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Treasurer, membership chair

Record membership dues and remit the share you owe upward

Set this year's price once, record a paid membership in a minute, and send the council, state and national share without ever counting it as your money.

When you are done

You will have priced each membership type for this year, recorded a paid membership on the roster, and recorded a remittance that draws the amount owed upward back down.

Who else you need

Nobody has to approve a dues entry in PTO HQ, so you can do all of this alone. Two outside people still matter: your state PTA or council supplies this year's amounts and the split, and the check you send them is signed under your normal check-signing rules, which PTO HQ does not manage. Recording a remittance here does not write that check and does not enter it in the register.

Set this year's price before you record anybody

Price each type your board charges before the first family pays, so every membership afterward fills itself in.

  1. Get this year's price and the council, state and national shares from your state PTA or council.

    Confirm them every year. They change, and PTO HQ never falls back to last year's figures.

  2. Open Membership in the sidebar and type the price and the three upward shares.

    PTO HQ works out what the unit keeps and shows it beside the save button once the price box holds something. You never type that fourth number, so the four figures cannot be saved disagreeing with each other.

  3. Fill in the source box with the document you read the figures off, such as the May dues letter.

    The next person in your seat has nothing else to check the numbers against.

  4. Repeat for each type your board charges.

    Once at least one is priced, a table above the form lists every priced type and what the unit keeps on each.

  • The card takes the fiscal year from your organization, so there is nothing to pick. A fiscal year here is two four-digit years joined by a hyphen, for example 2025-2026.
  • Changing a price later leaves memberships already recorded alone. A family who paid in August paid what they paid, whatever the board decides in March.
  • The blank enrollment form for a back-to-school table prints from the printable forms list and fills its dues table from these prices, so set them first.
The price card: three shares typed, the fourth worked outPrice each type your board charges: pick the type, then type what that membership costs and the council, state and national shares. Those three are the money that goes upward and was never yours. PTO HQ subtracts them from the price and shows what the unit keeps beside the save button, once the price box holds something, so the fourth number is never typed and the four cannot be saved disagreeing with each other.What a membership costs this yearTypeFamilyPriceCouncilStateNationalThese three go upward. None of it is yours to spend.Set the pricePTO HQ works out what you keepand shows it here, once the price box holds something.

Record a paid membership

  1. Type the member name the way the roster should read it.

    It becomes the first column of the roster.

  2. Choose the type, then check the two amounts rather than typing them.

    What they paid and what is owed upward fill in from this year's price for that type. A type nobody has priced opens both boxes empty.

  3. Set the payment date to the day the money changed hands, not the day you are keying it.

    Voting eligibility counts from it.

  4. Link the family in the directory picker, where one appears.

    The picker appears only when your directory already holds at least one adult. Linking marks that adult as paid in the directory, so the roster and the directory cannot contradict each other.

  5. Save.

    The form clears and both amounts return to the price for the type you just used, ready for the next family.

  • Once you have typed an amount yourself, changing the type leaves your number alone rather than overwriting it. Check both amounts before you save.
  • The fiscal year box opens on your current year and is required. Change it only when you are deliberately recording against another year.
  • A line below the amounts shows what the unit keeps. The server computes the same figure and stores it, so the three numbers on the row cannot disagree.
  • To charge a family less, change what they paid before you save. PTO HQ records what they actually paid rather than the schedule price, and nothing on the screen marks the row as different.
  • Lower the amount owed upward only if your state lets you remit less for that member. Whether a reduced or waived remittance is allowed for a hardship membership is your state PTA's rule rather than PTO HQ's, so ask them before you change the figure.
Changing the type: when the amounts refill and when they do notChoosing a membership type fills both amount boxes from this year's price for that type, so the usual job is checking two numbers rather than typing them. Changing the type reloads them again — unless you have already typed an amount yourself, in which case your figures are left alone, or the new type has no price this year, in which case both boxes open empty because PTO HQ never falls back to last year's figures.Record duesTypeFamilyWhat they paidfrom this year's priceOwed up to council and statefrom this year's priceThe unit keeps — never typed.Then you change the typeNothing typed, type is pricedBoth amounts reload from the new price.Nothing typed, type has no priceBoth boxes open empty instead.You typed an amountYour figures stay. Check them both.

Keep the upward share out of your spendable total

A $20.00 family membership with $1.00 to council, $4.50 to state and $2.50 to national leaves the unit $12.00. The other $8.00 was never yours.

  • PTO HQ stores that $8.00 on the membership row as a payable and keeps it out of local income.
  • One tile shows the kept share for this fiscal year; another shows everything collected and not yet sent, across every year rather than only this one.
  • Your overview lists the amount of dues owed upward the whole time that total is above zero. It is not a year-end check.
  • A budget that counts the upward share as income overstates the year by exactly the amount you are about to send away.
One $20 membership, split four waysA $20 family membership is $12 of income to the unit and $8 held on behalf of the council, state and national organizations. All $20 sits in the checking account, which is why a budget that counts the whole payment as income overstates the year by $8 for every member.One family pays $20.00$12.00$4.50YoursCouncil$1.00StateNational$2.50$8.00 was never yoursYour checking account shows the whole $20.00 either way.

Send the remittance, then record it

A notice appears above the roster as soon as anything is unremitted, saying how many memberships it covers and how much you are holding.

  1. Name the period the way your state names it.

  2. Set the date the check left, and put the check number in the reference box.

  3. Clear any row this payment does not cover.

    Everything unremitted starts selected. The footer keeps a running count and total. PTO HQ adds the selected rows' upward shares on the server, so the total cannot be typed independently of the memberships it covers.

  4. Enter the check in your register yourself, as a payment.

    Recording a remittance does not write it into the register.

  • One remittance cannot cover two fiscal years. Record a separate one for each year, as often in a year as your state expects.
  • Your state PTA sets when remittances are due and what happens to a unit that misses one. Get their dates and their cutoff for good standing in writing and put them on the compliance calendar. PTO HQ does not know them and will not remind you of a date it was never told.
Recording a remittance, and the check it does not writeEverything unremitted starts ticked. Clear any row this payment does not cover, and the footer keeps a running count and total. PTO HQ adds the ticked rows' upward shares on the server and stores that as the amount, so the total cannot be typed independently of the memberships it covers. Recording the remittance does not write the check into your register — enter it there yourself as a payment.Which memberships does this cover?Hale familyOrtiz familyNguyen family2 selectedrunning totalClear any row this payment does not cover.PTO HQ adds the tickedrows' upward shareson the server.The total cannot be typed.Remittance recordedYour registerThis records what you sent.Enter the check in the registerseparately.

Remove a mistake and read the voting roll

  1. Remove a membership from its own row, where the option is offered.

    It is offered only on a row that has not been remitted. Removing one takes it off the roster and off the amount owed upward.

  2. For a membership already covered by a remittance, ask your state PTA how they want the correction handled.

    The check that left the building was computed from a set of memberships, and removing one afterwards would make the amount unexplainable.

  3. Read voting eligibility off the roster, one row at a time.

    Each row either shows the member can vote or shows the date those rights begin.

  • PTO HQ counts a fixed 30 days from the payment date, which is why that date matters as much as the amount.
  • Check the waiting period written in your own bylaws and whatever your state PTA requires. If it is not 30 days, call the roll from the bylaws figure rather than from this roster.
A roster row: when they can vote, and when it can still be removedPTO HQ counts a fixed 30 days from the payment date, and the roster shows either that the member can vote or the date those rights begin — check that period against your own bylaws. Remove is offered only on a row no remittance covers; once a row has been sent upward the button is not shown at all, because the check that left the building was computed from that set of memberships.When a member can voteDues paid30 dayscounted from the payment dateCan voteuntil then it shows the dateRemoving a row entered by mistakeNot yet remittedOwedRemoveCovered by a remittanceSentNo Remove offeredThe check that left the building was computed from those rows.

How to check it worked

  • The price table lists a row for each type you priced, and the kept column equals the price less the three upward shares.
  • The new member is on the roster with the total, the kept share and the amount owed upward filled in, and kept plus owed equals the total.
  • That roster row is marked as still owed upward, and the count of members this year has gone up by one.
  • A family you linked to a directory record is now marked as paid in the directory.
  • After you record the remittance, those roster rows change from owed to sent, and the tile for money owed upward drops by the amount you sent.
  • The remittance is in the history with your period name, the date sent, the member count, the amount and your reference.
  • Your overview stops listing dues owed upward once everything collected has been remitted.

If it did not work

What you seeWhat it meansWhat to do
The save button on the price card will not press, and a message says the three upward shares come to more than the membership costs.The council, state and national figures add up past the price. Usually one went in the wrong box, or the price is still last year's.Recheck all four numbers against your state PTA dues letter. The button works again as soon as they add up.
The price card refuses because the price is missing, or because a share is negative.The price is blank or zero, or a share was typed with a minus sign.Type a positive price, and type each share as a plain amount such as 4.50.
Recording dues refuses and names one box: the member name, the type, the payment date or the amount paid.That box is empty, or the name is shorter than two characters, or the amount is not a readable figure.Fill in the box it names. The amount is a positive figure such as 20.00, and the date is the day the money changed hands.
A refusal saying you cannot owe more upward than the member paid, with both amounts in it.You reduced what a family paid without reducing the upward share to match.Either raise what they paid, or lower the amount owed upward to what you will actually remit for that member.
The two amount boxes still hold the previous type's numbers after you change the type.You had typed an amount yourself, so PTO HQ left your figures alone rather than overwriting them with the new type's price.Retype both amounts for this member, or reload the page and pick the type before typing anything.
Both amount boxes open empty for a type.No price is set for that type this fiscal year, and PTO HQ will not fall back to last year's.Set that type's price first, or type both amounts by hand for this member.
The remittance form refuses because the period name or the date sent is missing.The period needs at least two characters, and the date sent has to be a real date.Name the period the way your state names it, and set the date the check left.
The message "One of those memberships is not yours or has already been remitted. Reload the page and try again."Somebody recorded a remittance covering one of your selected rows while your form was open.Reload the page, then select only the rows still marked as owed.
The message "Those memberships span more than one fiscal year. Send one remittance per year so each year's records stand on their own."Your selection mixes two fiscal years.Clear the other year's rows, record this remittance, then record a second one for the other year.
The message "Those memberships owe nothing upward, so there is nothing to remit."Every selected row owes nothing upward, usually because the price was saved with the three share boxes left empty.Fix the price first. Then remove and re-record those memberships, remembering that only rows not yet remitted can be removed.
The message "This membership is already part of a remittance that was sent. Record a correction with your state rather than deleting the record of what you sent."Removing is hidden on a remitted row, so you see this only when somebody remitted that row between your page loading and your press.Reload the page. Then ask your state PTA how they want the correction handled.
A refusal naming your role: "Your role is view only. Ask the treasurer or president to change your role if you need to record things." or "An auditor reviews the books and does not change them. Ask the treasurer or another officer to record this."Your role reads the books and does not write to them.Ask the treasurer or the president to change your role, or ask them to record the entry.
The price form, the dues form and the remittance form are all gone, leaving the tiles, the notice of what is still owed upward, the roster and the remittance history.The organization's subscription has expired, so PTO HQ hides every entry form on this page rather than showing controls that would refuse.Ask your president to renew the subscription, then reload the page.
A member's voting date is 30 days after the payment date, but your bylaws set a different waiting period.PTO HQ counts a fixed 30 days from the payment date.Call the roll from the figure in your bylaws, and confirm the period with your state PTA.

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.