AIBU to be the only person concerned that the PTA treasurer seems to have gone missing....

[PTAmissing]

With all the PTA money?

She's been treasurer for years, no children at the school anymore.

She usually attends roughly 1 of every 4 meetings. She hasn't been to one for 6 months. She won't answer the phone or the door, doesn't reply to emails or texts. Chair went to her house and she didn't answer the door although it looked like she was in. We have no access to the money or accounts and the school is lending us money to get back off her at some indeterminate time in the future.

We have the school fate soon and she has all the info on stalls etc not to mention the money we need to buy things! She owes one of the parents about £50 for things they bought from their company for the PTA xmas fate.

Nobody else seems concerned! I really got angry about it at the last meeting and said this is ridiculous, we have no idea how much is in the account, we can't get hold of her, we have no working float. Apparently she has family drama at the moment and thats why she's unavailable but she still wants to be treasurer. I raised the possibility that there could be something dodgy going on and got shut down by the chair who said its not possible as there are two signatories on the account (because she couldn't just forge a signature???)

AIBU to think they should be taking this a bit more seriously given there is over £7000 (at the last count) of money that has been donated by the parents fgs, not to just sit in an account that nobody can get into?!

I hope the chair has managed to get the bank statements off the treasurer?

I think PTA UK membership (which includes public liability insurance) runs with the calendar year. Would only take one phone call to discover if membership is current.

That's good news.

Can I repeat though, your problem isn't just that the treasurer wasn't a parent. You could still have a problem with the treasurer running off with funds even if you had a parent in that role.

You really need to address the way in which your PTA is run. You need to change your banking/admin/management procedures.

I think that this thread might just be a wake up call for several,posters who are PTA members.

cozie - I'm led to believe that a previous treasurer at ours siphoned off around ten grand.

I agree with Morecakeplease7 that you need to tighten up your procedures to prevent this happening again. Doesn't matter if the treasurer is a parent or not, all sorts of people steal stuff.

It's right to say changing the rules so the treasurer has to be a parent still doesn't resolve this. You really cannot have a situation where only one person controls the funds and you are left high and dry if they're not available. I'm amazed that it hasn't occurred to someone that you have to have to have plans in place in case the treasurer is ill or abroad or falls under the proverbial bus.

I agree that you need three signatories on all accounts that you need two signatures for...
If I fell under a bus they wouldn't have internet access - but they could write cheques and take me off the accounts.
Everything they need is either in clearly marked folders/desk drawers - there is a printed summary of how I prepare the accounts etc in the front of the folders - which I actually send off with them when they are being verified so they can be easily understood.
Lots of stuff is on my computer organised in clearly labelled folders. My computer is password protected as are my backups (on a separate hard drive) but in the event of my death/serious injury there is a letter to my sister (who doesn't live nearby) - she knows it exists and in the letter there is a clue she will understand to be able to work out my passwords...

Bank statements to chair first.

Three signatories.

Procedures regarding EGMs clarified - as your request wasn't taken forward.

Clarification on public liability insurance.

And keep on the case. There's a tendency, at this time of year, to 'leave things till after the holidays' etc.

Unfortunately, there sounds to be nothing that you've been told that couldn't be 'just to keep them happy'.

I would also be looking to have two people independent to the treasurer count any monies raised at events and get them to sign a cash book, then you have an audit trail If there are any queries. I would also have the accounts verified by a third party each year.

For an event I do small printed slips for each area (eg summer fair, date, area (eg door) and float amount). And put it in a box with a tightly fitting lid and the float. The person on the stall double checks their float.
At the end of the event every area counts the amount in their box, writes it on the slip and signs it - they then get it double checked and counter signed by someone else (or me) and put the money back in the box with the slip. I collect the totals for each area, add them together less the floats and announce it to all the volunteers present.
I take the boxes home and double check the amounts on the slips match what is in the box, then bag it up to bank. I send an email out to the organisers with an itemised breakdown of each area and any discrepancies...so that the people on the stalls can check what I have written matches what they counted...
I then keep all the slips from the boxes stapled to a print out of the breakdown in the records and note on it the paying in slip number and date it was banked.
The only 'dodgy' thing I do really is I lend the float money rather than take it out the bank. This is mainly cos I stockpile change at certain times ...so eg at Christmas I'll have two fairs for two groups and I basically use the same float for both...
and taking the money home - but that is usually cos at the end of an event we are all trying to get tidied up/get out etc and I would be in the way and I couldn't help with the tidy up. I know it isn't insured - I often get it banked the same day (I can bank in the Post office in a shop so it is open at weekends etc) but if not and I was burgled/fire overnight and lost it I would replace what wasn't covered by insurance.

I used to know someone who was in a volunteer position for a charity as a treasurer, and they and the chair and another member of the committee had it all sewn up between them. They were winning awards, none had previous involvement with police, so all looked good from outside, but they were secretly syphoning off very large sums, and anyone who raised a concern, just like you've tried, was first put off and if they persisted they had their reputation smeared. They're all in prison now.

It sounds really dodgy and as though there are insufficient checks in place to make sure this is managed properly. Haven't RTFT but I'd be escalating this in writing to the Board of Governors, the PTA umbrella organisation, Charities Commission etc...

In my experience, things most often go wrong from lack of attention or over reliance on one person who really isn't suitable to fill a particular position. There is often undue - reverence, almost - to someone's seeming expertise or actual position. ('He works in 'finance' so he's bound to be good with figures.' is one example.) If you have those sentiments pushed on to someone who doesn't like to say No to things, you potentially have a problem if they're not up to it. They could simply get themselves into an almighty fankle and not know how to get out of it.

I'd just aim to have the situation regularised. Everyone concerned, including the people at the centre of it, deserves more transparency.

I imagined that rather than being planned these things started off with someone needing money and thinking they'd borrow it from the funds and pay it back, then not being able to and it spiralling out of control. With Pollaidh's example above where three people involved it would have to be planned I'd think, but I don't see how anyone would think they'd get away with it!

In my experience, things most often go wrong from lack of attention or over reliance on one person who really isn't suitable to fill a particular position

This is definitely what happened when I was appointed Treasurer. They were a bit desperate and appointed the first warm body available to them. I was not very good but at least I kept good records and never counted on my own.

Stringent procedures protect the treasurer as much as everyone else. If you have proper procedures and can show you follow them, you are protected from doubtful or malicious accusations.

update

Jut turned up for PTA meeting to be told it's cancelled. No email or text or call from chair. Three of us turned up and hadn't been told.

Bloody furious now, wasted journey to the school which is a 15 minute drive and I'm not even picking the kids up today.

Apparently chair cancelled this morning as she is unavailable

Uh oh.

Quelle surprise

How do you feel about continuing in the role now, OP?

Well I'm torn between emailing my resignation or staying on and hopefully enacting some bloody change.

I called concerned mum, she knew it was cancelled as chair called her this morning but told her emails had already gone out to cancel it. None of us have had an email.

God ignore stupid name change. I only post about ex under name changes

Probably all in Brazil sipping cocktails paid for by the missing money

Ah screw it i'm done. Can't be bothered with it anymore.

Emailing now and copying all of them in.

I've been watching this with interest. That's now ringing so many alarm bells I think you need to take action. Don't give them any more chances. I would ring 101 to ask for advice. This is unbelievably wrong.

Well, it's not for anyone else to tell you what you should do, but I confess it wouldn't do for me; knowing what you now do, I simply wouldn't want to be part of something like this ... and that's coming from someone with more committee experience than I care to remember

Let's not forget it's a voluntary position, not something you're obliged to do, and while I very much admire your wish to change things, is it really worth this sheer bloody hassle?