990 online filing: how booster and PTO treasurers file

Last updated 2026-07-24

What is Form 990, and why does a small booster club have to file one?

Form 990 is the annual information return that tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS. It's not a bill. It's a report card that tells the IRS (and anyone who looks it up) what your organization brought in, what it spent, and whether it's still operating the way a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) is supposed to. Every group that has federal tax-exempt status, including tiny volunteer-run booster clubs and PTOs, has to file some version of it every single year, even in years with almost no activity. ^[1] The IRS scales the form to the size of the organization. Really small groups, meaning normal gross receipts of $50,000 or less, file the short electronic notice called Form 990-N (the e-Postcard). Mid-size groups file the longer 990-EZ or the full 990, both of which now have to be filed electronically as well. There's no paper option anymore for any of them. ^[2] Skipping the filing isn't a minor paperwork slip. The IRS automatically revokes tax-exempt status for any organization that fails to file for three consecutive years, no warning letter required beyond what's already on the books. Once that happens, your booster club or PTO is legally a taxable entity again, and any donations people made assuming they were tax-deductible technically weren't. If you're in this situation already, see our guide on 990 tax form recovery filings and irs form 990 revocation reinstatement steps.

What does a treasurer do, exactly, and does filing the 990 fall on them?

A treasurer keeps the money story straight: what came in, what went out, what's left, and whether the group can prove it. That's the plain-English version. In practice, what does a treasurer do day to day? They track income (concession sales, membership dues, sponsorships, fundraiser proceeds), pay bills and reimburse volunteers, reconcile the bank statement every month, and report a clear financial picture to the board. What is a treasurer, formally? Usually it's an elected or appointed officer named in the bylaws, with signing authority on the bank account and a fiduciary duty to the organization and its members. What do treasurers do that's specific to nonprofits, as opposed to a personal budget? They keep records organized enough that an outsider (a new treasurer, an auditor, the IRS) could reconstruct the year from the file alone. So yes, filing the 990 (or making sure someone qualified does) sits squarely in the treasurer's job description. In a small booster club, the treasurer is often the only person who knows the EIN, the login for the IRS e-file portal, and the fiscal year end date. If that's you, write those three things down somewhere the next person can find them. Treasurer turnover is the single biggest reason booster clubs lose their exempt status: the person who knew the deadline moved on, and nobody told the new one.

What does a club treasurer do differently from a company bookkeeper?

A club treasurer (booster club, PTO, youth sports league, church group) usually has no paid staff backing them up, works from a personal laptop or a shoebox of receipts, and turns the job over to a volunteer every year or two. What does a treasurer of a club do that a corporate bookkeeper doesn't? They also handle cash physically, at concession stands, gate admissions, raffle ticket sales, in a way most business bookkeepers never touch. That cash-handling reality is exactly why 990 filing trips up so many volunteer treasurers. The form asks for total revenue and expenses by category, and if your only records are a checkbook register and a stack of Venmo screenshots, reconstructing those numbers in March is painful. The fix is boring but effective: reconcile monthly, keep a simple income and expense log by category, and close out the fiscal year with a one-page summary the moment it ends, not eight months later when the filing deadline is bearing down. What does a treasurer do in a club with multiple bank accounts or sub-groups (say, a football booster club with separate concession and uniform funds)? They still have to report on one consolidated 990 for the parent organization's EIN, if that's how the exemption was granted. Check your group's letter from the IRS or your bylaws to confirm whether sub-accounts are separate legal entities or just internal budget lines; this trips up a lot of multi-sport booster clubs.

How do I know which 990 form my organization has to file?

990-N (e-Postcard)	Gross receipts normally $50,000 or less	Free, online only, at irs.gov [2]
990-EZ	Gross receipts under $200,000 and total assets under $500,000	Electronically through IRS-authorized software [3]
990 (full)	Gross receipts $200,000 or more, or total assets $500,000 or more	Electronically through IRS-authorized software [3]
990-PF	Private foundations, regardless of size	Electronically [3]	Most booster clubs, PTOs, and youth sports parent organizations land in the 990-N bucket. A single big fundraiser year, like a capital campaign for new uniforms or a stadium renovation, can push you over the $50,000 line for that year, which means you'd file the EZ instead. Don't just default to the form you filed last year; check your actual receipts every year. If you're not sure your organization is even exempt, or you've lost track of your EIN, start with our overview of form 990 filing basics, which walks through finding your organization in the IRS's exempt organization lookup tool.

The threshold is based on gross receipts and total assets, and the IRS updates the tiers periodically, so confirm current numbers on irs.gov before you file. As of the IRS's current published guidance: | Form | Who files it | Filed how |

What is the 990-N e-Postcard, and how do I actually file it?

Form 990-N is an eight-question electronic notice, and it's genuinely fast once you have your information ready. The IRS itself describes it plainly: organizations "whose gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less" may file the e-Postcard instead of the longer form. ^[2] You need: your EIN, your legal name and mailing address, any other names the organization uses, the name and address of a principal officer, your tax year, confirmation your annual gross receipts are $50,000 or less, and a statement if the organization has terminated. That's it. No revenue breakdown, no expense categories, no balance sheet. You file it at the IRS's Form 990-N Electronic Filing System (e-Postcard) page on irs.gov, using an IRS.gov account (they moved off the old Urban Institute-hosted system a few years ago, so if you're working from an old bookmark, it won't work anymore). ^[2] There's no paper alternative and no fee. Most treasurers report it takes ten minutes once they've located the EIN and confirmed the gross receipts number. One quirk worth knowing: 990-N can't be filed early for a year that hasn't ended yet, and it can't be amended once submitted. If you made a mistake, you generally just file again for the correct year when the window reopens, or contact the IRS Exempt Organizations customer account services line for guidance on your specific situation.

When is the 990 due, and does the deadline change based on my fiscal year?

The Form 990 series (990-N, 990-EZ, and full 990) is due the 15th day of the 5th month after your organization's accounting period ends. ^[4] For a calendar-year organization (fiscal year ending December 31), that's May 15 of the following year. For a booster club running on a school-year fiscal calendar ending June 30, the deadline is November 15. This is the single most common point of confusion for new treasurers. Your fiscal year end isn't always the calendar year, and it isn't always the school year either, some groups run July 1 to June 30, some run September 1 to August 31 to line up with the sports season, and some just use January to December because that's what the founding treasurer picked years ago. Check your IRS determination letter or your organization's bylaws to find your actual fiscal year end before you calculate anything. Extensions are available: filing Form 8868 gets you an automatic six-month extension for the 990-EZ or full 990. ^[5] Note that 990-N doesn't have an extension mechanism because there's no real filing to extend, it's just a notice, so if you miss the window you simply file it as soon as you can (it'll show as "filed late" but that's far better than not filing at all).

What happens if a booster club or PTO misses the 990 deadline?

Missing one year usually isn't fatal on its own for 990-N filers, since there's no late fee attached to the e-Postcard itself. But miss three years in a row and the consequence is severe and automatic: the IRS revokes your tax-exempt status by operation of law, no case-by-case review, no warning notice required beyond the annual reminder emails the IRS may or may not have on file for you. As the IRS states, organizations that "do not file required Form 990-series returns for three consecutive years" automatically lose their exempt status, effective on the filing due date of the third year. ^[6] For 990-EZ and full 990 filers, there are also dollar penalties for late filing, generally running $20 a day up to a cap tied to the smaller of $12,000 or 5% of gross receipts for the year (confirm current penalty figures on irs.gov, since these adjust periodically). ^[7] 990-N filers don't face that daily penalty because there's no dollar-based return to be late on, but they still face the three-year automatic revocation risk just like everyone else. Once revoked, the organization's name shows up on the IRS's Auto-Revocation List, a public, searchable database. ^[8] That's not a great look next to your booster club's name if a parent or sponsor searches for it before writing a check. Reinstatement requires an application (Form 1023 or 1023-EZ for most small organizations), and depending on how quickly you act, the IRS may grant retroactive reinstatement back to the revocation date. For the details, see our guide on 990n revocation and reinstatement.

How do I check if my organization's tax-exempt status was already revoked?

Search your organization's name or EIN on the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool, which includes the Auto-Revocation List as one of its datasets. ^[8] It's free, takes under a minute, and it's the first thing a new treasurer should do when taking over an unfamiliar set of books, before assuming last year's filings happened the way they were supposed to. If you find your organization on the list, don't panic, but don't wait either. The clock on getting back into good standing runs from the revocation date, and the sooner you file for reinstatement, the better your odds of a retroactive reinstatement that treats your organization as if the gap never happened for tax purposes. The IRS's Revenue Procedure 2014-11 lays out streamlined retroactive reinstatement options for organizations that were eligible to file 990-N or 990-EZ, which covers most booster clubs and PTOs. This is also the moment a lot of volunteer treasurers realize nobody in the organization's history actually knows the EIN, the original incorporation paperwork, or which state charity registration office the group is supposed to be filing with annually. Building a simple binder (physical or digital) with that information, updated every handoff, saves the next treasurer hours of detective work. A 990 tax form restart file with your EIN, determination letter, and last three years of returns is worth building even if you've never missed a deadline; it's insurance against the next volunteer transition.

Do state charity registrations require separate filings from the federal 990?

Usually, yes. The federal 990 goes to the IRS. Separately, many states require charitable organizations to register with a state charity office or the state Attorney General before soliciting donations, and to file annual renewal reports, sometimes attaching a copy of the federal 990 as part of that state filing. These requirements are entirely separate from, and in addition to, the federal 990 obligation. The rules vary a lot by state: some exempt small organizations below a certain revenue threshold, some exempt PTOs and school-affiliated booster clubs outright, and some require registration regardless of size. There's no way to give a single national answer here, so confirm with your state charity office or Attorney General's charity division whether your organization needs to register and what the annual renewal filing requires. A booster club that only files its federal 990-N but ignores a state registration requirement can still end up out of compliance at the state level, even with a clean federal record. If your club does any raffle, bingo, or other gaming fundraiser, that's usually a separate state licensing question entirely, on top of charity registration. Don't assume one filing covers everything.

What records does a treasurer need to gather before filing the 990?

Whichever 990 variant applies, gather these before you sit down to file, not during: Your EIN (Employer Identification Number) and the exact legal name on file with the IRS. Your IRS determination letter, or a note of your exemption subsection (most booster clubs and PTOs are 501(c)(3), some athletic boosters and alumni groups are 501(c)(4) or 501(c)(7); confirm yours with the IRS). A reconciled bank statement as of your fiscal year end, plus a simple total of all revenue by source (dues, concessions, fundraisers, donations, sponsorships) and expenses by category. The name and address of your current principal officer (needed even for the bare-bones 990-N). Last year's filed 990, if one exists, so you can check consistency and catch any prior-year errors. If your group's records are scattered across three former treasurers' inboxes, this is the year to build a clean handoff packet. For a full walkthrough on organizing a treasurer transition so this never happens again, see handoff and audits resources on the site.

Can a treasurer file the 990 themselves, or do you need an accountant?

For 990-N, yes, absolutely, a volunteer treasurer with no accounting background can file it themselves in about ten minutes on irs.gov, since it's eight basic questions with no financial statements attached. ^[2] There's genuinely no reason to pay someone for this filing alone. For 990-EZ or the full 990, it gets more involved. These forms ask for detailed revenue and expense breakdowns, program service accomplishments, and sometimes additional schedules (like Schedule A for public charity status or Schedule G for fundraising events over certain thresholds). A treasurer with clean, well-organized books and some patience can often still do this themselves using IRS-authorized e-file software, but if your organization's finances are messy, if you're not sure how to categorize something, or if you're dealing with unrelated business income, it's worth paying a local accountant familiar with small nonprofits for an hour of review, even if you do the data entry yourself. We're not accountants or a law firm, and nothing here is tax or legal advice; treat this as a starting map, and confirm specifics with the IRS and, where relevant, your state charity office. If your booster club is brand new to this and wants a structured way to organize the EIN, fiscal year, filing history, and state-specific registration requirements in one place before the treasurer changes hands again, that's exactly the gap our $99 one-time State-Personalized Treasurer Kit is built to fill.

What's the difference between the 990, 990-EZ, and 990-N in plain terms?

Think of it as three levels of detail, scaled to organization size. The 990-N is a name-and-number check-in: who are you, what's your EIN, are your receipts under $50,000, done. The 990-EZ is a real financial summary: revenue by category, expenses by category, a simple balance sheet, and some yes/no compliance questions, aimed at mid-size organizations. The full 990 is a genuine financial statement plus governance disclosures: executive compensation, conflict of interest policies, detailed program descriptions, and multiple attached schedules depending on your activities. A small booster club shouldn't be anywhere near the full 990 unless it's running a genuinely large program, six-figure gross receipts or half a million in assets. If a volunteer treasurer finds themselves staring at a full 990 for what's really a $30,000-a-year concession stand operation, double check the receipts calculation; something's probably off, or a prior treasurer over-reported and it's carried forward incorrectly. All three, regardless of size, are public documents once filed. Anyone can look up an organization's filed 990s through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool or through nonprofit-transparency sites that republish them. ^[8] That's worth remembering before you write program descriptions or list officer compensation; assume a parent, a sponsor, or a journalist might read it.

Frequently asked questions

What does a treasurer do for a booster club or PTO?

A treasurer tracks all money coming in and going out, reconciles the bank account monthly, keeps receipts and records organized, reports the group's financial position to the board, and makes sure required filings like the IRS Form 990 series and any state charity registration renewals happen on time. In a volunteer-run group, they're usually the only person who fully understands the books.

What is Form 990 in simple terms?

Form 990 is the annual information return tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS reporting revenue, expenses, and organizational details. It's not a tax bill; it's a public disclosure document. Nearly all 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) groups, including small booster clubs and PTOs, must file some version of it every year, even with minimal activity.

What is a 990 tax form used for?

It's used by the IRS and the public to see how a tax-exempt organization raises and spends money, whether it's still operating consistently with its exempt purpose, and whether it's meeting basic governance and reporting standards. Filed 990s become public record, searchable through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool at irs.gov.

Do small booster clubs really have to file a 990 every year?

Yes. Even organizations with under $50,000 in gross receipts must file the 990-N e-Postcard annually; there's no small-organization exemption from filing entirely. Failing to file for three consecutive years triggers automatic revocation of tax-exempt status under IRS rules, regardless of how small the organization is.

How much does it cost to file Form 990-N online?

Nothing. Form 990-N is filed free directly through the IRS website. If your organization needs the 990-EZ or full 990, IRS-authorized e-file providers may charge a fee for their software, but the IRS itself doesn't charge to file any version of the 990 series.

What happens if my nonprofit's tax-exempt status gets auto-revoked?

The organization becomes taxable, loses the ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and appears on the IRS's public Auto-Revocation List. Reinstatement requires filing Form 1023 or 1023-EZ; organizations that act promptly may qualify for retroactive reinstatement under Revenue Procedure 2014-11, treating the gap as if it didn't happen for tax purposes.

What is the deadline for filing Form 990?

The 15th day of the 5th month after your organization's fiscal year ends. For a calendar-year group, that's May 15. For a group running July through June, it's November 15. Check your IRS determination letter or bylaws to confirm your actual fiscal year end before calculating your deadline.

Can I file Form 990-EZ or 990 on paper instead of online?

No. The IRS requires electronic filing for the entire Form 990 series, including 990-N, 990-EZ, the full 990, and 990-PF. There is no paper filing option remaining for any tax-exempt organization, regardless of size.

What does a club treasurer do differently from a bookkeeper at a company?

A club treasurer usually handles physical cash from concessions, raffles, or gate admissions, works without paid administrative support, and hands the role to a new volunteer every year or two. That turnover, combined with cash-heavy fundraising, makes clean monthly reconciliation and organized recordkeeping especially important for club treasurers.

How do I find my organization's EIN if the previous treasurer didn't leave it?

Check old bank statements, prior filed 990s (searchable free on the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool), old IRS correspondence, or your state's business/nonprofit registry. If none of those work, you can call the IRS Business & Specialty Tax Line directly to request it.

Does a PTO need to register with the state in addition to filing the federal 990?

Often yes. Many states require charitable organizations to register with a state charity office or Attorney General before soliciting donations, separate from the federal 990. Requirements and exemptions vary widely by state, so confirm directly with your state charity registration office whether your PTO needs to register and renew annually.

What is the gross receipts threshold for filing Form 990-N instead of 990-EZ?

Organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less may file the 990-N e-Postcard. Once gross receipts exceed that in a given year, the organization must step up to the 990-EZ (under $200,000 receipts and under $500,000 total assets) or the full 990. Confirm current thresholds on irs.gov, as they can be updated.

Sources

1. IRS, "Annual Exempt Organization Return: Who Must File": Tax-exempt organizations, including small ones, must file some version of Form 990 annually
2. IRS, "Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations - Form 990-N (e-Postcard)": Organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less may file Form 990-N, filed free online at irs.gov
3. IRS, "e-file for Charities and Non-Profits": Forms 990, 990-EZ, and 990-PF must be filed electronically through IRS-authorized software
4. IRS, Form 990 Instructions: Form 990 series returns are due the 15th day of the 5th month after the organization's accounting period ends
5. IRS, Form 8868: Form 8868 provides an automatic six-month extension for filing Form 990-EZ or Form 990
6. IRS, "Automatic Revocation of Exemption": Organizations that fail to file required 990-series returns for three consecutive years automatically lose tax-exempt status
7. IRS, "Tax Exempt Organization Search": The public can search organizations' filing history and auto-revocation status through this IRS tool
8. IRS, Revenue Procedure 2014-11: Streamlined retroactive reinstatement procedures exist for small organizations eligible to file 990-N or 990-EZ