Thank you everyone for your support in my treasury duties' fiasco and my balancing mommying, school, etc.
I spent yesterday going through the books trying to tidy them up for the next treasurer. I came across some numbers that I probably should have put in all along but didn't.
I'm trying to do the right thing an hand over everything as best I can, but I'm now terrified of coming clean about these numbers.
I'm sure the president will think I am unorganized (guilty), but again I'm being honest and trying to do the right thing.
Should I just ask her and request that we sit down for an hour and review everything?
I've got to get this off my plate!
Again, I should have NEVER taken on this position but it was disguised as only one hour a month. YEAH RIGHT!
@The funny thing is even with these numbers, we made out terrific financially!
@Doris Day: They were desperate and I was a warm body! They never asked if I had experience with this and I thought it'd be easy as in "one hour a month!"
@TF/Plano: I honestly have no idea what a UIL is :-). But I know our organization has to report to the IRS and that the national organization slapped us on the wrist one year for putting too much funds toward "parties." Before my time. I didn't sign on to join a sorority :-)
Thank you so much for your support everyone. I never intended to walk away and feel empowered by owning up and WANTING to fix it. I want to walk away clean and in good standing, if not with them, than myself!
I guess I just fear being judged for being disorganized which I own up to. I already plugged in the numbers and drafted an e-mail for the President asking for her opinion on the outstanding numbers and possibly to meet for coffee to review all this ;-)
Chin Up ES!!! Good thing you found it now, versus someone later.
Pack it all up and pass the baton.
Sorry I did not respond to your first post, but I have been treasurer of many organizations in the past.
Were you not publishing financial statements all along? Did you have monthly or bimonthly meetings that you created financial statements for? If you did then does somebody else have copies (if you do not) that you could recreate the file? Did you ever send the file to somebody that it might be in your e-mail outbox or somebody's inbox?
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Even if you have to recreate your financial statements it shouldn't be that hard to do. If you've only been treasurer a year than somebody else handed over their files and records to you. I can't imagine your group having that many transactions to resurrect. Start with their files and rebuild.
My best advice to you would be to ask if anybody in your group has a background in accounting. Based on my own experience it would be a quick and easy job for them to dig you out of this hole. (I am guessing that the last treasurer had that background if it took them an hour a month and it is taking you longer.) Ask them for assistance in resurrecting the files and then hand them off to whoever is taking over the treasurer position for you.
Also get yourself an external hard drive and backup all of your files on a regular basis. This will come in handy if your computer fails or your daughter starts deleting again.
Oh...which made me think...have your checked the recycle bin on your computer or (I believe) all operating systems back to XP have a "go back" feature where you can restore your computer to a previous date, Could you go back to a date before your daughter got a hold of your computer?
My last comment is that I would get this situation cleaned up before you hand it over. Otherwise you may raise suspicion and some may worry that funds were misappropriated etc. I'm not sure if others would think this but maybe it is just the accountant in me talking.
Oh yes, be completely honest. 100%. You don't the thought you were dishonest with the books, to ever cross their mind. You don't want to be blamed for anything, or to make yourself suspicious.
Sit down with her, go over the books, apologize, and let it go. Time for you to move on from this task.
swallow hard and do it.
it will look WAY better than fudging it.
khairete
S.
I would be honest about the situation and go over the books with the president or the new treasurer. I find that honesty is the best policy. If you're not honest about it, they can think that you've not been honest with the books.
Put all the numbers in.
Make sure you have the associated backup for all of your figures.
Go over all of it with the President and Secretary.
Hand the files over, and walk away.
No discussion needed.
LBC
Be honest, fix it, and keep copies. We had a PTA treasurer screw up and blame the former woman. She was defenseless.
ETA: E.S..... I am sorry, I assumed you were aware of UIL (University Scholastic League)... It is not a sorority.... They deal with athletic booster clubs and athletic organizations.
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Original response:
You put in all the numbers and make sure you get it right. You made a mistake, you found the error, you are taking responsibility to correct it. Some people would not have your morals or ethics to do the right thing vs running from the issue and leaving it for someone else.
It is sad that you were misled about the job responsibility. Officers in these organizations have a lot of responsibility. As a past President and past Secretary of booster clubs which maintain balances upwards of $60,000 and fundraising, it is vital to have someone with experience in accounting to be the treasurer.
Is your organization over ruled by the UIL? The UIL has very specific details as to how an organization is run. If it it not run properly, it can and will be shut down. The booster club where I was President was shut down for a year 3 yrs before I took the job due to inaccurate reporting and IRS audit.
Don't hide anything... enlist some help if you need it to get everything in order and then pass the torch on to the next person. I don't mean to scare you but your name is on the paperwork and you can still be called in by the IRS if the organization is audited and there are errors.
Our organizations were required to have a monthly meeting and a treasurer's report presented. Do you have any backup?
Kudos to you for clearing it up and keep in mind... this is not a "terrible" mistake. It is not like you or someone was taking money from the group or committing some fraud. You are doing the best you can with what you were given.
Yes! Sit down with her and go over everything...much better than just handing everything over and making a run for it.
You will feel so much better when you fess up to your mistake and ask for help/admit it is too much for you to handle!
Put all the numbers in.
Make sure you have the associated backup for all of your figures.
Go over all of it with the President and Secretary.
Hand the files over, and walk away.
No discussion needed.
LBC
