P&C responsibilities
This section gives an overview of financial responsibilities and the reporting
and accounting requirements for a P&C.
- Accountability
- Accounting records
- Reporting
- Planning and budgeting
Accountability
Proper accounting procedures, like those given here, have two purposes.
- They prevent loss and fraud. You might trust everyone
in your school community, but accounting procedures remove temptation and
the procedures will tell you if the wrong thing is happening and where.
- They protect the P&C executive. Good accounting of
P&C funds removes any basis for accusations of financial impropriety
against your executive members.
Who is accountable and for what?
P&C executive
Subcommittees
President
Treasurer
Principal
All executive members of the P&C are
responsible for ensuring that the P&C and its subcommittees follow appropriate
financial management procedures.
P&C subcommittees are bound by the same accounting requirements as the
main P&C and must be directed by the P&C, as set down in the constitution.
To ensure that the P&C is accountable, the president must check that
the executive and the subcommittee executives are carrying out the processes
and procedures listed here. The actual financial reports are the responsibility
of the treasurer; the president is responsible for making sure the reporting
is complete and countersigned.
The
president's responsibilities
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While everyone should be interested in complying with financial accountability
requirements, this is the treasurer's primary role. The treasurer also gives
advice and sets an example for others so that all funds being held and handled
by the P&C are openly accounted for.
The treasurer should encourage all members of the school community to understand
the state of the P&C finances and ask questions about what they do not
understand.
P&C finances must be open and compliant — and they must be perceived
as such by the school community.
The
treasurer's responsibilities
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The principal of a school is an ex officio member of the P&C and must
act as the Minister's representative on this statutory body.
When principal and P&C work together to achieve the same goals:
- the school community acts as one in the interests of the students
- P&C planning and budgeting complement the efforts of the school staff
to enhance the education in the school.
Although principals are forbidden to hold office or to be a signatory for
the P&C, you should advise volunteers who do hold office on how to carry
out their roles successfully. The continuity of the principal's role in the
P&C helps bridge the gap that occurs when executive members of the P&C
may change each year.
Experienced principals can also help executive members with limited skills
and experience in the interpretation and application of financial accountability.
The
principal's responsibilities
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