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Any board member

Set each board member's role, and know why a button is missing

Find your own role, see what it can and cannot do, and get it changed when it is wrong.

When you are done

You will know which role you hold in PTO HQ, what that role can write, and who on your board can change it.

Who else you need

Only a treasurer or president can invite somebody, remove somebody, or change a role. If you hold another role, send them this page and say what you need. Separately, a locked reconciliation has to be reviewed by somebody who does not sign checks and who did not reconcile the account, so a treasurer cannot finish that step alone. Some fidelity bond issuers also require that non-signer to physically receive the statement before the treasurer does (source: AIM, fidelity bond conditions) - PTO HQ records that the review happened; the paper still has to reach the reviewer first.

Find your role and read what it can do

  1. Open Settings and choose the board tab.

  2. Find your own row, then read your role off the matrix below.

    A capability your role does not carry is not drawn on your screen at all, so nothing is broken when somebody describes a button you cannot find.

  • A treasurer or president gets a control on each person's line for setting their role and marking them a check signer. Everybody else gets the same roster to read and nothing to press.
  • Everybody, including auditor and viewer, can see the books and every report, and can export them.
  • Whoever submitted a reimbursement can never approve it, whatever role they hold.
RoleSee the books and every reportRecord transactionsReview a bank statementAdd or remove board membersEdit the public websiteRun the June handover
TreasurerYesYesYesYesYesYes
PresidentYesYesYesYesYesYes
SecretaryYesYesYes———
Membership chairYesYesYes———
Volunteer chairYesYesYes———
Communications chairYesYesYes—Yes—
AuditorYes—Yes———
ViewerYes—————
These are the starting points. Settings → Permissions changes any of them for your board — every row can be given to any role. A test checks every cell here against the rules the app enforces, so this table cannot quietly disagree with what you see on screen.
The same board member, seen by two different rolesOn the board tab in Settings, a treasurer or president gets a control on every person's line — a role menu, a Signs checks box and a Save button. Every other role opens the same tab and gets a plain roster to read instead: name, email, role, and a Signer or Non-signer badge, with nothing anywhere to press. The control is not greyed out and not hidden by mistake, it is never drawn, so a button somebody describes to you that you cannot find means your role does not carry it rather than that anything is broken. A treasurer or president whose subscription has lapsed also loses the control, which is a billing state and not a role change.Board tab — treasurer or presidentDana WhitfieldRoleTreasurer — can manage the boardSigns checksSaveBoard tab — every other roleDana WhitfieldRoleTreasurerCheck signerSignerNo menu, no checkbox, no Save —these controls are never drawn.A treasurer or president whose subscription has lapsed sees plain text on this line too.That is a billing state, not a role change.

Change somebody's role

  1. Open Settings and choose the board tab.

  2. Set the new role on that person's line and save it.

    Nothing changes until the save goes through.

  3. Mark the check-signer box for anybody the bank carries on the signature card.

    PTO HQ uses that mark to decide who may review a statement.

  • PTO HQ refuses any change that would leave the organization with no treasurer and no president, because nobody would then be able to add one.
  • Nobody can remove themselves. In June, invite the incoming officer, give them treasurer or president, and let them remove you.
  • If you are not a treasurer or president, your board tab has nothing to press. Ask one of them to make the change.
Saving a role, and the two changes PTO HQ refusesA treasurer or president sets the role and the check-signer mark on one person's line and presses Save; nothing changes until that save goes through. Two changes are refused whatever your role: one that would leave the organization with no treasurer and no president, because nobody could then add one, and removing yourself, which PTO HQ answers by telling you to add the officer taking over, make them treasurer or president, and let them remove you — that way the board is never left without anybody who can add people.RoleTreasurerSigns checksSaveOne line carries the role and the check-signer mark. Nothing changes until Save.If the change would leave nobody who can manage the board: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.If you are taking yourself off the board:You cannot remove yourself. Add the officer taking over, make them treasureror president, and let them remove you — that way the board is never leftwithout anybody who can add people.

Invite somebody onto the board

  1. Fill in the invitation form on the board tab with the person's email address and role.

    Only a treasurer or president sees this form.

  2. Mark them a check signer if the bank will carry them.

  3. Send it.

    An invitation is an offer, not a seat. The person named in it has no access until they open the link and accept it.

  4. Copy the link from the waiting list and text it, if the email went to spam.

    An invitation that has not expired offers a control that copies its link. Every waiting invitation also offers one that withdraws it.

  • The link is good for 14 days. After that a treasurer or president sends a fresh one, and nothing is lost.
  • One organization holds at most 20 people, counting invitations nobody has accepted yet.
What happens to an invitation after it is sentAn invitation is an offer, not a seat: the person named in it has no access at all until they open the link and accept it, and until then it sits on the board tab under Waiting to be accepted. From there it can end three ways — they accept and join the board, fourteen days pass and the link expires, or a treasurer or president withdraws it and the seat comes back. An unexpired invitation also offers a Copy link control, and every waiting invitation counts against the limit of twenty people. An expired one keeps counting, and keeps blocking a fresh invitation to that address, until somebody withdraws it.Invitation sentWaiting to be acceptedAn offer, not a seatThey accept — now on the board14 days pass — the link expiresWithdrawn — the seat comes backAn invitation that has not expired also offers a Copy link control — text it instead.After 14 days a treasurer or president sends a fresh one, and nothing is lost.One organization holds at most 20 people, counting invitations nobody has accepted.An expired invitation keeps its seat, and blocks that address, until it is withdrawn.

Keep the statement review with a non-signer

A reconciliation locks only when the difference against the statement is exactly $0, and only a locked reconciliation can be reviewed.

  1. Choose a reviewer who does not sign checks and who did not reconcile the account.

    PTO HQ refuses both, and refuses anybody a recorded relationship ties to a signer.

  2. Get the paper statement to that person before the treasurer sees it, if your bond requires it.

    Some fidelity bond issuers require the non-signer to physically receive the bank statement before the treasurer does (source: AIM, fidelity bond conditions). PTO HQ records that the review happened. It cannot hand anybody an envelope.

  • Texas PTA bars household relatives from signing checks together and from serving on the reconciliation committee; other states word this differently, and some say nothing. Confirm your own state's rule (source: Texas PTA).
Who is left to review a locked statementA reconciliation locks only when the difference against the statement is exactly $0, and only a locked reconciliation can be reviewed. The review then has to come from somebody who is none of three things: a check signer, the person who reconciled that account, or anybody a recorded relationship ties to a signer. PTO HQ refuses all three by name, so a board whose every member is a signer or related to one has nobody who can sign off and has to bring in one more person.Difference against the statement$0Lockedreview can beginThe reviewer may be none of theseSomebody who signs checksRefusedThe person who reconciled this accountRefusedAnybody a recorded relationship ties to a signerRefusedChoose one anyway and PTO HQ answers:You can sign checks, so you cannot be the non-signer who reviews the statement.Ask a board member who is not a signer.

Leave bank connections with the treasurer or president

Connecting or disconnecting a bank or card reader is limited to treasurer and president, the same two names the bank carries on the signature card.

  • Any role that can record transactions still sees those controls on an account's page and is refused after pressing one.
  • Asking the bank to check for new lines is open to all of them, because it only pulls lines into the review queue.
  • Connected accounts check nightly on their own.
  • A board that would rather not connect an account can import a CSV, OFX, QFX or QBO file from the bank instead, and any role that can record transactions can do that.
Bank controls are drawn for every role and refused for mostOn a connected account's page, every role that can record transactions sees both Sync now and Disconnect. Only connecting and disconnecting is limited to treasurer and president, and pressing Disconnect prints a refusal saying that is a treasurer's or president's job, the same as the signature card at the branch. Sync now stays open to that role, and so does importing a CSV, OFX, QFX or QBO file, which is not on the account's page at all — it sits on the Add an account page under Import a statement.An account's page, seen by a membership chairSync nowDisconnectBoth are drawn for any role that can record transactions. Only Disconnect is refused.Connecting or disconnecting a bank or card reader is a treasurer's orpresident's job, the same as the signature card at the branch. Ask one of them.Still open to your roleSync now, on the account's pageImport a CSV, OFX, QFX or QBO fileConnected accounts check nightly on their own, whatever your role.The import is on Add an account, under Import a statement.

How to check it worked

  • Your own line on the board tab shows the role you expect, and shows whether you are marked as a check signer.
  • A treasurer or president: after saving a role, that person's line shows the new role and a confirmation appears beside the save control.
  • After an invitation is sent, the address is listed among the invitations waiting to be accepted until the person accepts it.
  • A treasurer or president: a recorded relationship appears in the list on the board tab, naming both people.
  • On a locked reconciliation, once the non-signer has attested, the reconciliation shows who reviewed it and when.

If it did not work

What you seeWhat it meansWhat to do
A button somebody described to you is not on your screen.Your role does not carry that capability. Nothing is broken and nothing is hidden by accident.Read your own role in the list above. If the role itself is wrong, ask a treasurer or president to change it on the board tab in Settings.
Recording something is refused with "An auditor reviews the books and does not change them. Ask the treasurer or another officer to record this." or "Your role is view only. Ask the treasurer or president to change your role if you need to record things."You hold auditor or viewer. Both roles read everything and write almost nothing.Ask an officer to record it, or ask a treasurer or president to change your role to one that fits what you actually do.
Signing off a statement review is refused with "Your role is view only, so you cannot sign off a statement review. Ask the treasurer or president to change your role."You hold viewer. Attesting is an act of office and a viewer holds none.Ask a treasurer or president to make you an auditor, or any officer role that fits.
Signing off a statement review is refused with "You can sign checks, so you cannot be the non-signer who reviews the statement. Ask a board member who is not a signer." or "The person who reconciled the account cannot also be its reviewer."The review has to come from somebody who neither signs checks nor reconciled that account.Ask a board member who does not sign checks, and who did not do the reconciling, to review it.
Saving a role is refused with "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."You were changing the last person who can manage the board.Make somebody else treasurer or president first, save that, then make your original change.
Removing yourself is refused with "You cannot remove yourself. Add the officer taking over, make them treasurer or president, and let them remove you".PTO HQ will not let a board lock itself out of its own books.Invite the officer taking over, make them treasurer or president, and have them remove you.
An invitation is refused because that address "already has an invitation waiting. Revoke it first if you want to send a new one."An unaccepted invitation to that address already exists.Find that address in the waiting list and withdraw it, then send a new one. Or copy that invitation's link and text it instead.
An invitation is refused with "Remove somebody who has left the board, or email us if you genuinely need more."Active members plus outstanding invitations have reached the 20-person cap.Remove somebody who has left the board, or withdraw an invitation nobody took up, then send the new one. Email us if your board genuinely needs more seats.
An invitation link gives "This invitation is not valid any more. It may have been used already or withdrawn".The link was used, withdrawn, or has expired.Ask a treasurer or president to send a fresh invitation from the board tab in Settings.
You signed up at ptohq.org and landed in an empty organization of your own.You started a second organization instead of joining your board's.Ask whoever invited you to withdraw the invitation and send a fresh one, then open the link from that email before signing in. PTO HQ has no screen inside the app that lists invitations waiting for you.
Connecting or disconnecting an account is refused with "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."Those controls show for every role that can record transactions, and the act itself is limited to treasurer and president.Ask a treasurer or president. If you only wanted new lines pulled in, ask the bank to check for them instead, which your role can do.
Recording a relationship is refused with "Those two are already recorded as related. Remove that first if it needs to say something different."That pair already has a row, whichever order you picked them in.Find the pair in the list above the form, remove that row, then record it again with the wording you wanted.
You are a treasurer, and the board tab shows plain text where the role control should be.The organization's subscription has lapsed. Read-only is a billing state, not a role change.Subscribe from the billing screen. Roles, invitations and relationships can all be changed again once the organization is paid up.
Settings warns that nobody on this board could review a bank statement.Everybody either signs checks or is recorded as related to somebody who does.Invite one more person who holds no other office - an auditor is the usual choice - and leave the check-signer mark clear for them.

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.