PTA Checklist: Starting the School Year Off Right

Updated September 2024

Summary:

• Remember to complete year-end financial tasks before handing things off to the next PTA leadership team—including switching bank signers, reconciling accounts, and preparing essential documents.
• Coordinate with school administrators and the school board to get aligned on fundraising and community goals.
• Plan fundraisers around school events and holidays to maximize participation and avoid scheduling conflicts.
• Track and store key financial and meeting documents according to IRS rules, and digitize records for accessibility.

When your PTA leadership changes from one year to the next, there are a few tasks you’ll have to complete—and some documents you’ll have to account for if you want to start the new year off smoothly. The earlier you start to tackle this list, the easier the transition will be.

This article provides an overview of what incoming PTA officers should consider at the start of a new year, as well as a list of steps and documents you’ll need. Our timeline assumes you’ll start these tasks in the summertime, but feel free to move them around if you need to accommodate a school year that’s structured differently.

Note: some PTA/PTO organizations will actually overlap the leadership for the summer months so the outgoing administration can help the incoming administration get settled. That of course is up to each PTA/PTO organization.

See also:

• 10 Ways to Celebrate the Start of the School Year
• 8 Back-to-School Tasks For Your PTA

Three Main Planning Categories for PTAs

The main categories of things that the PTO/PTA should have their minds on for now are: 

• Meetings they’ll need to have
• Events they’ll need to organize
• Fundraisers they’ll need to plan

Meetings

At the start of each new year, your PTA will want to meet with the school board and school administrators, including the principal.

The meetings you set at the start of each year should be focused on the following goals:

• Find funding gaps for the PTA to help fill via fundraisers
• Identify their goals for the school year and ensure that your PTA is on the same page

Steps to Follow

• Reach out to your school’s principal for a meeting or call. Come prepared with a few fundraising ideas to run by them and get their suggestions.
• Next, schedule a meeting with the school board and make sure everyone is on the same page with their fundraising and community goals.
• During additional PTA meetings, make sure your officers are on the same page and that any prep you’ve initiated is running on schedule.

Events

Before you start planning anything, it’s critical to make sure you’re aware of any school-wide events you’ll have to work around. This includes all holidays and events that the school board or administrators have already planned.

Many of these events will present natural fundraising opportunities, but you’ll also need to make sure your planned fundraisers don’t conflict with activities breaks that are already on the calendar. We’ve created a downloadable calendar that can help give you an idea of what you might be working with:

• The Complete List of 2024/2025 School Holidays in the US
• The Fundraiser’s 2024 Fundraising Plan: Your Complete Calendar of Dates

Steps to Follow

Use the template above or your own PTA event calendar to make note of the following school events: 

• Open houses
• Parent/teacher conference days
• Back to school/meet the teacher nights
• Breaks and holidays
• Student plays/performances/concerts
• Orientations for new students and families
• Professional Development days

Fill in your meetings, other events, and fundraisers around these dates so they don’t conflict. Once you get the OK from the board and the principal, start planning your events and get specific with the details.

Fundraisers

Once you’ve met with school leadership to get organized and made a list of the year’s significant dates, you can start planning fundraisers that serve the school community effectively and tie seamlessly into their existing plans. This is the best way to make sure your fundraisers are focused, relevant, and successful.

Need inspiration? FutureFund can help. Check out the list below to find all kinds of ideas:

• Ultimate List of School Fundraisers
• A-Thon Fundraiser Ideas
• Fundraising Ideas For Elementary Schools
• Fundraising Ideas For Middle Schools
• Fundraising Ideas For High Schools

Keeping Track of PTA Documents

Below is a general list of how long to keep each document for your PTA records per IRS rules. The required documents can vary from state to state so we encourage you to look up what you’ll need to keep and for how long to satisfy your state’s requirements.

You’ll also want to consider digitizing your records to save space and make them more accessible. FutureFund’s reporting features make it easy to do this with treasury reports and other vital documents.

Learn More: The Ultimate PTA Treasurer Report Template

How Long You’ll Need to Keep Each Type of PTA Document

Document Type	3 Years	7 Years	Forever
Monthly Treasury reconciliation reports	X
Check registers		X
Bank statements		X
Canceled Checks		X
IRS Form 990-series		X
Meeting agendas and minutes			X
Year end treasury reports			X
Annual financial review reports			X
Incorporation paperwork			X
IRS Form 1023			X
IRS determination letter for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status			X

End of the Year Financial Checklist

Once your year is over, you’ll want to set next year’s PTA leaders up for the same kind of success you enjoyed. Below is a list of steps to take to close out financial activity before the end of the year and set the club up for a good start during the new school year.

Banking 

• Switch signers on the accounts
• Change the statement address from the school to someone’s house
• Finish any lingering account transactions
• Reconcile the last statement

Financial review

• Group financial files according to type and store them accordingly
• Hire an accountant or find a volunteer to conduct the year-end review
• Pull relevant records for review
• Put together final treasury report
• Estimate next year’s budget
• Submit records for financial review

Tax-Exempt Status

• Check incorporation paperwork
• Mail IRS return documentation

Learn More: The Complete PTA Treasurer Transition Kit

Set Your PTA Up for Success with FutureFund

The start of a new year is always busy—especially when you’re part of an incoming PTA leadership team. But with the tips above, you should find taking the reins quite a bit easier.

Remember, being organized is the most important part of making sure your PTA will be successful this year—so don’t be afraid to keep meticulous records and use the resources at your disposal!FutureFund’s fundraising platform is also 100% free for school groups. If you want to plan and launch the most efficient fundraisers possible, you can get started here and see for yourself. Your dedicated account manager will walk you through how to use our reporting features, built-in messaging system, and customizable campaigns to help you identify critical funding gaps for your school and fill them.