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Treasurer, president

Get the rest of your board into PTO HQ

Invite each officer, give them a role, and mark who signs checks, so the controls that need two people can run.

When you are done

Each officer you invite has their own sign-in to your books, holds a named role, and is marked as a check signer or a non-signer, so a cash count, a reimbursement approval and a reconciliation attestation each have the second person they require.

Who else you need

You cannot finish this alone, by design. A cash count needs two named counters signing independently. A reimbursement needs a second officer who did not submit it, because a submitter can never approve their own. A reconciliation needs the monthly statement review recorded by somebody who does not sign checks, and some fidelity bond issuers also require that person to receive the statement from the bank before the treasurer does (see the section on non-signers). Invite at least one more officer, usually the president, and leave at least one person on the board marked as not a check signer.

Check that your own role can change the board

PTO HQ sends an invitation only from an account whose role is treasurer or president. Those are also the only two roles that can change somebody's role or remove them.

  • Every other role opens the board tab and sees the board as a read-only list of names, roles and who signs checks, with no invite form. If that is what you see, ask a current treasurer or president to send the invitation or to change your role first.
  • PTO HQ refuses any removal or role change that would leave the organization with no treasurer and no president, so one of those seats still exists somewhere on your board.
Who can change the board, and what everybody else seesPTO HQ sends an invitation only from an account whose role is treasurer or president, and those are also the only two roles that can change somebody's role or remove them. Every other role opens the board tab and sees the board as a read-only list of names, emails, roles and who signs checks, with no invite form rendered at all. PTO HQ also refuses any removal or role change that would leave the organization with no treasurer and no president, because nobody would then be able to add one.Two roles can change the boardTreasurerPresidentTheir board tabTheir email[email protected]RolePresidentSend invitationAlso: change a role,remove somebodyEvery other role opens the same tab, read onlySecretary, membership chair, auditor, viewer and the rest: no invite form.The boardName · Email · Role · Check signerAnd the one change PTO HQ always refusesThat would leave this organization with no treasurer and no president,and nobody able to add one. Give somebody else one of those roles first.

Send the invitation from the board tab

  1. Open settings and go to the board tab.

  2. Enter the person's email address.

    PTO HQ lowercases it before storing, so two invitations differing only in capitals are the same person and the second is refused.

  3. Choose the role they will hold.

  4. Check the box for signing checks only if this person signs the organization's checks.

  5. Send the invitation.

    The form clears and confirms the invitation is waiting below.

  • The invite card counts the seats left out of 20. An outstanding invitation holds a seat from the moment you send it, not when the person accepts.
  • If the organization's books have gone read-only, the invite form is replaced by a note that new invitations are paused until the organization subscribes. An invitation already outstanding can still be accepted, and that person can read the books, because an incoming treasurer has to get in and look before a board can decide to renew.
Sending an invitation takes a seat straight awayThe invite card counts the seats left out of 20, and an outstanding invitation holds one of them from the moment you send it rather than when the person accepts. You enter the address, which PTO HQ lowercases before storing so two invitations differing only in capitals are the same person, choose the role, tick the check-signer box only if this person signs the organization's checks, and send. The form clears and the address appears in the waiting list below with its role and an expiry date about two weeks out.Fill the form, and a seat is taken at onceInvite someone onto the boardTheir email[email protected]Lower-cased before it is stored.RolePresidentThey sign checksSend invitationon sendWaiting to be accepted[email protected]PresidentExpires Oct 9, 2026Twenty seats, and a waiting invitation holds oneOn the boardInvitation waitingFreeHeld from the moment you send.Read-only books: the form is replaced by a note. An invitation alreadysent can still be accepted, so an incoming treasurer can get in and look.

Leave at least one person who does not sign checks

  1. Check the signer box for every officer who signs the organization's checks.

  2. Leave it clear for at least one other person.

    A check signer who opens a reconciliation and tries to record the monthly statement review is refused: "You can sign checks, so you cannot be the non-signer who reviews the statement. Ask a board member who is not a signer."

  3. Confirm with your insurer whether that person also needs to be the one the bank addresses the statement to.

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

Leave the check-signer box clear for at least one officerTick the check-signer box for every officer who signs the organization's checks, and leave it clear for at least one other person. A check signer who opens a reconciliation and tries to record the monthly statement review is refused outright, so a board of nothing but signers cannot finish a reconciliation at all. PTO HQ routes that review to a non-signer and records that it happened, but some fidelity bond issuers also require that non-signer to receive the bank statement from the bank before the treasurer does, which is a human step PTO HQ can prompt and cannot perform.At least one officer must not sign checksTick the box only for the people who really sign the checks.TreasurerBox tickedPresidentBox tickedSecretaryBox clearSignerSignerNon-signerYou can sign checks, so you cannotbe the non-signer who reviews thestatement. Ask a board member whois not a signer.Records the statement reviewWhat PTO HQ cannot do for youPTO HQ routes the review to a non-signer and records that it happened.Some bond issuers (source: AIM, fidelity bond conditions) require thatperson to receive the statement from the bank first. Ask your insurer.

Tell them what joining looks like

The link opens a page naming who invited them, which organization, and the role they would join as. Nothing on that page grants anything.

  1. They open the link and, if signed out, create an account or sign in.

    They land back on the same page.

  2. One more press joins them to the board.

  3. Read the audit line under their name and confirm it was the person you meant.

    The account they sign up with does not have to use the address you invited. A volunteer invited at her school address who signs up with the personal address on her phone is accepted, and the difference is written to the audit log and shown under her name on the board.

What the person you invited actually doesThe link opens a page naming who invited them, which organization, and the role they would join as, and nothing on that page grants anything. Signed out, they first create an account or sign in and land back on the same page, and one more press then joins them to the board. The account they sign up with does not have to use the address you invited: a volunteer invited at her school address who signs up with the personal address on her phone is accepted, the difference is written to the audit log and shown under her name on the board, and you should read that line and confirm it was the person you meant.Four steps, and nothing is granted until the last1A page naming who invited them, the organization, and the role2Signed out, they create an account or sign in3They land back on the very same page4One more press joins them to the boardStep three is a redirect, not a press. Nothing is granted until step four.The address they sign up with may differInvited atHer school addressSigned up withHer personal addressAcceptedThe difference goes to the audit log and shows under her name on the board.

Fix a wrong role, or withdraw an invitation

  1. For a pending invitation, withdraw it and send a new one with the role you meant.

    A pending invitation's role cannot be changed from the board tab.

  2. For somebody who has already joined, change them in place on their board row.

    The row carries a role menu, a check-signer box and a control that saves both. Nothing changes until you save, so scrolling a phone wheel past a role does not apply it.

  • A withdrawn link stops working immediately, and the row is deleted rather than kept, because nobody ever held that seat. The audit log keeps the record that the invitation existed and was withdrawn.
  • Withdrawal is available only while your books are writable.
A waiting invitation and a joined member are mended differentlyA pending invitation's role cannot be changed from the board tab: withdraw it and send a new invitation with the role you meant. Somebody who has already joined is changed in place instead, because their row on the board carries a role menu, a check-signer box and a control that saves both, and nothing changes until you press Save, so scrolling a phone wheel past a role does not apply it. A withdrawn link stops working immediately and the row is deleted rather than kept, because nobody ever held that seat, while the audit log keeps the record that the invitation existed and was withdrawn.Two rows, two different repairsWaiting to be accepted[email protected]Secretary, and you meant presidentNo role menu on this rowWithdrawOn the boardDana WhitakerRole menuSigns checksSaveSend a new invitationChanged in place, on saveIts role cannot be edited here.Nothing changes until you press Save.A withdrawn link stops working at once and the row is deleted, becausenobody ever held that seat. The audit log keeps that it existed and went.Withdrawal is available only while your books are writable.

How to check it worked

  • The address appears in the waiting list with the role you chose and an expiry date about two weeks out.
  • The seats-left count on the invite card has dropped by one.
  • After they accept, their name moves out of the waiting list and onto the board, with their email under their name.
  • Their board row shows the role you chose, and the check-signer box set to match what you sent.
  • At least one person on the board has the check-signer box clear, so a non-signer exists to review the monthly bank statement; some bond issuers also require that person to receive the statement from the bank first.

If it did not work

What you seeWhat it meansWhat to do
"Only a treasurer or president can change who is on the board. Ask one of them to do this."Your role is not treasurer or president. The invite form is not rendered for other roles at all, so this reaches you only on a page that loaded before somebody changed your role.Reload the board tab. If you now see the board as a read-only list and no invite form, ask a treasurer or president to send the invitation, or to give you one of those roles.
A refusal ending "already has an invitation waiting. Revoke it first if you want to send a new one."That address already has an outstanding invitation, expired or not.Find it in the waiting list, withdraw it, then send the invitation again.
A refusal ending "is already on this board."That person is an active member, so there is nothing to invite them to.Find them on the board, set the role and check-signer box on their row, and save.
"This organization is at its limit of 20 people. Remove somebody who has left the board, or email us if you genuinely need more."Active members plus outstanding invitations already total 20.Withdraw an invitation nobody took up, or remove somebody who has left the board, then send again. Email [email protected] if your board needs more than 20 seats.
"Pick the role they will hold." or "Enter the email address to send the invitation to."No role was chosen, or the address does not look like an address.Retype the address, checking for a missing @ or a trailing space, choose a role, and send again.
"Email is not set up on this deployment, so nothing was sent. Copy the invitation link below and send it yourself."The invitation exists and its link works. Only the message was not sent.Copy the link from their row in the waiting list and send it by text or from your own email.
The recipient lands on a page saying the invitation has expired and that a new one can be sent from your organization's settings.More than 14 days passed before they opened it.Withdraw the expired row on the board tab and send a fresh invitation. Nothing about their future membership is affected.
The recipient lands on a page saying the invitation is no longer valid, and to ask whoever sent it for another.The link was already used, or it was withdrawn, or the address was mistyped. PTO HQ shows the same page for all three, so a real link cannot be told from a guessed one.Check the board first. If they are already on it, they are in and should sign in at ptohq.org instead of using the link. If they are not, send a new invitation.
They joined, and were told they belong to more than one organization on PTO HQ, so the books that open may be the other one.Their account is on more than one board, and their session opens whichever organization is selected.Have them email [email protected] to be pointed at the right organization. Their membership on your board is already recorded.
"That would leave this organization with no treasurer and no president, and nobody able to add one. Give somebody else one of those roles first."The role change or removal you attempted would leave nobody who can add board members, which cannot be repaired from inside the product.Give another active member the treasurer or president role first, then repeat the change.

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.