Last updated 2026-07-24
TL;DR
Form 990 is the annual information return tax-exempt nonprofits file with the IRS. Most small booster clubs and PTOs with gross receipts under $50,000 file the simplest version, Form 990-N, a free 8-question online form. Miss it three years running and the IRS automatically revokes your tax-exempt status.
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the annual information return the IRS requires from most tax-exempt organizations, including 501(c)(3) charities and 501(c)(4), (c)(7), and other exempt categories that booster clubs and PTOs sometimes fall under. It's not a tax bill. Nonprofits generally don't owe income tax on money raised for their exempt purpose, so the 990 exists to show the IRS (and the public) how the organization made and spent its money. The IRS says it plainly: "Tax-exempt organizations, nonexempt charitable trusts, and section 527 political organizations file Form 990 to provide the IRS with the information required by section 6033" [1]. That's the legal hook. Section 6033 of the Internal Revenue Code is what makes filing mandatory, not optional, for almost every exempt group regardless of size. There are actually four versions depending on how much money moved through your organization that year: Form 990-N, Form 990-EZ, Form 990, and Form 990-PF (for private foundations, which most booster clubs are not). Which one applies to you depends entirely on gross receipts and total assets, covered below. One more thing people miss: 990s are public documents. Anyone can look up a nonprofit's last several years of filings through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool or on sites like ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer. If you're a new treasurer, that's actually useful. Pull your organization's last filed [990](/articles/treasurer-basics/990) before you do anything else. It'll tell you who filed last, what they reported for revenue, and whether anything looks off.
What is the 990 tax form, exactly, and why does it exist?
Call it a report card, not a tax return. The 990 tax form asks about revenue sources, program spending, officer compensation, governance practices (does the board review the 990 before filing, does the org have a conflict-of-interest policy), and a summary of the mission and activities for the year. Congress requires it partly for accountability. Tax exemption is a public subsidy: donors get to deduct gifts, and the organization pays no federal income tax on exempt-purpose revenue. In exchange, the public and the IRS get to see the books. That's the trade. For a volunteer treasurer, the practical reality is simpler. It's the once-a-year task that keeps your group's tax-exempt status alive. Nothing else about the filing outranks that in importance for a small booster club or PTO.
Which version of the 990 does my club file?
| Form 990-N (e-Postcard) | Small orgs | Gross receipts normally $50,000 or less [2] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form 990-EZ | Mid-size orgs | Gross receipts under $200,000 AND total assets under $500,000 [3] | |
| Form 990 (full) | Larger orgs | Gross receipts $200,000 or more, OR total assets $500,000 or more [3] | |
| Form 990-PF | Private foundations | All private foundations, regardless of size [1] | Most school booster clubs, sports teams, and PTOs land in the 990-N bracket. That's the good news: Form 990-N (often called the 990n) is free, has eight questions, and takes maybe ten minutes online through the IRS's e-Postcard system. There is no paper option and no extension available for it, per the IRS [2]. If your club had an unusually good fundraising year and cleared $50,000 in gross receipts, you may need to step up to the 990-EZ, which does ask for actual financial detail (a balance sheet, revenue and expense breakdown, program service accomplishments). That's a genuinely bigger job and it's worth having clean books before you sit down to do it. See our guide to the 990-tax-form for what that filing actually requires line by line. |
This is the question that actually matters day-to-day. The IRS sorts filers by gross receipts and total assets, and the thresholds change the paperwork burden a lot. | Filing | Who files it | Threshold |
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer is the officer responsible for an organization's money: tracking it, protecting it, reporting on it, and making sure the group stays compliant with tax and state filing rules. In a volunteer group like a booster club or PTO, the treasurer is usually the only person who touches the bank account, the books, and the IRS paperwork, which is exactly why the role carries more weight than the title suggests. At minimum, a treasurer keeps a ledger of income and expenses, reconciles the bank statement every month, prepares a budget or financial report for board meetings, and makes sure required filings (the 990, state charitable registration renewals, sales tax if applicable) go out on time. In bigger organizations the treasurer might also manage a chart of accounts, oversee a bookkeeper, or coordinate an annual review by an outside CPA. It's a real fiduciary job, not a ceremonial one. Board members and officers of a nonprofit generally owe duties of care and loyalty to the organization. The treasurer is the person most exposed to those duties day-to-day because they're closest to the cash.
What is a treasurer, in plain terms?
A treasurer is the person the organization trusts with its bank account and its financial story. That's the whole job in one sentence. Everything else, ledgers, receipts, reports to the board, tax filings, flows from that basic trust. In a small nonprofit, the treasurer role is usually filled by a volunteer parent, coach, or booster who has some comfort with spreadsheets but rarely a finance degree. That's fine. The job doesn't require an accounting background. It requires consistency: recording transactions as they happen, not three months later from memory, and keeping documentation (receipts, invoices, bank statements) organized enough that another volunteer could pick up the books next year and understand what happened.
What do treasurers do day to day, month to month, year to year?
Daily or weekly: deposit checks and cash promptly, log every transaction, keep receipts for anything paid out. Cash from concessions stands and car washes is the highest-risk money a booster treasurer handles, so a same-day deposit habit (with two people counting it) beats letting it sit in someone's car trunk. Monthly: reconcile the bank statement against the ledger. If those two numbers don't match, find out why before the gap gets bigger. Bring a short financial report to the board meeting: cash on hand, money in, money out, anything unusual. Annually: file the 990 (whichever version applies), renew state charitable solicitation registration if your state requires it, review or update the budget for the coming year, and if there's turnover, hand the books off cleanly to the next treasurer. That handoff is where a lot of small nonprofits quietly fall apart. A missing password or an unreconciled account from two treasurers ago is how orgs end up on the IRS revocation list.
What a treasurer does that people don't expect
The parts nobody warns you about: state raffle licensing paperwork if your group runs a raffle (many states require a permit and a post-event financial report, and the rules vary a lot by state, so confirm with your state's charity office or attorney general before running one), 1099 tracking if you pay any contractor more than $600 in a year, and sales tax rules if your state taxes fundraiser merchandise. None of that shows up in a job description that just says "treasurer," but all of it lands on that person's desk eventually. Also unexpected: how much of the job is just saying no. No, we can't reimburse that without a receipt. No, we can't write a check to cash. No, we can't skip the 990 this year because we're small. Good treasurers protect the organization from good intentions that would otherwise create a mess.
What does a treasurer do in a club, specifically?
In a club setting, whether it's a booster club, a hobby club, or a PTO, the treasurer's job scales down but doesn't change in kind. You're still tracking every dollar, still reconciling monthly, still filing whatever version of the 990 applies. The difference is scale and formality: a small club treasurer might run everything from a spreadsheet and a single checking account, where a larger nonprofit has a bookkeeper and QuickBooks. A club treasurer typically: opens and controls the bank account, sets up or maintains a simple chart of accounts (dues, concessions, uniforms, tournament fees, whatever your club's categories are), tracks member dues or fundraiser proceeds separately from general funds if the bylaws require it, and reports at each meeting so members can see where the money stands. It's less about complexity and more about discipline, showing up every month and doing the same boring reconciliation whether or not anyone's watching.
What does a club treasurer do that a corporate treasurer doesn't?
A corporate treasurer manages cash flow, investments, and debt for a company. A club treasurer does something narrower and, honestly, more exposed: they're often the only financial control the organization has. There's no finance department checking their work, no internal audit team, sometimes not even a second signer on the checking account (which is itself a control gap worth fixing). That's why cash handling procedures matter more in a booster club than the job title suggests. Two-person counts for concession stand cash, a rule against reimbursing without a receipt, a requirement that checks over some dollar threshold need two signatures: these aren't bureaucracy for its own sake. They protect the volunteer treasurer as much as the organization, because when money goes missing in a small nonprofit, the treasurer is the first person people look at, fairly or not.
What does a treasurer of a club do when the club is new or in trouble?
If you've just inherited a treasurer role and don't know the club's IRS status, start by searching the organization's name or EIN in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search [4]. That tool will tell you if the group is currently exempt, and it links to the last few years of filed 990s if there are any on record. If you find the organization on the IRS Auto-Revocation List, that means it failed to file a required 990 (in any version) for three consecutive years, and the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status automatically, no hearing, no warning letter beyond what's already been sent [5]. The IRS explains the rule directly: organizations that don't file for three consecutive years "automatically lose their tax-exempt status" under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 [5]. Recovery usually means filing Form 1023 or 1023-EZ to apply for reinstatement, along with the delinquent 990s, and it can take months. If that's your situation, our irs-form-990 guide walks through the reinstatement steps in more detail. If the club isn't in trouble but just has messy or missing records, the job is triage: reconstruct the last 12 months of bank statements, match them to whatever receipts exist, and get current with this year's filing before worrying about historical gaps.
How do I actually file the 990-N or 990-EZ?
Form 990-N files entirely online through the IRS's Electronic Filing System for e-Postcard, no paper option [2]. You'll need your organization's EIN, legal name, mailing address, the name and address of a principal officer, the tax year, confirmation that gross receipts are $50,000 or less, and a statement if the organization has terminated or is going out of business. There's no fee. The IRS says filers should keep the confirmation email as proof. Form 990-EZ requires actual financial statements: a summary of revenue and expenses, a balance sheet showing assets and liabilities, and program service accomplishments described in your own words. Most exempt organizations now file electronically under IRS e-filing rules adopted following the Taxpayer First Act of 2019; check the current e-filing requirement on IRS.gov before assuming paper is still an option [3]. Deadline for both: the 15th day of the 5th month after your organization's accounting period ends. For a calendar-year organization (fiscal year ending December 31), that's May 15 [1].
What happens if a treasurer misses the deadline?
One missed year usually isn't fatal. The real danger is three misses in a row, which triggers automatic revocation under Section 6033(j) of the tax code, no discretion, no appeal process before it happens [5]. Once revoked, the organization owes corporate income tax on revenue going forward until it's reinstated, and donors can no longer deduct contributions. That's why the treasurer handoff matters so much for volunteer-run groups. A club that rotates treasurers every year or two, with no shared calendar or written procedure, is exactly the kind of organization that drifts into missing three consecutive 990-N deadlines without anyone noticing until a bank asks for proof of tax-exempt status. A simple fix that costs nothing: put the filing deadline on a shared calendar with two people's names on it, more than the outgoing treasurer's memory. BoosterLedger's $99 one-time Treasurer Kit Builder builds a state-specific packet with that calendar, plus the reconciliation templates and handoff checklist most small booster clubs are missing, if you'd rather not build the system from scratch.
Frequently asked questions
What is Form 990?
Form 990 is the annual information return the IRS requires from most tax-exempt organizations under Internal Revenue Code section 6033. It reports revenue, expenses, and governance details, and it's public. It's not a tax bill; it's how the IRS and the public verify a nonprofit is operating within its exempt purpose.
What does a treasurer do?
A treasurer tracks all income and expenses, reconciles the bank account monthly, reports finances to the board, and handles required filings like the annual 990 and any state charity registration. In a small nonprofit, they're usually the only person with full visibility into the money.
What is a 990 tax form used for?
It's used to report a tax-exempt organization's annual finances and activities to the IRS: revenue sources, spending by program, officer compensation, and governance practices. It keeps the organization's tax-exempt status current and makes its finances public for donors and regulators to review.
What does a treasurer of a club do differently from a company treasurer?
A club treasurer is usually the sole financial control point, with no finance department backing them up. They handle bank deposits, ledger entries, dues or fundraiser tracking, and IRS filings personally, often from a spreadsheet, rather than managing investments or corporate debt like a company treasurer.
Which 990 form does a small booster club or PTO file?
Most file Form 990-N (the e-Postcard) if gross receipts are normally $50,000 or less. It's free, online-only, and takes about eight questions to complete. Clubs above that threshold step up to Form 990-EZ or the full Form 990 depending on gross receipts and total assets.
What happens if a club doesn't file Form 990 for several years?
Missing the required filing for three consecutive years triggers automatic revocation of tax-exempt status under the Pension Protection Act of 2006, per IRS guidance. There's no warning hearing at that point; it happens by operation of law. Reinstatement requires reapplying for exemption and filing delinquent returns.
Is Form 990-N free to file?
Yes. Form 990-N has no filing fee. It's filed entirely online through the IRS's e-Postcard system with basic information: EIN, legal name, address, a principal officer's name, and confirmation gross receipts are $50,000 or less. There's no paper version available.
When is the 990 deadline?
The 15th day of the 5th month after your organization's accounting period ends. For a calendar-year nonprofit, that's May 15. Extensions are available for Form 990 and 990-EZ using Form 8868, but Form 990-N has no extension option.
Can anyone see a nonprofit's Form 990?
Yes, 990s (other than the 990-N's minimal data) are public records. You can search them through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool or third-party databases like ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer, using the organization's name or EIN.
What does a treasurer do in a PTO specifically?
A PTO treasurer manages membership dues, fundraiser proceeds, and reimbursements to teachers or volunteers, keeps a monthly reconciled ledger, reports at PTO meetings, and files the group's 990 each year. Many PTOs are 501(c)(3) organizations, which adds the same annual filing obligation as any charity.
Do all nonprofits have to file a 990?
Almost all exempt organizations must file some version of Form 990 annually, per IRS Publication guidance under section 6033. A narrow set of exceptions exists, including certain church-related organizations, but most booster clubs, PTOs, and youth sports groups don't qualify for that exception and must file.
What's the difference between Form 990-N, 990-EZ, and the full Form 990?
The difference is financial scale. 990-N is for gross receipts of $50,000 or less (8 questions, free, online only). 990-EZ fits gross receipts under $200,000 and assets under $500,000. Above either threshold, the organization files the full Form 990 with detailed schedules.
Sources
- IRS, About Form 990: Form 990 is filed to satisfy the reporting requirement under Internal Revenue Code section 6033, and the general filing deadline is the 15th day of the 5th month after year end
- IRS, Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations (Form 990-N): Form 990-N applies to organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less, is filed online only, and has no extension option
- IRS, Tax Exempt Organization Search: Organizations and the public can look up an organization's exempt status and past filed 990s using this tool
- IRS, Automatic Revocation of Exemption: Organizations that fail to file required 990 returns for three consecutive years automatically lose their tax-exempt status under the Pension Protection Act of 2006
- IRS, Form 990-N (e-Postcard): Form 990-N filers must provide the organization's EIN, legal name, mailing address, tax year, and a principal officer's name, and should keep the IRS confirmation as proof of filing
- IRS, Form 8868, Application for Extension of Time To File an Exempt Organization Return: Organizations filing Form 990 or 990-EZ can request a filing extension using Form 8868, an option not available to Form 990-N filers