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Treasurer or president

Connect your bank or card reader so transactions arrive on their own

Connect a bank or a card reader, or import a statement file, and know what PTO HQ can and cannot do in that account.

When you are done

Your bank account or card reader is connected, the lines it sent are waiting in the review queue, and nothing reaches the register until you categorize it.

Who else you need

Only a treasurer or a president may connect or disconnect a bank or a card reader, the same two officers the bank puts on the signature card. If you hold another role, ask one of them. You do not need an officer to ask an existing connection to check for new lines; anybody who can record transactions may do that.

Connect a bank

  1. Open Banks & import in the left menu and start adding an account.

  2. Choose to connect a bank, then find your bank in the window that opens.

  3. Sign in on your bank's own screen.

    The sign-in happens inside your bank's window, not in a PTO HQ form, so PTO HQ never sees or stores your online banking password.

  4. Select every account at that bank you want in the books, including savings.

  5. Read the confirmation.

    PTO HQ opens one account for each one you selected, named and masked the way your bank names it, and pulls transactions immediately. The confirmation says how many lines are waiting, or that there are none yet and the feed will check again tonight.

  • A scheduled job pulls every connected account once a night, whether or not anybody signs in. These feeds run against production, so a connection you make today reads your real account.
  • PTO HQ asks your bank for transactions only, not balances and not transfers. It never charges a card, issues a refund, or moves money through an account you connect.
  • The balance PTO HQ shows is added up from your own register, which is what makes comparing it against the statement during Reconcile a real check rather than a restatement.
  • You can revoke any connection from your own bank, Square or Stripe at any time, without telling PTO HQ first.
What crosses from your bank to PTO HQ, and what never doesYou sign in inside your bank's own window, so your username and password never reach PTO HQ. What crosses is the date, description and amount of each transaction — never your balances, and never any ability to move money, charge a card or issue a refund. A scheduled job re-checks every connected account nightly, and you can revoke the permission from your own bank at any time.You sign in on your bank's own screen, never in a PTO HQ formStays at your bankYour username and passwordYour balancesThe power to move moneyCrosses to PTO HQThe date of each transactionIts description and amountNothing else, everRead-only. Transactions only.A nightly job re-checks every connected account. You can revoke it from your bank.

Connect a card reader to a clearing account

  1. Start from the add-an-account page, not from a checking account's own page.

    Started from the add-an-account page, PTO HQ opens the clearing account for you. Started from a checking account, it refuses, because card money has not reached the bank yet.

  2. Name the reader.

    Leaving the name blank names the account after the provider.

  3. Approve PTO HQ on Square's or Stripe's own site.

    PTO HQ opens the account that holds the money only after the provider approves, so a flow you abandon leaves nothing behind.

  • Stripe's approval screen asks for read and write. Stripe no longer offers read-only to applications like this one, so the grant says read and write while PTO HQ only reads your payouts and the balance transactions inside them. Square and your bank both grant read-only.
Connect a card reader from the add-an-account page, not from checkingStarting a card reader from the add-an-account page lets PTO HQ open the clearing account for you, and it does that only after Square or Stripe approves, so a flow you abandon at the approval screen leaves nothing behind. Starting it from a checking account's own page is refused, because card money has not reached the bank yet.Start from Banks & import, add an account, choose the readerAdd an accountSquare approvesNothing exists yetClearing account openedStart from a checking account instead and it refuses:Connect Square to a clearing account, not to your bank. Square moneyhas not reached the bank yet — the clearing account holds it until thepayout lands, which is what stops one fundraiser being counted twice.Leaving the name blank names the account after the provider.Stripe's approval screen says read and write; PTO HQ still only reads.

Record a card payout as a transfer, not as income

A card reader at a carnival takes money days before the processor sends it to your bank, so each payout arrives as up to four lines in the clearing account: gross sales, processing fees, refunds if there were any, and the payout leaving for the bank.

  1. Categorize all four lines of the payout in the clearing account.

    Together they net to zero, and the clearing account empties once you have dealt with all of them.

  2. Accept the pairing when PTO HQ offers to match the bank deposit to the payout.

    Accepting means the money is counted once. Reject it if the two are unrelated.

  • A worked example: $1,000.00 of card sales at a carnival, a processor fee of $29.00 taken out as its own expense line, and $971.00 reaching checking a couple of days later. Recording the sale and the payout as two pieces of income would report the carnival twice.
  • A pairing is only offered when one payout and one deposit can explain each other. If two payouts could each explain one deposit, PTO HQ links neither and leaves both lines for you to read.
  • Which annual return your board files turns on gross receipts rather than on the amount that reached the bank. (Source: IRS, Form 990 series filing thresholds.) A board that records only the deposit understates both its income and its costs by whatever the processor kept.
How a card sale reaches your checking accountCard sales land in a clearing account at their gross amount, the processor's fee leaves as its own expense line, and the payout that arrives days later is a transfer into checking rather than new income. Counting both the sale and the payout would double the carnival's takings.Card sales$1,000.00Carnival dayClearing account$971.00After the feeChecking$971.00Payout, 2 days laterProcessor fee $29.00 — its own expense lineGross first. The fee is an expense you can see, not a smaller deposit.A transfer, not income

Import a statement file when there is no feed

Importing works whether or not a feed exists, and it is the fallback whenever a connection is refused.

  1. Export CSV, OFX, QFX or QBO from your bank.

    A statement PDF does not import, because it holds no transaction rows to read.

  2. Open Banks & import, start adding an account, and open the import panel.

    The import panel appears only once the board holds at least one account. If this is your board's first, add an account by hand first, then come back.

  3. Choose which account the statement is for.

  4. Choose the file and import it.

    Importing the same file twice is safe. PTO HQ skips lines it already holds and tells you how many it skipped, so an overlapping date range costs you nothing.

Which statement files import, and why a repeat import is safePTO HQ reads CSV, OFX, QFX and QBO exports from your bank; a statement PDF holds no transaction rows, so it is refused. Importing the same file twice is safe — lines PTO HQ already holds are skipped rather than duplicated and the count is reported back to you, so an overlapping date range costs you nothing. The import panel only appears once the board holds at least one account.What importsCSVOFXQFXQBOWhat does notA statement PDFNo transactions were found in that file. CSV, OFX, QFX and QBO allwork — check you exported transactions rather than a statement PDF.Importing the same file twice is safeThe same fileNot seen before — into the review queueAlready held — skipped, not duplicatedThe import panel appears only once the board holds at least one account.

Categorize every line before it reaches the books

Nothing from a feed or a file appears in your register until you pick a category for it. The nightly job and a manual sync both stop at the review queue.

  1. Open a line in the review queue.

  2. Set the payee, the category and the fund, then add it to the register.

  3. Leave out a line that does not belong in the books.

  4. Where a line is flagged as matching a transaction you already entered, confirm it is the same payment.

    Confirming stops a second copy being created. Record them separately if they really are two payments.

The review queue is a gate, not an inboxNothing a feed or a file brings in reaches your register on its own. Each line waits in the review queue on Banks & import until you set the payee, the category and the fund and add it to the register. A line that matches a transaction you already entered is flagged so you confirm it as the same payment instead of creating a second copy, and a line that does not belong in the books can be left out.Everything a feed or a file brings in lands here firstReview queuePayeeCostcoCategoryAdmin / suppliesFundGeneralInto the registerConfirmed as a matchLeft out of the booksNothing reaches the register until you pick a category.A line that matches something you already entered is flagged, so you confirm itrather than recording the same payment twice.

Send the monthly statement to a non-signer anyway

A connected feed keeps the register current. It does not perform the control your bond may depend on.

  1. Choose a reviewer who neither signs checks nor is related to a signer.

    PTO HQ refuses a reviewer who signs checks, and refuses one who is related to a signer.

  2. Have them sign off the monthly bank statement review.

    PTO HQ prompts the review and records who signed it off.

  3. Ask your insurer what your own policy requires on top of that.

    Some fidelity bond issuers go further and require the non-signer to physically receive the statement before the treasurer does. (Source: AIM, fidelity bond conditions.) That is a human action software can prompt but cannot perform, so PTO HQ does not satisfy every external bonding condition on its own.

Who may sign off the monthly statement reviewThe monthly bank statement review has to be signed off by somebody who does not sign checks and who is not related to, in business with, or sharing a household with anybody who does. PTO HQ refuses an ineligible reviewer and names the reason, prompts the review each month, and records who completed it.A non-signer is a relationship test, not a job titleDanaTreasurer, signs checksCannot reviewSamShares a household with DanaCannot reviewPriyaBoard member, signs nothingEligible reviewerSam shares a household with Dana, who signs checks, so they cannotreview this statement. Ask somebody on the board who is neither asigner nor close to one.PTO HQ prompts the review and records who signed it off. Some fidelity bondissuers also require the non-signer to receive the statement before thetreasurer does — software cannot perform that part.

Disconnect a feed and keep everything already imported

  1. Export and file your statements while the connection is still live.

    A feed you disconnected years ago cannot be asked for its history again. Keep receipts for seven years, and keep minutes and the IRS determination letter permanently, in the Records vault under Documents.

  2. Disconnect from the account's own page.

    PTO HQ hands the permission back to the provider, deletes its copy of the credentials, and keeps everything already imported. A year you already recorded survives a bank change in July, because a categorized line is the organization's record rather than the provider's.

  • One bank login can feed several accounts, for example checking and savings. PTO HQ hands the login back only when no account is still reading it, so disconnecting checking does not stop savings.
Disconnecting a feed keeps everything already importedDisconnecting hands the permission back to the provider and deletes PTO HQ's copy of the credentials, while every line you already imported and categorized stays in the register — a year recorded before a July bank change survives it. One bank login can feed several accounts, so disconnecting checking does not stop savings: the login is handed back only when no account is still reading it.One bank login can feed more than one accountOne bank loginCheckingDisconnectedSavingsStill syncingEverything already imported stays in the registerExport and file your statements while the connection is still live.

How to check it worked

  • The confirmation after connecting says how many lines are waiting for review, or that there are none yet and the feed checks again tonight.
  • The account tile on Banks & import shows a sync date rather than reading as not connected.
  • The account's own page states that the feed checks nightly, followed by either the date of the last check or that the first one runs tonight.
  • The review queue on Banks & import counts the new lines, and they carry your bank's own descriptions and dates.
  • After an import, the confirmation says how many lines are ready to review and which file format was read.
  • Once every line of a payout is dealt with - gross sales, processing fees, any refunds, and the payout itself recorded as a transfer - the clearing account's balance reads $0.00. Recording the transfer on its own leaves the fee sitting in clearing.

If it did not work

What you seeWhat it meansWhat to do
"Connecting or disconnecting a bank or card reader is a treasurer's or president's job, the same as the signature card at the branch. Ask one of them."Your role is not treasurer or president, so PTO HQ will not let you grant or revoke access to the organization's money.Ask the treasurer or the president to connect it, or ask one of them to change your role on the Board tab of Settings.
There is no option to connect a bank at all. If you reach the action another way, it refuses with "Bank feeds are not available on this deployment yet."This copy of PTO HQ holds no live credentials for that provider, or is pointed at the provider's test environment. The page hides the whole block rather than showing you a refusal.Add an account by hand, import a statement file into it, and tell PTO HQ support which provider you were trying to connect.
"This deployment cannot store bank credentials safely yet, so linking is refused. Import a statement file instead." on a bank, or "This deployment cannot store credentials safely yet, so linking is refused. Import a CSV instead." on a card reader.The key that protects stored credentials is missing, and PTO HQ refuses to hold a provider token without it.Add an account by hand, import a statement file into it, and tell PTO HQ support. Do not retry the connection until support confirms it is fixed.
"That account is already connected. Disconnect it first if you are moving banks." on a bank, or "That account is already connected. Disconnect it first." on a card reader.The account you chose already holds a live connection, and PTO HQ will not stack a second one on it.Open that account from Banks & import, disconnect it, then connect again.
"Connect Square to a clearing account, not to your bank." or the same refusal naming Stripe.You started the connection from a bank account. Card money sits in a clearing account until the payout lands, which is what stops one fundraiser being counted twice.Go back to the add-an-account page and connect the reader from there. PTO HQ opens the clearing account for you.
Your bank's window closes and PTO HQ reports that nothing was changed.The window closed without handing PTO HQ anything to store, which happens on an interrupted sign-in.Start the connection again and finish the sign-in without closing the window.
The account asks you to reconnect, and says your bank wants you to sign in again.Your bank has expired the permission, usually after a password change or on its own schedule. The nightly job skips that account until a person acts.Disconnect that account, then connect it again. Everything already imported stays.
"No transactions were found in that file."The file holds no readable transaction rows, most often because it is a printed statement rather than an export.Export transactions for a date range as CSV, OFX, QFX or QBO, then import that file.
PTO HQ refuses the file as larger than its import limit and tells you to export a shorter date range.The file is far larger than a year of a PTO's transactions, so it is almost certainly the wrong export.Export one month or one quarter at a time and import each file. Repeated imports skip lines already held.
"Disconnected here, and nothing more will be imported."PTO HQ deleted its own credentials, but the provider did not confirm that the permission was withdrawn on its side.Sign in to your bank, Square or Stripe and remove PTO HQ from its connected applications.
A sync reports that there is nothing new.The feed worked and the bank had nothing to add. This is not a failure.Wait for the nightly check, or confirm the transaction has posted at your bank rather than sitting pending.
"This Stripe account has more history than PTO HQ can summarize in one pass, so nothing was imported." or the same message naming Square.One payout holds more card payments than a single run will read, or the account holds more payouts than one run will walk.Contact support. Nothing was imported on purpose: reading part of a payout would understate your gross receipts, and gross receipts decide which annual return you file.

This isn't legal, tax, or insurance advice. Confirm filing dates, bonding conditions, and your state's requirements with your CPA, your state PTA, and your insurer.