Kendra Nichols, from ABC27 News in Central PA, interviewed me about TreasureEase and included us in a well-done segment about treasurers who stole money in our area.  Read the full article at www.abc27.com.

Managing a youth sports team treasury is an important but often underappreciated responsibility.  Often the position is filled with a volunteer who might not have accounting experience.  Although the basic responsibilities of a team treasurer are not very complicated, there are many unexpected pitfalls that can catch a new, unsuspecting treasurer off guard.  One of the biggest pitfalls occurs when the treasurer loses the trust of the team.  This can happen very easily.  My friend Jeff once said to me, “Every time I take my daughter to soccer practice they ask me for more money and I never know what it’s for!”  This can be the result of a simple misunderstanding with its roots in poor reporting or a lack of transparency.  Keeping meticulous records and providing clear, concise reports in a standardized format can help.

Record keeping is an obvious obligation of the team treasurer.  Often treasurers will use spreadsheet programs (i.e. MS Excel,) dedicated accounting software (i.e. Quickbooks,) or online software made specifically for managing the treasury of a youth sports team or club (i.e. www.TreasureEase.com) for record keeping.

Desktop software like Excel is certainly sufficient, but it does require the treasurer to create their own system.  Creating reports can be cumbersome, and the data is kept on the computer of the treasurer, making it a potential victim of a hard-drive crash.

Dedicated accounting software can easily handle the needs of the team treasurer. Built-in reporting makes it easy and convenient to generate paper reports.  However, this software can be costly, can require complicated setup, and like Excel, the data can be lost in a hard-drive crash.

TreasureEase.com makes it easy for the treasurer to maintain the treasury records and to send treasury reports.  Being created for this specific job, it requires very little setup and it includes many tools to make the job of the treasurer easy.  With the dashboard the treasurer can see what’s going on with the team’s finances at a glance.  Built-in reports can be printed or emailed very simply.  Keeping the players–or their parents–informed with clear concise reports is one way. TreasureEase helps the treasurer keep the trust of the team.

We were at an event and someone approached me and asked, “Who will be the TreasureEase to your TreasureEase?” This gentleman was the first to ask this question, and although the way he asked it was humorous, he was expressing a legitimate concern.  What he meant was, “Who will keep an eye on you (TreasureEase) to keep you from taking any money?”  It only takes a handful of bad financial decisions by treasurers to make everyone suspicious or untrusting.  The truth is, the vast majority of treasurers have never stolen any money, nor would they consider stealing, and we are no exception.

Fortunately for us, we thought someone might ask this question.  As such, TreasureEase is only a way to manage or keep track of team treasury spending and does not actually process any team funds.  Each team treasurer still holds the money. By using TreasureEase, they make it possible for others to easily know how money is being spent.

The sports treasurer of youth teams is often a team parent or an assistant coach, often with little or no accounting experience.  Even in adult club sports teams, the team treasurer is a player on the team with no accounting degree.  TreasureEase eliminates the need for experience or an accounting degree.

If you are going to be the team treasurer, even if you are using TreasureEase, you may have some questions about how to be a sports treasurer.  The following list includes many of the responsibilities of a team treasurer.

The basic responsibilities of the treasurer are to:

• keep a record of all payments and monies received, as team funds and player funds.
• prepare a budget based on the team’s expenses.
• bill team parents or players when team dues are due.
• show how the money is being spent.
• pay the bills or the expenses.

The responsibilities change, based on the sport and league of each team, however the basic responsibilities to be a sports team treasurer are the same: set up, collect, and pay.

TreasureEase is club sports treasury software, simplified.  TreasureEase makes it simple  to create, balance, and maintain team sports funds.  Sports treasurers can manage team and player money and send invoices to parents.  Team parents prefer TreasureEase because they can see where the money is being spent.  TreasureEase offers a level of sports accounting transparency that has never existed–until now.

As an introductory offer, TreasureEase is free.  Sign up today, risk free, to see if it will work for your club sports team.