PTA fundraisers - counting money

[onthebus]

After a recent fundraising event the PTA treasurer just went off with the money raised to count it on her own. However when I've worked with other voluntary groups in the past we would normally insist that any money raised was counted in the presence of at least one other unrelated adult.

I'm not doubting the treasurer's integrity in any way but concerned she may be exposing herself to potential accusations and wondered if I should say something? Would it be "normal" for her to count the money in front of someone else or am I just being OTT?

No, she should (for her own protection as you say) do it with someone else.

I would suggest it to her in those terms (protecting her not because you suspect anything) as she may well be doing it alone as she doesn't want to bother someone else to do what people see as 'her job'.

There's not usually any/enough training for people volunteering for these roles so many people just try to guess the best way.

To protect her self, she should really be with someone else when the counting is done. It is good practice.

Defo count with someone else - and both sign a chitty with the total on. This has caused a lot of angst in the past in our Primary School

I was treasurer and I used to get someone to do a rough count of the notes and large coins so we had a rough idea then I would take the money, count properly and phone round the total.

We always had two people counting the money or at least being present when the money was counted. It's for their own protection.

If it's a big event like the school fete, we have a team of counters who count the individual stall totals, then a final check at the end to see that the overall total agrees (within material tolerances).

For a simpler event e.g quiz night, then we do a rough count on the night & I usually then take the money & count it again properly later for banking.

It does depend on the event, though. If e.g it is one where we are selling tickets in advance & we know how many tickets have sold, then the money can be checked against the ticket numbers. If, however, it is just cash receipts, then more care is needed in the counting