Last updated 2026-07-25
TL;DR
A nonprofit treasurer tracks all money in and out, keeps books current, reports finances to the board, and makes sure the group files the right IRS Form 990 variant every year (990-N, 990-EZ, or 990). Miss three straight years of filing and the IRS automatically revokes tax-exempt status.
what does a treasurer do
A treasurer is the person on a nonprofit board or club leadership team who owns the money. Not spends it freely, owns tracking it, reporting on it, and keeping it safe. Day to day, that means recording every deposit and withdrawal, reconciling the bank statement each month, and being able to answer "how much money do we have and where did it go" at any board meeting without scrambling. Most small nonprofits and booster clubs don't need a CPA for this. They need someone organized who checks a spreadsheet or ledger app weekly and doesn't let receipts pile up in a shoebox. Annually, the treasurer's job expands to include the federal filing (Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-N depending on revenue) and often a state charitable registration renewal. Miss those and the consequences land on the whole organization, more than you personally, though the anxiety lands on you. In a lot of small nonprofits, the treasurer is also the one who trains their replacement. That handoff, records, passwords, filing history, is where organizations quietly fall apart. Write things down as you go, not the week before you resign.
what is a treasurer
A treasurer is an officer position, usually written into the bylaws, responsible for the financial operations of an organization. It's a fiduciary role, meaning the treasurer has a legal duty to act in the organization's best financial interest, not their own. Most state nonprofit corporation laws don't dictate exact treasurer duties by statute; that detail lives in your bylaws. But every state requires nonprofit corporations to have officers, and treasurer (sometimes combined as "secretary-treasurer") is close to universal. Check your own bylaws first; they override anything generic you read online, including this article. The treasurer is distinct from a bookkeeper or accountant, though in a small group the same person often wears both hats. A bookkeeper records transactions. A treasurer is accountable for the whole financial picture: budgeting, reporting to the board, signing off on the books, and making sure filings happen on time.
what do treasurers do (day to day, month to month, year to year)
Breaking the job down by timeframe helps new treasurers see the actual workload instead of a vague sense of dread. Weekly or as transactions happen: record deposits and expenses, keep receipts, don't let cash sit uncounted overnight if avoidable. Monthly: reconcile the bank account against your ledger, prepare a short financial summary for the board (income, expenses, cash balance, anything unusual), and flag any account that looks off before it becomes a mystery three months later. Annually: prepare or review a budget for the coming year, close out the books for the fiscal year, file the correct IRS Form 990 variant, renew state charitable registration if required, and if the org is due for one, coordinate an internal review or outside audit. One honest note: nobody hands new treasurers a clean starting point. If you're taking over mid-year with incomplete records, your first job isn't perfection, it's figuring out what you actually have. Pull the last 12 months of bank statements and reconstruct from there if the prior treasurer's records are thin.
what a treasurer does in a club (booster clubs, PTOs, youth sports)
Volunteer-run clubs (booster clubs, PTOs, robotics teams, travel sports) usually don't have a paid finance staff, so the treasurer does everything a bank's back office and an accountant would normally do, part time, for free. That includes managing the club's checking account (ideally with two signers required for anything over a set dollar threshold), collecting and depositing cash from fundraisers and concession stands, tracking who owes dues or fees, reimbursing volunteers, and reporting a simple profit-and-loss at each meeting. Clubs that run raffles or bingo nights have an extra layer: most states require a specific charitable gaming license before you sell a single ticket, separate from your federal tax-exempt status. Confirm with your state charity office or attorney general's office what license applies and what the fee and reporting deadlines are, because rules vary widely by state and by game type. A lot of club treasurers also inherit the IRS filing duty even though the club is tiny. If your club has its own EIN and is recognized (or was recognized) as tax-exempt, you likely still owe an annual Form 990-N even at $0 revenue. Skipping it because "we're small" is the single most common reason small clubs get their exemption automatically revoked.
what does a club treasurer do differently from a corporate nonprofit treasurer
The core job is the same: track money, report to the group, file on time. The difference is scale and formality. A corporate nonprofit treasurer typically works alongside paid finance staff, follows written financial policies, and deals with six or seven figure budgets, audited financial statements, and a Form 990 with multiple schedules. A club treasurer is often the only person touching the books, works from a shared spreadsheet or a low-cost accounting tool, and files the simplest form the IRS offers, the 990-N, because gross receipts stay under $50,000 [1]. The risk profile is actually similar though. A $600 discrepancy in a booster club's concession stand cash is just as damaging to trust as a much larger discrepancy at a hospital foundation, because volunteer parents notice fast and word spreads at every game. Controls matter at every size.
what is Form 990
| 990-N (e-Postcard) | Gross receipts normally ≤ $50,000 | [1] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 990-EZ | Gross receipts < $200,000 and total assets < $500,000 | [3] | |
| 990 (full) | Gross receipts ≥ $200,000 or total assets ≥ $500,000 | [3] | |
| 990-PF | Private foundations, regardless of size | [4] | Certain organizations, including churches and some government-affiliated entities, are exempt from filing any 990 variant [5]. If you're not sure which category your club falls into, that's worth confirming directly with the IRS or a tax professional rather than guessing. For the details on what each version requires, see our breakdown of Form 990 and the differences between the 990 tax form variants. |
Form 990 is the annual information return that tax-exempt organizations file with the IRS to report income, expenses, and activities. The IRS states it is used "to provide the IRS with the information required by section 6033" [2]. It is not an income tax return in the traditional sense; most filers owe no tax. It's a disclosure document, and it's public record. Which version you file depends on gross receipts and total assets: | Form | Who files it | Threshold |
what is a 990 tax form vs what is the 990 (are they different)
No, they're the same thing described two ways. "990 tax form" and "the 990" both refer to the IRS's annual information return for tax-exempt organizations. The confusion usually comes from the fact that there isn't one single 990, there's a family of related forms (990-N, 990-EZ, 990, 990-PF) and people use "the 990" loosely to mean whichever one applies to their organization. Search engines and AI answer tools sometimes treat these as separate questions because people phrase them differently, but functionally they point to the same filing obligation under Internal Revenue Code section 6033 [2]. If someone asks you "do we need to file the 990 or the 990 tax form," the answer is: you need to file whichever variant matches your organization's size, and yes, that's what people mean by both phrases. For a plain walkthrough see our guide to IRS Form 990.
how does Form 990-N work for small clubs and PTOs
Form 990-N, nicknamed the e-Postcard, is the filing most booster clubs, PTOs, and small youth sports orgs use. It applies to tax-exempt organizations with gross receipts normally $50,000 or less [1]. It's free, filed entirely online through the IRS's e-Postcard system, and asks for basic information: your EIN, tax year, legal name and address, and a confirmation that receipts stayed under the threshold. There's no financial detail required on the 990-N itself, which is exactly why some treasurers get lulled into skipping it. Don't. The IRS is explicit: "Organizations that fail to file required Form 990-series returns for three consecutive years automatically lose their tax-exempt status" [6]. That's the single biggest filing risk small clubs face, and it happens quietly, most groups don't find out until a bank or grant application asks for proof of exempt status and it's gone. If your club has already been auto-revoked, the IRS publishes a process for retroactive reinstatement (Revenue Procedure 2014-11 describes streamlined options for organizations that were eligible to file 990-N or 990-EZ) [7]. It's a real fix, but it takes paperwork and sometimes a fee, and outcomes aren't guaranteed, confirm current requirements with the IRS before assuming your situation qualifies. See our guides on 990-N and Form 990-N for the filing walkthrough.
how do you actually get started as a new treasurer
If you just got handed the job, here's the order that actually works, not the order that feels productive but wastes your first month. First, get access: bank login or signature authority, the EIN, the IRS online account if one exists, any accounting software login, and the last three years of filed 990s or confirmation none were filed. Second, get the bylaws and read the treasurer section specifically; it may require things like a written budget, dual signatures, or a specific reporting cadence you don't know about yet. Third, reconcile the last 12 months of bank statements against whatever records exist, even a shoebox of receipts, so you know your real starting balance. Fourth, check the organization's IRS status using the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search tool to confirm current exemption and see the filing history [8]. Fifth, calendar every deadline: your 990 variant's due date (generally the 15th day of the 5th month after your fiscal year ends) [9], state charity registration renewal, and any raffle or gaming license renewal. A lot of new treasurers try to build all their financial policies from scratch. You don't have to. A State-Personalized Treasurer Kit ($99 one-time) packages the state-specific filing calendar, bylaws-friendly financial policy templates, and handoff checklist so you're not reverse-engineering all five of those steps from government websites at 11pm.
what financial controls should a treasurer set up
Controls exist so no single person, including you, can move money without a check on it. That protects the organization and it protects you from suspicion if something ever looks wrong. Minimum controls worth having even in a tiny volunteer club: require two signatures or two-person approval on checks above a set dollar amount, never let one person both collect cash and deposit it alone (two people count concession or ticket cash before it leaves the table), reconcile the bank statement monthly against your own records rather than trusting the bank's summary blindly, and require receipts for all reimbursements, no exceptions for the president's spouse. A written expense approval policy, even a one-page document the board signs, resolves 90% of the awkward "can I be reimbursed for this" conversations before they happen. Keep it simple enough that a volunteer can follow it without training.
how do treasurers report to the board
A useful board financial report answers three questions in under two minutes of reading: how much money do we have right now, how does that compare to budget, and is anything unusual happening. A simple monthly or quarterly report includes: beginning cash balance, total income by major category (dues, fundraisers, donations), total expenses by major category, ending cash balance, and a one-line flag on anything that varies significantly from budget. Boards don't need a full ledger dump at every meeting; they need enough detail to ask good questions and approve a budget with confidence. Save the full transaction detail for anyone who asks, or for the annual review, but don't bury the board in it monthly. Reports that are too dense get skimmed, and skimmed reports don't catch problems.
what happens at handoff to the next treasurer
The handoff is where good treasurers protect the organization's future, and where most of the institutional knowledge in volunteer nonprofits quietly disappears. Build a handoff packet while you're still in the role, not after you've already left: current bank account details and who has signature authority, the EIN and IRS online account access, the last three years of filed 990s, the state charity registration status and renewal date, any raffle or gaming license and its renewal date, the current budget and year-to-date actuals, and a plain-English note on anything unusual (a lawsuit, a grant with restricted use, a loan). Sit down with the incoming treasurer for at least one real conversation, more than an email dump. Organizations that treat every handoff like this rarely get auto-revoked or lose their raffle license, because the deadlines travel with the documents instead of living only in one person's memory.
Frequently asked questions
what does a treasurer do
A treasurer tracks all incoming and outgoing money, keeps the books reconciled, reports finances to the board regularly, and handles annual obligations like the IRS Form 990 filing and state charity registration renewal. In small clubs, the treasurer often also manages the bank account and handles cash from fundraisers directly.
what is a treasurer
A treasurer is an officer role, typically defined in an organization's bylaws, responsible for the financial operations and reporting of a nonprofit, club, or association. It's a fiduciary position, meaning the treasurer has a legal duty to act in the organization's financial best interest, not their own.
what do treasurers do
Treasurers record transactions, reconcile bank accounts monthly, prepare financial reports for board meetings, manage budgets, and file required annual paperwork like Form 990-N, 990-EZ, or 990 depending on the organization's revenue. The specific workload scales with organization size but the core duties stay the same.
what does a treasurer do in a club
A club treasurer (booster club, PTO, youth sports) manages the checking account, deposits and tracks cash from fundraisers and dues, reimburses volunteers with receipts, reports a simple profit-and-loss at meetings, and files the annual IRS Form 990-N (or EZ/full 990 if revenue is higher) to keep the club's tax-exempt status active.
what does a club treasurer do that a corporate nonprofit treasurer doesn't
A club treasurer usually works alone without paid finance staff, handles physical cash from concession stands and raffles directly, and files the simplest 990 variant because revenue is small. A corporate nonprofit treasurer oversees paid accounting staff and deals with audited financials and fuller 990 schedules.
what is Form 990
Form 990 is the annual information return the IRS requires most tax-exempt organizations to file, disclosing income, expenses, and activities under Internal Revenue Code section 6033. It's public record, not typically a form that results in owing tax, and comes in several versions (990-N, 990-EZ, 990, 990-PF) depending on organization size.
what is a 990 tax form
"990 tax form" is a common way of referring to any version of the IRS Form 990 series (990-N, 990-EZ, 990, or 990-PF), the annual disclosure filing required of most tax-exempt organizations. Which specific version applies depends on your organization's gross receipts and total assets for the year.
what is the 990
"The 990" is informal shorthand for whichever IRS Form 990 variant your organization must file annually to maintain tax-exempt status. It's not a separate form from "Form 990" or "the 990 tax form"; people just use different phrasing for the same filing requirement.
what does a treasurer of a club do
A club treasurer manages the club's money end to end: collecting dues and fundraiser proceeds, paying approved expenses, keeping the bank account reconciled, reporting balances to members or the board, and filing the club's annual IRS Form 990 variant and any required state charity or raffle license renewal.
do small booster clubs really have to file Form 990-N every year
Yes, if the club has its own EIN and tax-exempt recognition, and if it doesn't fall into an exempted category like a church. The IRS requires organizations with gross receipts normally at or below $50,000 to file the 990-N annually; failing to file for three consecutive years triggers automatic revocation of tax-exempt status.
what happens if a nonprofit doesn't file its 990 for three years
The IRS automatically revokes the organization's tax-exempt status. Per IRS guidance, organizations that fail to file required Form 990-series returns for three consecutive years lose exemption automatically, with no separate warning notice required before revocation takes effect.
can a treasurer be held personally liable for nonprofit money problems
It depends on the situation and state law; this isn't legal advice, confirm specifics with an attorney. Generally, following documented financial controls, keeping good records, and acting in good faith substantially reduces personal risk. Commingling funds, ignoring red flags, or acting outside board-approved policy increases exposure.
what's the difference between a treasurer and a bookkeeper in a nonprofit
A bookkeeper records transactions day to day. A treasurer is the accountable officer for the whole financial picture: overseeing the books (whether they do the entering themselves or not), reporting to the board, ensuring filings happen, and signing off on the organization's overall financial health.
how much does it cost to file Form 990-N or 990-EZ
Form 990-N has no filing fee; it's free through the IRS e-Postcard system. Form 990-EZ and the full Form 990 also have no separate IRS filing fee, though preparation costs (software or a professional) vary. State charity registration renewals often carry their own separate fee, which varies by state.
Sources
- 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
- IRS, About Form 990: Form 990 provides the IRS information required under section 6033
- IRS, Form 990 Resources and Tools: 990-EZ and full 990 thresholds based on gross receipts and total assets
- IRS, About Form 990-PF: Private foundations file Form 990-PF regardless of size
- IRS, Organizations Not Required to File Form 990 or 990-EZ: Certain organizations including churches are exempt from the 990 filing requirement
- IRS, Automatic Revocation of Exemption: Organizations that fail to file required 990-series returns for three consecutive years automatically lose tax-exempt status
- IRS, Revenue Procedure 2014-11: IRS streamlined retroactive reinstatement process for small organizations eligible to file 990-N or 990-EZ
- IRS, Tax Exempt Organization Search: Tool to confirm an organization's current exemption status and filing history
- IRS, Form 990 Series: Which Forms Do Exempt Organizations File: 990-series returns are generally due the 15th day of the 5th month after the fiscal year ends