitted to Tennessee PTA for review |
Paying money out
The membership adopts the budget. A budget committee, usually including the treasurer, drafts it. The board of managers approves it and presents it to the general membership, which adopts it by majority vote. Tennessee PTA recommends doing this at the first general meeting of the school year. The handbook says funds should not be spent until the budget is approved, though the previous budget can carry a unit’s spending through the summer.
What the budget authorizes. Adopting the budget authorizes the treasurer to pay routine expenses it covers. The bylaws have the board approve routine bills within its limits. An expense the budget does not cover needs approval from both the board and the general membership. The board alone cannot amend the budget. Amendments go to the general membership too.
Two bonded officers sign every check. The bylaws have checks or vouchers signed by two bonded officers: the treasurer, and the president or one other designated officer. The handbook asks for two signatures on every check even when the check has one signature line and the bank does not look for a second. Pay by check, never in cash. Checks are not signed blank or written to cash, and cash is not withdrawn from the bank, unless the board has approved it and the approval is documented.
A request in Volo Cash signed by the treasurer and the president, the two bonded officers Tennessee PTA’s bylaws call for.
Receipts behind every payment. A disbursement request form, with original receipts stapled to it, carries the approval of the chair or officer responsible for the expense. The treasurer reimburses only items with a receipt and only what the budget or the approved minutes authorize. A chair who needs supplies up front can get a check in advance on a disbursement request, then turns in every receipt and returns what was not spent.
Debit cards and electronic payments. The handbook highly discourages a debit card on a PTA’s checking account and requires written procedures, with checks and balances, for any unit that has one. Electronic payments need a written procedure that includes oversight by two authorized signers. Givebacks, PayPal, and other small business platforms are fine for receiving money. Tennessee PTA asks units not to use Venmo, Zelle, or Cash App to receive funds. The handbook also calls paying bills through PayPal or by card a risk to a PTA’s internal controls.
School officials stay off the money. Under the School Support Organization Financial Accountability Act, a school representative cannot be the PTA’s treasurer or bookkeeper or sign its checks. For a PTA that supports a school, that means a school board member, the director of schools, the principal, or anyone primarily responsible for accounting for the school’s or the system’s funds. A majority of the PTA’s voting board should not be school representatives. The act also bars a PTA from using the school’s sales tax exemption, from presenting its contracts or purchases as binding on the school, and from using a bank account under the school’s EIN.
Taking money in
Two people count all money received, and both sign a receipt for the amount. The handbook includes a sample cash verification form. Deposit promptly, daily for a continuing project, and only into the PTA’s own bank account. PTA money never goes into a personal account, a school account, or a school safe. For PTA fundraisers that involve students and are held outside the school day, a principal may let the PTA collect the money during the school day, as long as school employees are not involved in accounting for it and the money comes in sealed envelopes.
Dues sent to Tennessee PTA are $5.25 a member, $2.00 for Tennessee PTA and $3.25 for National PTA, as listed on the membership reporting page. Enter members in Givebacks, then pay by eCheck there or mail a check with the remittance form. The first payment is due by November 1, then monthly through June 1. Council dues go to your council separately. Your unit sets its own local portion. The state and national portions are not the PTA’s income. The handbook has you record them as accounts payable until they are sent.
The monthly routine
The treasurer gives a written report at every board meeting and every general membership meeting. The board’s report shows the balance at the start of the month, the amounts received, the state and national dues, itemized disbursements, the balance in each fund, and the balance at the end of the month, along with how each budget line is being used. The handbook’s samples include a shorter version for the general meeting. Our treasurer’s report guide walks through the general shape.
Each month, a board member who does not sign checks reviews the bank statement and signs and dates it. The handbook’s procedure book list adds the president and treasurer as reviewers.
Reconciling in Volo Cash, ready for the monthly statement review.
The annual audit
Tennessee PTA calls it the audit. Every unit has one after the June 30 close and whenever a treasurer or other signer leaves office. The board selects the auditor or audit committee. The committee has at least three members who are not check signers, or the unit uses a professional auditor or bookkeeper.
Tennessee PTA’s November deadlines as reminders in Volo Cash, with the audit’s steps attached.
The treasurer hands over the checkbook, bank statements, deposit records, treasurer’s reports, ledgers, receipts, check requests, minutes with the adopted budget and any amendments, and the bylaws. The committee completes Tennessee PTA’s Audit Report Form for July 1 through June 30, reaching one of three findings: correct, incomplete, or incorrect. Each member signs it. The report goes to the board of managers and is presented at the first general meeting after the audit, where the association adopts it. The form is uploaded in Givebacks under Compliance/Submit Forms by November 1.
The Audit Report Form, the Financial page, the bylaws, and most of the handbook say November 1. One step in the handbook’s audit procedure says November 15, so aim for November 1. Tennessee PTA’s new school year checklist also asks units to finish the audit before handing materials to the new signers. Our PTA audit guide covers what a reviewer looks at. Volo Cash exports every request with its receipts as PDFs in one download.
Taxes and state filings
The 990 by November 15. Every unit files its own 990-N, 990-EZ, or 990 with the IRS by November 15 and sends the receipt to Tennessee PTA by November 20, uploaded in Givebacks or sent to the state office. Units are covered by Tennessee PTA’s 501(c)(3) status, and the state office keeps the determination letter. If you don’t know your EIN, it is in your unit’s information in Givebacks. Our PTA 990 guide explains which form applies.
School support organization filings with your district. Each local board of education adopts a policy under the act. At a minimum, it has a PTA submit a form to the director of schools before the school year, confirming its nonprofit status, goals, and officers. The PTA also needs approval from the director of schools or a designee before any fundraiser and files a statement of total revenues and disbursements before the school year ends. It adopts a written policy for accounting for and safeguarding its money, and it keeps its records at least four years. On request, it gives local school board officials, the principal, and the Comptroller’s auditors access to its books, records, and bank account information. The Comptroller’s office can also audit it. The forms and statements you file with the district are open to public inspection. Your district sets the dates and forms and can add stricter rules. Tennessee PTA has a position statement asking the General Assembly to remove PTAs from the act, since units report much of the same information to the state office.
A certificate for purchases. A PTA applies to the Department of Revenue for its own sales and use tax certificate of exemption. The handbook notes that a PTA cannot use the school’s. The Department’s nonprofit tax manual says the exemption applies only to sales made directly to the PTA, so a purchase not paid in cash goes on the PTA’s own check or a credit card in its name. A purchase made with personal money and reimbursed later is taxable. The Department reissues certificates every fourth year.
Fundraiser sales. The same manual says PTAs and other school support groups pay sales tax to their vendors on items bought for resale. The resale itself is not taxed. Don’t use the exemption certificate for goods you will resell. The handbook also describes the two 30-day sales periods that limit tax-free sales for nonprofits in general. The Department’s rule exempts schools and school groups from the part that taxes every sale once a third period is held, so ask the Department if your PTA sells in ways that don’t fit the school-group rule.
Charitable solicitation. The Secretary of State’s list of organizations exempt from registration includes educational institutions under T.C.A. 48-101-502(b). That definition includes organizations of parents and others connected with a school that support its operations or extracurricular activities. An organization that receives $50,000 or less in contributions from the public in a fiscal year is also exempt, but it files an Exemption Request every year.
Incorporated PTAs. If your PTA is incorporated, it also files an annual report with the Secretary of State by the first day of the fourth month after its fiscal year ends, which is October 1 for a year ending June 30. The fee is $20 for a corporation. The Secretary of State’s FAQ notes that a corporation that does not file on time may be administratively dissolved.
If your PTA paid an individual or an unincorporated business for services, the 1099-NEC threshold is $2,000 for payments made after December 31, 2025. The forms go out by January 31.
Raffles and games of chance
Tennessee PTA does not recommend or support raffles. Its handbook suggests keeping the items in a silent auction instead. The Secretary of State’s FAQ sets out Tennessee’s strict charitable gaming law:
- Only a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(19) organization that has applied to the Division of Charitable Solicitations and Gaming and been approved by a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly can hold a raffle. A raffle without that approval is subject to criminal prosecution.
- Applications go through the state’s TNCaB system between July 1 and January 31, with a $50 fee, for one event between the following July 1 and June 30. The organization must have existed in Tennessee for at least three years or meet an exception in the law.
- Raffles, reverse raffles, cakewalks, cake wheels, and bingo are the authorized games. Each event uses one type. Paying for a chance to win a prize makes it a raffle even when the payment is called a donation. A paid cakewalk at a carnival falls under the same law.
- Board members, officers, and their immediate family in the same household cannot buy tickets.
- A financial report is due within 90 days of the event, with a fee of $100 to $550 depending on gross revenue. At least 25 percent of the gross proceeds goes to the charitable purpose.
Insurance and good standing
Insurance is not among Tennessee PTA’s good standing requirements. The handbook highly encourages at least general liability, bonding, and officer liability coverage, from AIM or a comparable insurer. The Financial page links AIM’s guide and application. The bylaws do call for checks to be signed by bonded officers, and the handbook’s principles say the treasurer and other officers authorized to handle funds must be bonded.
A unit in good standing pays its first dues by November 1 and monthly through June 1, has bylaws approved by Tennessee PTA, submits the Audit Report Form by November 1, files its 990 by November 15 and sends the receipt by November 20, and keeps at least 20 members. A unit must be in good standing on December 1 to be eligible for awards. On request, a unit’s probationary period can be extended to January 31 so it stays eligible for awards, grants, and convention voting. The handbook says a unit that stops paying dues is no longer in good standing, can lose its charter and its federal tax exemption, and turns its assets over to Tennessee PTA.
Doing it in Volo Cash
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For the rest of the job, our complete PTA treasurer handbook walks through the year, and the year-round duties checklist lays out what falls due when.