Day to Day: Overview

This section has information that would be helpful in the accounting and reporting of regular operations.  It is dedicated to the many day-to-day issues that is faced by a parent organization.  

Parent Organizations support a particular student group or program through a Sponsor.  The Sponsor is a District employee who serves as the liaison between the Parent Organization and the District.  In addition, the pertinent Principal or other appropriate Administrator (if the Parent Organization is not located at a school) must approve various activities of both the student group and the related Parent Organization.  The main responsibilities of a Parent Organization, a Sponsor, and a Principal or Administrator are indicated below:

Parent Organization- A Parent Organization is responsible for supporting a student group, activity, or program.  Support may be as simple as providing refreshments for a particular event or support may be as complex as raising money for an out-of-state competition.  The Parent Organization works through the Sponsor to provide assistance for the planned activities of the student group; however, the Parent Organization does not have the authority to decide the activities or trips in which the student group will participate.  The parents and the Parent Organization may provide suggestions about particular activities; however, the Sponsor is responsible for the final decision with the Principal’s or Administrator’s approval.

Sponsor / Liaison - A designated Sponsor of a student group serves as the liaison between the Parent Organization and the District, under the supervision of the Principal or Administrator.  The Sponsor is responsible for determining the various activities and trips in which the student group will participate with the approval of the Principal or Administrator.  In addition, the Sponsor should work very closely with the Parent Organization and provide guidance to the organization.  The Sponsor should not be considered an officer or member of the Parent Organization.  However, the Sponsor, under the directive of the principal, shall approve all student / school-related activities of the Parent Organization.

Principal or Administrator - The Principal or Administrator is responsible for approving the activities of the student group and some activities of the related Parent Organization. 

Parent Organization officers also have day-to-day responsibilities to the club, as well as the students they support.  Some of these responsibilities include:

• Setting up a bank account properly,
• Accounting properly for fund-raiser income and expenses,
• Analyzing the outcome of each fund-raiser to determine its financial success/failure,
• Establishing and maintaining money handling procedures, and
• Becoming knowledgeable of District policies concerning using District buildings and distributing flyers.
• Parent Organizations should include written instructions on the recording of accounting transactions in their bylaws, such as accounting method (cash vs. accrual), number of authorized signers on the bank account(s) and number of authorized signatures required for each check.
• All transactions should be recorded in the Parent Organization’s financial records.
• The Parent Organization books and bank accounts should be reconciled monthly.
• Parent Organizations may provide support to their student group in two manners: 
   
  
  1. Parent Organization members raise funds for a student group. Funds are deposited into the organization’s bank account. The Parent Organization writes a check to the school where the student group is located. The school deposits the funds into the student group’s activity fund. The funds then belong to the members of the student group, to be spent at their discretion (under the supervision of the Sponsor). All accounting and safeguarding of the funds is the responsibility of the school, once the school has received the funds.
      
  2. Parent Organization members raise funds for a student group. Funds are deposited into the organization’s bank account. The Parent Organization writes checks to the individual vendors for the expenses related to the student group through their bank account. In addition, they collect amounts due from the students for each event/competition/trip in which the student group participates. In addition, the Parent Organization tracks who has paid and who still owes money for each event and ensures that all balances are paid in full before the event occurs. All accounting and safeguarding of the funds is the responsibility of the Parent Organization.